Ilves

Full name	Tampereen Ilves[1]
Nickname(s)	Ipa
Founded	1931; 93 years ago (1931)
Ground	Tammela Stadion, Tampere
Capacity	8,000
Chairman	Ari Ruuth
Manager	Joonas Rantanen
League	Veikkausliiga
2023	Veikkausliiga, 8th of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Tampereen Ilves (pronounced [ˈilʋes]; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish football club based in Tampere. They currently play in the Veikkausliiga, the highest level of professional football in Finland.

History

They were formed in 1975 as a merger between Ilves-Kissat Tampere and TaPa Tampere, and joined the Premier Division in 1979.^[2]

Ilves won the Finnish League championship in 1983 and the Finnish Cup on three occasions in 1979, 1990, and 2019.

In the late 1990s, Ilves suffered financial trouble and its professional team was reformed into Tampere United before the 1999 season. The initial plan was to join Ilves with TPV, but TPV decided to continue as its own team. As a result, Tampere United inherited Ilves' place in the second highest division, and Ilves dissolved their men's team. Thus the club did not have a men's team from 1999 to 2007.^[3]

Their home ground is Tammelan Stadion. However, in 2020–2023, they are playing at Tampere Stadium, while waiting for a new Tammelan stadion to be built.^[1]

Honours

• Mestaruussarja/Veikkausliiga
  • Champions: 1983
• Finnish Cup
  • Winners: 1979, 1990, 2019, 2023

Season to season

European record

^{[citation needed]}

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
1980–81	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Feyenoord	1–3	2–4	3–7
1984–85	European Cup	1R	Juventus	0–4	1–2	1–6
1986–87	UEFA Cup	1R	Rangers	0–4	2–0	2–4
1991–92	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Glenavon	2–3	2–1	4–4
		2R	Roma	1–1	2–5	3–6
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	1QR	PFC Slavia Sofia	0–1	1–2	1–3
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Shamrock Rovers	2–2 (11–12 p)	—	—
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	2QR

Current squad

As of 30 August 2023.^[5] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FIN Otso Virtanen 2 DF  FIN Matias Kivikko Arraño 3 DF  POR Jorginho 4 DF  GHA Mohammed Umar 5 DF  FIN Juhani Pikkarainen 6 MF  FIN Doni Arifi 7 MF  FIN Joona Veteli 8 MF  FIN Maksim Stjopin 9 FW  FIN Vincent Ulundu 10 FW  FIN Roope Riski 12 GK  FIN Johannes Viitala 14 MF  FIN Anton Popovitch 15 MF  FIN Lauri Ala-Myllymäki 16 DF  FIN Tatu Miettunen (captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  FIN Marius Söderbäck 19 FW  FIN Oiva Jukkola 21 FW  FIN Badreddine Bushara 22 DF  FIN Aapo Mäenpää 23 MF  FIN Noel Hasa 24 MF  FRA Abdoulaye Kanté 25 MF  FIN Arttu Tulehmo 26 DF  FIN Jaakko Moisio 27 DF  FIN Jere Riissanen 29 MF  FIN Santeri Haarala 31 FW  FIN Danila Bulgakov 32 GK  FIN Lucas Väyrynen 42 DF  FIN Felipe Aspegren

Management and boardroom

Management

Active departments of Ilves
Floorball Football (Men's) Football (Women's) Futsal (Men's) Futsal (Women's) Ice hockey (Women's) Ringette Ice hockey (Men's)

As of 3 November 2023.^[5]

Name Role Joonas Rantanen Head Coach Joni Lehtonen Coach Pasi Tuutti Coach Marko Pirilä Goalkeeping Coach Heli Rekimies Fitness Coach / Physiotherapist Ville Niemelä Kit Manager / Team Manager Jonne Väisänen Doctor

Boardroom

As of 31 July 2020^[6]

Name Role Pentti Kuusela Chairman Tomi Erola CEO Toni Hevonkorpi Development Director / Vice CEO Miika Takkula Sporting director

Ilves/2

Ilves/2 is the reserve team of Ilves. The team plays in Kakkonen in 2024 season. It is coached by Guillem Santesmases.^[7]

Managers

• Raimo Vasama (1975)
• Martti Halme (1976–1977)
• Pertti Mäkipää (1978–1981)
• Jussi Ristimäki (1982–1984)
• Turo Flink (1985–1986)
• Harri Holli (1987–1989)
• Jussi Ristimäki (1990)
• Ian Crawford (1991–1992)
• Matti Paatelainen (1993)
• Markku Wacklin (1993–1994)
• Esa Kuusisto (1995–1996)
• Arto Uimonen (1997)
• Ari Hjelm (1997)
• Kari Nikkilä (1998)
• Janne Salovaara / Jarmo Virtanen (2001)
• Veijo Visuri (2008–2009)
• Valeri Popovitch (2010–11)
• Mika Malinen (2012–2014)
• Keith Armstrong (2015)
• Jarkko Wiss (2016–2021)
• Toni Kallio (2021–2023)
• Joni Lehtonen (2023)
• Joonas Rantanen (2023–present)