Veikkausliiga

Founded	1990; 34 years ago (1990)
Country	Finland
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Ykkönen 1–2 (depending on qualification playoffs)
Domestic cup(s)	Finnish Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Conference League
Current champions	HJK (2023)
Most championships	HJK Helsinki (33)
TV partners	Ruutu+, Nelonen, Jim
Website	veikkausliiga.com
Current: 2024 Veikkausliiga

Veikkausliiga (Finnish: [ˈʋei̯kːɑusˌliːɡɑ]; Swedish: Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name. Veikkausliiga was founded in 1990; before that the top division was called Mestaruussarja (championship series) since 1930 which was an amateur or semi-professional league. Between 1908 and 1930 the championship was decided as a knock-out cup competition.

Structure

During the 1990 and 1991 seasons the Veikkausliiga was played under the name "Futisliiga" (Swedish: Fotbollsligan).^[1]

As with certain other cold-climate European countries, league matches in Finland are played in summer, with a schedule usually from April to October. The format and number of teams has changed frequently. As of 2020 there are 12 teams, which first face the other teams two times. After the two rounds, the league is divided into championship group (6 teams) and challenger group (6 teams), and both groups play a single series of five further matches. At the end of the season, the last team is relegated to Ykkönen, whose winner is promoted to Veikkausliiga, and the second last team plays a two-leg play-off versus the Ykkönen runner-up.

In 2010 the average annual salary with fringe benefits for a league player was 24,400 euros.^[2] Veikkausliiga is a founding member of the European Professional Football Leagues association.^[3]

Clubs

The Veikkausliiga clubs in the 2024 season are presented in the table below. Number of seasons includes seasons played in Veikkausliiga and preceding Mestaruussarja and seasons of predecessor teams after season 2023. In the case of mergers, the seasons of the predecessor with the most seasons are counted.

Former clubs

^{1) FC Jazz was formerly known as PPT (Porin Pallotoverit).
2) Kuusysi and Reipas merged their professional teams in 1996 to form FC Lahti. Kuusysi returned to Kakkonen in 2011 under the name Lahti Akatemia, while Reipas returned to Kolmonen one year later.
3) Tampere United was formed in 1998 after it inherited the place of FC Ilves. Tampere United was dissolved in 2011 and Ilves, which in the meantime had bought the place of KooVee in second division, got promoted back to the highest league in 2015.}

Veikkausliiga 1990–present

Performance

Performance by club

The following clubs have won:

Finnish Championship Cup Competition (1908–1929)
Mestaruussarja (1930–1989)
Veikkausliiga (1990–present)

30 clubs have been Champions.

Top scorers

Season	Player	Club	Goals
1990	Marek Czakon	Ilves	16
1991	Kimmo Tarkkio	FC Haka	23
1992	Luiz Antônio Moraes	FC Jazz	21
1993	Antti Sumiala	FC Jazz	20
1994	Dionísio	TPV	17
1995	Valeri Popovitch	FC Haka	21
1996	Luiz Antônio Moraes	FC Jazz	17
1997	Rafael	HJK	11
1998	Matti Hiukka	RoPS	11
1999	Valeri Popovitch	FC Haka	23
2000	Shefki Kuqi	FC Jokerit	19
2001	Paulus Roiha	HJK	22
2002	Mika Kottila	HJK	18
2003	Saku Puhakainen	MyPa	14
2004	Antti Pohja	TamU	16
2005	Juho Mäkelä	HJK	16
2006	Hermanni Vuorinen	FC Honka	16
2007	Rafael	FC Lahti	14
2008	Aleksandr Kokko	FC Honka	13
	Henri Myntti	TamU
2009	Hermanni Vuorinen	FC Honka	16
2010	Juho Mäkelä	HJK	16
2011	Timo Furuholm	FC Inter Turku	22
2012	Irakli Sirbiladze	FC Inter Turku	17
2013	Tim Väyrynen	FC Honka	17
2014	Jonas Emet	FF Jaro	14
	Luis Solignac	IFK Mariehamn
2015	Aleksandr Kokko	RoPS	17
2016	Roope Riski	SJK	17
2017	Aleksei Kangaskolkka	IFK Mariehamn	16
2018	Klauss	HJK	21
2019	Filip Valenčič	FC Inter	16
2020	Roope Riski	HJK	16
2021	Benjamin Källman	FC Inter	14
	Ariel Ngueukam	SJK
2022	Lee Erwin	FC Haka	20
2023	Bojan Radulović	HJK	18

Individual all-time records

Most matches played[edit] Player Time Matches Toni Huttunen 1992–2009 441 Mikko Hauhia 2003–2019 416 Ari Nyman 2000–2018 406 Valeri Popovitch 1993–2009 395 Saku Puhakainen 1995–2009 382 Tommi Kautonen 1990–2006 376 Juuso Kangaskorpi 1993–2008 373 Tuomas Aho 1999–2017 371 Alexei Eremenko 1991–2005 360 Aarno Turpeinen 1990–2004 358 Rafael 1997–2016 358 Henri Lehtonen 2000–2017 358 Vesa Rantanen 1991–2004 354 Tero Taipale 1997–2014 352 Rami Nieminen 1991–2004 347 Last updated: 1 November 2022. Source: Veikkausliiga.com.

Most goals scored[edit] Player Time Goals Matches Average Valeri Popovitch 1993–2009 166 395 0.42 Rafael 1997–2016 136 358 0.38 Saku Puhakainen 1995–2009 114 382 0.30 Juho Mäkelä 2003–2018 111 288 0.39 Luiz Antônio 1992–2003 94 196 0.48 Antti Pohja 1994–2009 87 302 0.29 Timo Furuholm 2003–2021 85 230 0.37 Jari Vanhala 1991–1999 85 236 0.36 Ismo Lius 1991–1999 84 176 0.48 Akseli Pelvas 2007–2020 80 233 0.34 Demba Savage 2008–2021 80 280 0.29 Kimmo Tarkkio 1990–1999 79 178 0.44 Juha Karvinen 1990–2000 77 255 0.30 Ilja Venäläinen 2001–2013 76 304 0.25 Aleksei Kangaskolkka 2004–2018 76 246 0.31 Last updated: 1 November 2022. Source: Veikkausliiga.com.