VPS

Full name	Vaasan Palloseura
Nickname(s)	Vepsu, Raita (the Stripe)
Founded	1924; 100 years ago (1924)
Ground	Hietalahti, Vaasa, Finland
Capacity	6,005
Chairman	Timo Harri
Manager	Jussi Nuorela
League	Veikkausliiga
2023	Veikkausliiga, 3rd of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Vaasan Palloseura, commonly referred to as VPS, is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (Veikkausliiga). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matches at Hietalahti. VPS played twice in the UEFA Cup in 1998–99 and in 1999–00, but were knocked out in the 2nd Qualifying Round by Grazer AK of Austria and in the 1st Qualifying Round by St Johnstone of Scotland.

In spring of 2015 it was announced that the construction of VPS's new stadium would start soon. The construction of the new stadium began in the summer of 2015 and was completed in August 2016.^[1]

Achievements

• Mestaruussarja/Veikkausliiga
  • Winners (2): 1945, 1948
  • Runners-up (5): 1932, 1940–41, 1949, 1997, 1998
  • Third place (2): 1938, 2013, 2023^[2]
• Ykkönen:
  • Winners (1): 2021
• Finnish Cup:
  • Runners-up (1): 1972
• Finnish League Cup:
  • Winners (2): 1999, 2000
  • Runners-up (2): 1997, 2014

European campaigns

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st Leg	2nd Leg	Aggregate
1998–99	UEFA Cup	1Q	HB Tórshavn	0–2	4–0	4–2
		2Q	Grazer AK	0–0	0–3	0–3
1999–00	UEFA Cup	QR	St Johnstone	1–1	0–2	1–3
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	1Q	IF Brommapojkarna	2–1	0–2	2–3
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	1Q	AIK Fotboll	2–2	0–4	2–6
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Olimpija Ljubljana	1-0	1-0	2–0
		2Q	Brøndby IF	0–2	2-1	2–3
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	1Q

Season to season

Current squad

As of 4 April 2024^[6]

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 Teppo Marttinen 2 DF  FIN Josep Nuorela 4 DF  FIN Jesper Engström 5 DF  FIN Mikko Pitkänen 9 FW  FIN Riku Jääskä 11 FW  DEN Mads Borchers 12 GK  FIN Lauri Vetri 14 MF  NGA Peter Eletu 16 FW  FIN Teemu Hytönen 17 FW  FIN Kalle Multanen 19 DF  FIN Martti Haukioja 20 DF  FIN Juho Hyvärinen 21 MF  GHA Prosper Ahiabu 23 DF  FIN Miika Niemi 24 GK  FIN Rasmus Leislahti

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 MF  FIN Samuel Lindeman 26 MF  FIN Antonio Almen 27 DF  FIN Gabriel Sillanpää 28 FW  FIN Roni Hudd 29 DF  GNB Pedro Justiniano 30 MF  FIN Joonas Vahtera 33 MF  FIN Akon Kuek 34 MF  FIN Antti-Ville Räisänen 36 DF  FIN Felix Friberg 44 MF  RUS Yevgeni Bashkirov 77 FW  FIN Samu Alanko — FW  SUR Gleofilo Vlijter — DF  ENG Alfie Cicale — FW  NGA Franklin Matib

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 10 March 2024^[7]

Name Role Jussi Nuorela Head Coach Henri Sillanpää Coach Kari Salmi Fitness Coach Vesa Kumpula Goalkeeper Coach Tommi Helminen Video Analyst Loai Mohamed Video Analyst Jouko Jokinen Team Manager Timo Jääskä Kit Manager Boardroom[edit] As of 24 September 2020[8] Name Role Timo Harri Chairman Riku Asukas Vice Chairman Petri Vuorinen Sporting director Managers[edit] Nuutti Lintamo (1945–46) Heikki Kultti (1945–48) Géza Toldi (1948–49) Tauno Koistinen (1950) Jussi Sillanpää (1951) Tauno Koistinen (1952–53) Martti Häyhä (1954–58) Ole Stolpe (1959) Erkki Riihimäki (1960–62) Niilo Kinnunen (1963) Jussi Sillanpää (1964–68) Jovan Jevtić (1969–70) Kari Dahlsten (1970–72) Raimo Hudd (1973) Eero Tuhkanen (1974–77) Pekka Mäkelä (1978) Erkki Myllyaho (1979) Esa Virta (1980–82) Raimo Hudd (1983) Jarmo Meltoranta (1984) Jerzy Wojtowicz (1985–87) Jarmo Meltoranta (1988–89) Markku Myötänen (1989–90) Boguslaw Hajdas (1991–92) Jerzy Wojtowicz (1993) Bogusław Hajdas (1993–95) Tomasz Arceusz (1995) Heikki Suhonen (1995) Hannu Touru (1996–98) Sören Cratz (1999) Kimmo Lipponen (1999) Jukka Ikäläinen (2000–01) Keijo Paananen (2002) Stephen Ward (2003–04) Jari Pyykölä (Jan 1, 2006 – June 9, 2007) Mika Koivumäki (2007) Janne Lindberg (June 18, 2007 – Dec 31, 2007) Tomi Kärkkäinen (Jan 1, 2008 – May 15, 2009) Petri Vuorinen (Jan 1, 2009 – May 15, 2009) Tommi Pikkarainen (2010–11) Petri Vuorinen (Jan 10, 2011 – July 28, 2011) Olli Huttunen (Jan 1, 2012 – Jun 29, 2015) Petri Vuorinen (Jun 29, 2015 – Jul 8, 2019) Christian Sund (Jul 8, 2019 – Dec 31, 2020) Jukka Karjalainen (Jan 1, 2021 – Jun 17, 2021) Jussi Nuorela (Jun 18, 2021–) References[edit] ^ "Design: Hietalahden Stadion – StadiumDB.com". stadiumdb.com. Retrieved 9 March 2017. ^ Draamaa Vaasassa - VPS nousi voittoon ja pronssille lisäajalla, HJK:n mestaruusjuhlat siirtyivät, helsinginsanomat.fi, 8 October 2023 ^ Jalkapallokirjat 1946–>, Suomen Palloliitto, ISSN 0787-7188 ^ Helsingin Sanomat, Volumes 1979-1987 ^ "Tulostus". www.urheilumuseo.fi. Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. ^ "VPS - Vaasan Palloseura. Vepsun viralliset kotisivut. Since 1924! - Joukkue". VPS - Vaasan Palloseura. Vepsun viralliset kotisivut. Since 1924!. Retrieved 21 March 2024. ^ "VPS 2023" (in Finnish). VPS. Retrieved 15 February 2024. ^ "Timo Harrista VPS Oy:n hallituksen uusi puheenjohtaja" (in Finnish). VPS. Retrieved 24 September 2020. External links[edit] Official website (in Finnish)