Simo Valakari

Simo Valakari

Valakari as the head coach of SJK in 2015.
Personal information
Full name	Simo Johannes Valakari [1]
Date of birth	(1973-04-28) 28 April 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth	Helsinki, Finland
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Riga FC (manager)
Youth career
	KäPa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990	KäPa	16	(2)
1991–1994	Kontu	59	(7)
1995–1996	FinnPa	48	(5)
1996–2000	Motherwell	103	(0)
2000–2004	Derby County	46	(3)
2004–2006	FC Dallas [lower-alpha 1]	89	(1)
2007–2009	TPS	38	(1)
Total		399	(19)
International career
1996–2003	Finland	32	(0)
Managerial career
2010	ÅIFK
2022	KäPa (youth)
2012–2016	SJK
2017–2020	Tromsø
2021–2022	KuPS
2023	Auda
2024–	Riga FC
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Simo Johannes Valakari (born 28 April 1973) is a Finnish football manager and a former international football player. He is currently the manager of Latvian Higher League side Riga FC.

Playing career

Club

Valakari played in the youth sector of Käpylän Pallo (KäPa) in Käpylä, Helsinki, and began his senior career with KäPa first team in 1990 in the fourth-tier Kolmonen. He played also for Kontula-based club KontU in the Finnish second-tier Ykkönen and third-tier Kakkonen, before first moving to Veikkausliiga club FinnPa in 1995 and then to Scottish Premier League club Motherwell in 1996. After four seasons in Scotland, he was off to Derby County in the Premier League.

Valakari failed to become a first team regular at Pride Park Stadium and decided to join Dallas Burn for the 2004 MLS season and finished the year with a goal and four assists. Following the 2006 season, his contract was not renewed with the team, known by that time as FC Dallas. ^[2]

Valakari decided to return to Finland for the 2007 Veikkausliiga season, where he signed for TPS, managed by Mixu Paatelainen. He retired from playing in 2009 after several injuries.

International

Valakari was a regular with the Finnish national team during his stay in Europe. He made a total of 32 caps for his country.

Managerial career

Valakari was named manager of Åbo IFK in January 2010 and subsequently ended his playing career. ^[3] He, however returned "home" as he announced his return to Käpylän Pallo as a youth coach after the 2010 season. ^[4]

SJK

In 2012, Valakari joined Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (SJK) as the head coach. In 2013, he managed the team to gain promotion to the Veikkausliiga and they went on to win the Finnish championship in 2015. The team also won the Finnish League Cup in 2014 and the Finnish Cup in 2016.

Tromsø IL

After working as assistant manager for the Finnish national team after being fired from the SJK job, he was appointed head coach of Norwegian Eliteserien side Tromsø IL in June 2017. In 2018, his contract was extended until 2022, but he was fired after the relegation in 2019.

KuPS

In November 2020, Valakari was appointed as the head coach of Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS). ^{[5] [6]} Under Valakari, KuPS won two consecutive Finnish Cup titles in 2021 and 2022, ^[7] and finished in the 2nd place in Veikkausliiga twice, falling just a one point short to HJK on both occasions. Valakari also led KuPS to the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers on two occasions. In 2021–22, the club reached to the (fourth) play-off round, but was knocked out by Union Berlin. Next year they reached to the 3rd round, where they eventually fell short to Young Boys.

His contract was terminated by mutual consent on 13 January 2023. ^[8]

FK Auda

Shortly after his contract termination with KuPS, it was announced that Valakari was named the head coach of FK Auda in Latvia for the 2023 season. ^{[9] [10]} Valakari was named The Virslīga Coach of the Month in September 2023. ^[11] In the end of the season, Auda finished 3rd in the league and won their first medal in the premier division, and also qualified for the UEFA Conference League qualifiers again. ^[12]

Riga FC

On 13 December 2023, it was reported in Finnish media that Valakari is about to be named the new head coach of a fellow Latvian side Riga FC. ^[13] On the next day, the club confirmed that they had appointed Valakari as the new head coach. ^[14] On 2 March 2024, Valakari and Riga FC won the 2024 Latvian Supercup, beating RFS in the final on penalties. ^[15]

Personal life

Valakari's three sons are also footballers. His oldest son Paavo is playing at an amateur level in lower divisions in Finland, Onni is playing professionally for Pafos in Cyprus, and the youngest one Toivo plays for Käpylän Pallo (KäPa) in Helsinki, Finland. ^{[16] [17]}

Career statistics

As of 31 December 2020 ^{[18] [19] [20]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 2]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
KäPa	1990	Kolmonen	16	2	—		—		16	2
Kontu	1991	Ykkönen					—
	1992	Kakkonen					—
	1993	Ykkönen					—
	1994	Ykkönen					—
	Total		59	7			—		59	7
FinnPa	1995	Veikkausliiga	22	3	—		—		22	3
	1996	Veikkausliiga	26	2	—		—		26	2
	Total		48	5	0	0	0	0	48	5
Motherwell	1996–97	Scottish Premier Division	11	0	—		—		11	0
	1997–98	Scottish Premier Division	27	0	—		—		27	0
	1998–99	Scottish Premier League	35	0	—		—		35	0
	1999–00	Scottish Premier League	30	0	—		—		30	0
	Total		103	0	7	0	4 [lower-alpha 3]	0	114	0
Derby County	2000–01	Premier League	11	1	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 4]	0	14	1
	2001–02	Premier League	9	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	10	0
	2002–03	First Division	6	2	0	0	0	0	6	2
	2003–04	First Division	20	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	21	0
	Total		46	3	0	0	5	0	51	3
FC Dallas [lower-alpha 1]	2004	MLS	26	1	—		—		26	1
	2005	MLS	30	0	—		—		30	0
	2006	MLS	33	0	—		—		33	0
	Total		89	1	0	0	0	0	89	1
TPS	2007	Veikkausliiga	25	0	0	0	0	0	25	0
	2008	Veikkausliiga	6	1	0	0	0	0	6	1
	2009	Veikkausliiga	7	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 5]	0	10	0
	Total		38	1	0	0	3	0	41	1
Career total			399	19	7	0	12	0	419	19

