Veikkausliiga
Season2021
ChampionsHJK
RelegatedKTP
Matches played162
Goals scored408 (2.52 per match)
Top goalscorerBenjamin Källman
Ariel Ngueukam
(14 goals each)
Biggest home winKuPS 4–0 KTP
(15 August 2021)
Biggest away winHIFK 1–5 KuPS
(22 August 2021)
Highest scoringHJK 4–2 Honka
(24 April 2021)
Lahti 2–4 KuPS
(11 May 2021)
HIFK 1–5 KuPS
(22 August 2021)
Longest winning run9 matches
HJK
Longest unbeaten run12 matches
Lahti
Longest winless run13 matches
KTP
Longest losing run7 matches
Mariehamn
← 2020
2022 →

The 2021 Veikkausliiga was the 91st season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK were the defending champions and successfully defended their title.

Teams

RoPS (relegated after eight years in the top flight) were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2020 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions AC Oulu (promoted after a ten-year absence).

TPS (relegated after one year in the top flight) as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team KTP (promoted after a five-year absence) in a relegation/promotion playoff.

Stadia and locations

2021 Veikkausliiga is located in Finland
AC Oulu
HIFK HJK
KuPS
FC Honka
FC Lahti
IFK Mariehamn
Ilves
KTP
SJK
FC Inter
FC Haka
Location of teams in 2021 Veikkausliiga
Club Location Stadium Turf Capacity
AC Oulu Oulu Raatti Stadion Natural 4,392
FC Haka Valkeakoski Tehtaan kenttä Artificial 3,516
FC Honka Espoo Tapiolan Urheilupuisto Natural 6,000
FC Inter Turku Veritas Stadion Natural 9,372
FC Lahti Lahti Lahden Stadion Natural 7,465
HIFK Helsinki Bolt Arena Artificial 10,770
HJK Helsinki Bolt Arena Artificial 10,770
IFK Mariehamn Mariehamn Wiklöf Holding Arena Artificial 4,000
Ilves Tampere Tampere Stadium Natural 16,800
KTP Kotka Arto Tolsa Areena Artificial 4,780
KuPS Kuopio Savon Sanomat Areena Artificial 5,000
SJK Seinäjoki OmaSP Stadion Artificial 6,000

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Manager Captain Manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s)
AC Oulu Finland Jyrki Ahola Finland Lassi Nurmos Craft Go On Oulu / Codemate / Oulun Energia
FC Haka Finland Teemu Tainio United States Jacob Bushue Puma Volkswagen
FC Honka Finland Vesa Vasara Finland Duarte Tammilehto Puma Volkswagen
FC Inter Spain José Riveiro Finland Timo Furuholm Nike Alfons Håkans
FC Lahti Finland Ilir Zeneli Finland Kari Arkivuo Umbro Halton / Oomi / Green Lahti
HIFK Spain Joaquín Gómez Finland Sakari Mattila Puma Aktia Bank
HJK Finland Toni Koskela Finland Daniel O'Shaughnessy Adidas Apu
IFK Mariehamn Sweden Lukas Syberyjski Netherlands Robin Buwalda Puma Åland / Arkipelag
Ilves Finland Toni Kallio Finland Tuure Siira Adidas Pohjola Rakennus / Avant Tecno / Pihlajalinna / NYQS Oy
KTP Finland Teemu Kankkunen Finland David Ramadingaye Puma Kotkamills Oy / Steveco Oy / Hartwall
KuPS Finland Simo Valakari Ghana Nana Boateng Puma Pohjola Sairaala (home) / LähiTapiola (away)
SJK Finland Jani Honkavaara Finland Mehmet Hetemaj Adidas LähiTapiola / Oma Säästöpankki / Elisa

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 KuPS 22 15 4 3 38 14 +24 49 Qualification for the Championship round
2 HJK 22 15 4 3 32 12 +20 49
3 Inter Turku 22 12 3 7 36 22 +14 39
4 SJK 22 11 4 7 29 24 +5 37
5 HIFK 22 9 6 7 23 23 0 33
6 Ilves 22 10 3 9 21 23 −2 33
7 Lahti 22 8 8 6 27 25 +2 32 Qualification for the Relegation round
8 Honka 22 7 5 10 28 29 −1 26
9 Haka 22 7 3 12 21 26 −5 24
10 Mariehamn 22 7 2 13 20 32 −12 23
11 Oulu 22 5 3 14 17 35 −18 18
12 KTP 22 1 5 16 18 45 −27 8
Source: Flashscore
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).


