2017 Veikkausliiga

The 2017 Veikkausliiga was the eighty-seventh season of top-tier football in Finland. IFK Mariehamn were the defending champions.

Veikkausliiga
Season2017
ChampionsHJK
RelegatedHIFK
JJK Jyväskylä
Champions LeagueHJK
Europa LeagueKuPS
Ilves
Lahti
Matches played198
Goals scored542 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorerAleksei Kangaskolkka
16 goals
Biggest home winHJK 6–0 SJK (31 May)
Biggest away winSJK 0–6 HJK (10 August)
Highest scoringFC Inter 6–2 RoPS (12 April)
Lahti 6–2 Mariehamn (29 July)
← 2016
2018 →

Fixtures for the 2017 season were announced on 19 January 2017.[1] The season started on 5 April 2017 and ended on 28 October 2017.[2]

Teams

PK-35 Vantaa were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2016 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions JJK.

FC Inter as 11th-placed team regained their Veikkausliiga spot after beating the second-placed Ykkönen team TPS 2–0 on aggregate in a relegation/promotion playoff.

Stadia and locations
Location of teams in 2016 Veikkausliiga
Club Location Stadium Turf Capacity
FC Inter Turku Turku Veritas Stadion Natural 10,000
FC Lahti Lahti Lahden Stadion Natural 15,000
HIFK Fotboll Helsinki Telia 5G -areena Artificial 10,770
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi Helsinki Telia 5G -areena Artificial 10,770
IFK Mariehamn Mariehamn Wiklöf Holding Arena Natural 4,000
FC Ilves Tampere Tammelan Stadion Natural 5,040
JJK Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Harjun stadion Natural 3,000
Kuopion Palloseura Kuopio Savon Sanomat Areena Artificial 5,000
Palloseura Kemi Kings Kemi Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto Natural 4,500
RoPS Rovaniemi Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Artificial 4,000
Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho Seinäjoki OmaSP Stadion Artificial 6,000
Vaasan Palloseura Vaasa Elisa Stadion Artificial 6,000

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsors
FC Inter Fabrizio Piccareta Timo Furuholm Nike Alfons Håkans
FC Lahti Toni Korkeakunnas Mikko Hauhia Umbro BE Group
Lahti Energia
Halton
HIFK Antti Muurinen Mika Väyrynen Puma Aktia Bank
HJK Mika Lehkosuo Rafinha Adidas Apu
IFK Mariehamn Peter Lundberg[3] Jani Lyyski Puma Hotell Arkipelag
Ilves Jarkko Wiss Antti Hynynen Adidas Various
JJK Juha Pasoja Tommi Kari Nike Harvia
KuPS Jani Honkavaara Sebastian Sorsa Puma Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas
PS Kemi Jari Åhman Lassi Nurmos Stanno Various
RoPS Juha Malinen Antti Okkonen Puma Saraware
SJK Brian Page
Toni Lehtinen		 Mihkel Aksalu Adidas LähiTapiola
EPKK
Prima Power
VPS Petri Vuorinen Veli Lampi Puma Various

    Managerial changes
    Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment Table
    KuPS Marko Rajamäki End of contract n/a Jani Honkavaara 17 October 2016[4] Pre-season
    SJK Simo Valakari Sacked 17 February 2017[5] Sixten Boström 20 February 2017 Pre-season
    SJK Sixten Boström Sacked 2 June 2017[6] Manuel Roca 2 June 2017 8th
    FC Inter Turku Shefki Kuqi Sacked 3 August 2017[7] Fabrizio Piccareta 3 August 2017 9th
    SJK Manuel Roca Sacked 9 September 2017[8] Brian Page
    Toni Lehtinen    		 9 September 2017 5th

    League table
    Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
    1 HJK (C) 33 23 7 3 78 16 +62 76 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
    2 KuPS 33 16 8 9 51 36 +15 56 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
    3 Ilves 33 15 11 7 39 35 +4 56
    4 Lahti 33 12 13 8 46 31 +15 49
    5 IFK Mariehamn 33 13 10 10 44 42 +2 49
    6 SJK 33 13 8 12 42 47 −5 47
    7 RoPS 33 12 6 15 43 51 −8 42
    8 VPS 33 9 12 12 38 51 −13 39
    9 Inter Turku 33 10 8 15 54 57 −3 38
    10 PS Kemi Kings 33 8 8 17 38 59 −21 32
    11 HIFK (R) 33 6 11 16 37 54 −17 29 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
    12 JJK Jyväskylä (R) 33 6 8 19 32 63 −31 26 Relegation to the Ykkönen
    Updated to match(es) played on 28 October 2017. Source: Veikkausliiga (in Finnish), Soccerway
    Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Play-off
    (Note: Play-off is only played if need to decide champion, teams for relegation or UEFA competition and will be played on a neutral ground).
    (C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
    Notes:
    1. Since HJK, winners of the 2016–17 Finnish Cup, qualified for the Champions League first qualifying round, the spot awarded to the cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) is passed to the next best-placed team (in this case to the fourth-placed team).

    Results

    Each team plays three times against every other team, either twice at home and once away or once at home and twice away, for a total of 33 matches played each.

    Relegation play-offs

    First Match
    FC Honka0–0HIFK
    Attendance: 2,674

    Second Match
    HIFK1–1FC Honka
    Sihvola  90+4' Äijälä  28'
    Attendance: 4,158

    FC Honka won 1-1 on away goals.

    Statistics

    Monthly awards
    Month Coach of the Month Player of the Month
    April[9] Mika Lehkosuo (HJK) Alfredo Morelos (HJK)
    May[10] Jani Honkavaara (KuPS) Alfredo Morelos (HJK)
    June[11] Mika Lehkosuo (HJK) Filip Valenčič (PS Kemi)
    July[12] Toni Korkeakunnas (FC Lahti) Santeri Hostikka (FC Lahti)
    August[13] Jarkko Wiss (Ilves) Akseli Pelvas (HJK)

    References
    1. "Veikkausliigan otteluohjelma 2017 julkistettu". www.veikkausliiga.com. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
    2. Otteluohjelma | Veikkausliiga
    3. "Kari Virtanen fortsätter i rådgivarroll för IFK". IFK Mariehamn (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
    4. "Jani Honkavaara on Kuopion Palloseuran uusi päävalmentaja". KuPS (in Finnish). KuPS. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
    5. "Simo Valakari on vapautettu SJK:n päävalmentajavastuusta". SJK (in Finnish). SJK. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
    6. "Sixten Boström ei jatka SJK:n päävalmentajana". SJK (in Finnish). SJK. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
    7. "Tiedote: Shefki Kuqi ei jatka Interin päävalmentajana". FC Inter Turku (in Finnish). FC Inter Turku. 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
    8. "Brian Page ja Toni Lehtinen vetävät kauden loppuun". SJK (in Finnish). SJK. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
    9. Veikkausliigan kuukauden parhaat valittu (in Finnish)
    10. Morelos jälleen kuukauden pelaajaksi (in Finnish)
    11. (in Finnish)
    12. (in Finnish)
    13. (in Finnish)
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