1. "Dallas Burn" before name change to FC Dallas in 2005
2. Includes Scottish Cup
3. Includes Scottish League Cup
4. Includes EFL League Cup
5. Includes Finnish League Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Finland	1996	1	0
	1997	3	0
	1998	5	0
	1999	5	0
	2000	5	0
	2001	0	0
	2002	4	0
	2003	9	0
Total		32	0

Managerial statistics

As of 24 May 2024 ^[21]

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W%
SJK		1 September 2012	17 February 2016	165	92	32	41	275	153	+122	055.76
Tromsø		27 July 2017	20 April 2020	81	31	11	39	126	136	−10	038.27
KuPS		1 January 2021	13 January 2023	83	52	18	13	153	80	+73	062.65
Auda		16 January 2023	14 December 2023	40	17	11	12	50	49	+1	042.50
Riga FC		14 December 2023	Present	15	10	2	3	28	2	+26	066.67
Total				384	202	74	108	632	429	+203	052.60

Managerial achievements

SJK Seinäjoki

• Veikkausliiga: 2015, 2014 Runners-up, 2016 3rd place
• Finnish Cup: 2016
• Finnish League Cup: 2014

Kuopion Palloseura

• Veikkausliiga: 2021 Runners-up, 2022 Runners-up
• Finnish Cup: 2021, 2022

FK Auda

• Virslīga: 2023 3rd place

Riga FC

• Latvian Supercup: 2024 ^[22]

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Coach of the Month: June 2014, ^[23] October 2015 ^[24]

• Veikkausliiga Coach of the Year: 2015 ^[25]

• Virslīga Coach of the Month: September 2023 ^[11]

References

1. "Simo Valakari". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
2. Carrick, Buzz. "FCD to Cut Ties with Simo Valakari", 3rd Degree, 15 December 2006, Retrieved 15 December 2006.
3. "Åbo IFK - Fotboll". Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
4. "Suomen Palloliitto - Artikkeliarkisto" (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
5. "Simo Valakari on KuPS:n uusi päävalmentaja". kups.fi. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
6. Simo Valakari nousee KuPSin päävalmentajaksi, Hirvonen Hinni, Yle, 4 November 2020
7. Savon kallein valmentaja: KuPSin cupin mestaruuteen luotsannut Simo Valakari keräsi yli 130 000 euron ansiotulot, Savon Sanomat, 8 November 2023
8. Simo Valakarin päävalmentajasopimus on purettu, 13 January 2023, kups.fi
9. Simo Valakarin uusi työpaikka varmistui - jättää Suomen taakseen, Iltalehti, 16 January 2021
10. Analyysi: Simo Valakari on menossa seuraan, jolla on yllättävä yhteys hänen poikaansa - taustalla Latvian mustalle listalle päätyneet oligarkit, Saatsi Samu, Yle, 15 January 2021
11. Septembra labākie – R.Ramiress un S.Valakari, 18 October 2023, Virslīga
12. FK Auda Detalizēta statistika, optibetvirsliga.com
13. MTV Urheilun tiedot: Simo Valakari suurseuran peräsimeen, mtvuutiset.fi / MTV Oy, Eetu Ikola, 13 December 2023
14. SIMO VALAKARI BECOMES THE NEW “RIGA FOOTBALL CLUB” HEAD COACH, rigafc.lv/en, 14 December 2023
15. LATVIAN SUPERCUP WINNERS, rigafc.lv/en, 5 March 2024
16. Kuparinen, Heikki (12 November 2020). "Marcus Forss ja Onni Valakari nousivat sukujensa parhaiksi maalintekijöiksi A-maajoukkueessa heti debyyteissään".
17. Toivo Valakari sopimukseen Käpylän Pallon kanssa!, kapylanpalloedustus.fi, 28 February 2023
18. Simo Valakari stats at Finnish Fa
19. Simo Valakari, WorldFootball
20. Simo Valakari, motherwellnet.com
21. "Simo Valakari Manager profile" (in Bosnian). 11 November 2023.
22. RIGAS FS VS. RIGA 1 - 1, soccerway
23. "KuPSin Admir Catovic Veikkausliigan kesäkuun pelaaja". Archived from the original on 9 July 2014.
24. "Aleksandr Kokko Kuukauden pelaaja lokakuussa". www.veikkausliiga.com.
25. Kai (30 October 2015). "Tässä ovat Captain's Ball -futisgaalan kaikki palkitut tahot". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.

External links

• Simo Valakari at National-Football-Teams.com