Results

Home \ Away HAK HFK HJK HON ILV INT KPS KTP LAH MAR OUL SJK
Haka — 2–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–3 1–1 1–2 0–1 4–0
HIFK 2–0 — 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–4 1–5 2–2 0–1 0–3 3–1 1–0
HJK 2–0 0–2 — 4–2 2–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–1 0–0
Honka 2–1 0–3 0–0 — 4–1 1–2 0–1 3–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–1
Ilves 1–0 1–0 0–3 0–0 — 2–1 3–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1
Inter Turku 2–1 0–1 1–3 2–2 2–0 — 1–0 2–1 1–1 3–0 4–0 2–0
KuPS 1–2 0–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 — 4–0 2–2 2–0 2–0 3–0
KTP 0–0 0–2 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–3 1–2 — 1–2 1–3 1–3 0–1
Lahti 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 3–1 2–1 2–4 3–0 — 1–1 0–0 2–1
Mariehamn 0–3 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–0 0–2 0–1 4–2 0–3 — 3–1 0–1
Oulu 0–1 1–2 2–1 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 — 0–2
SJK 4–0 1–1 0–2 3–2 1–0 2–2 0–1 1–1 4–1 3–0 3–2 —
Source: Flashscore
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship round

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HJK KPS SJK INT ILV HFK
1 HJK (C) 27 18 5 4 41 19 +22 59 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round — — 2–3 2–1 — 1–0
2 KuPS 27 17 7 3 46 20 +26 58 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round 1–1 — — — 2–1 0–0
3 SJK 27 14 6 7 45 34 +11 48 — 2–2 — — 4–2 —
4 Inter Turku 27 14 3 10 45 32 +13 45 — 2–3 2–5 — — 2–0
5 Ilves 27 11 3 13 29 34 −5 36 2–3 — — 0–2 — —
6 HIFK 27 9 8 10 25 31 −6 35 — — 2–2 — 0–3 —
Source: 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) Champions


Relegation round

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LAH HAK HON MAR OUL KTP
7 Lahti 27 10 10 7 35 30 +5 40 — — 2–3 — 0–0 2–1
8 Haka 27 10 5 12 30 29 +1 35 1–1 — — 2–0 0–0 —
9 Honka 27 9 6 12 38 37 +1 33 — 0–2 — 1–1 6–1 —
10 Mariehamn 27 9 3 15 28 40 −12 30 0–3 — — — — 5–1
11 Oulu (O) 27 6 5 16 21 44 −23 23 Qualification for the relegation play-offs — — — 1–2 — 2–1
12 KTP (R) 27 2 5 20 25 58 −33 11 Relegation to Ykkönen — 2–4 2–0 — — —
Source: 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).
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated


Relegation play-offs

First leg

RoPS2–1Oulu
  • Roiha 35'
  • Roffelsen 90'+5'
 Report
Rovaniemen keskuskenttä, Rovaniemi
Attendance: 1,640
Referee: Oliver Reitala

Second leg

Oulu2–0RoPS
 Report
Raatti Stadium, Oulu
Attendance: 2,738
Referee: Joni Hyytiä

Statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 1 November 2021[1]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Finland Benjamin Källman Inter Turku 14
Cameroon Ariel Ngueukam SJK
3 Finland Tim Väyrynen KuPS 9
4 England Jake Jervis SJK 8
Finland Urho Nissilä KuPS
South Africa Darren Smith FC Honka
7 Nigeria Geoffrey Chinedu Lahti 7
Finland Timo Furuholm Inter Turku
Ukraine Denys Oliynyk SJK
Finland/Kosovo Altin Zeqiri Lahti

Awards

Annual awards

Award[2] Winner Club
Player of the Year Finland Urho Nissilä KuPS
Goalkeeper of the Year Austria Johannes Kreidl KuPS
Defender of the Year Finland Daniel O'Shaughnessy HJK
Midfielder of the Year Finland Urho Nissilä KuPS
Striker of the Year Finland Benjamin Källman Inter Turku
Breakthrough of the Year Finland Pyry Hannola SJK
Coach of the Year Finland Simo Valakari KuPS

Team of the Year

Team of the Year[3]
Goalkeeper Austria Johannes Kreidl (KuPS)
Defence United States

Macario Hing-Glover (HIFK)

Finland

Diogo Tomas (KuPS)

Finland

Daniel O'Shaughnessy (HJK)

Colombia

Luis Carlos Murillo (HJK)

Midfield Finland

Riku Riski (HJK)

Brazil Jair (HJK)

Finland

Urho Nissilä (KuPS)

Finland

Peteri Forsell (Inter Turku)

Attack Scotland Benjamin Källman (Inter Turku) Finland Tim Väyrynen (KuPS)

References

  1. ^ Veikkausliiga.com
  2. ^ Liimatta, Ville (2021-12-03). "Tässä suomalaisen jalkapallon vuoden 2021 parhaat - katso kaikki Captain's Ball -gaalassa palkitut". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  3. ^ "Perinteinen Koplajoukkue nimetty Veikkausliigakauden 2021 osalta". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.

External links

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Top-division football seasons in Finland
2021 in Finnish football
2020–21 in European men's football (UEFA)
2021–22 in European men's football (UEFA)
Categories