2020 Veikkausliiga

Last updated
Veikkausliiga
Season2020
ChampionsHJK
RelegatedRoPS, TPS
Champions League HJK
Europa Conference League KuPS
Inter Turku
FC Honka
Matches played132
Goals scored296 (2.24 per match)
Top goalscorer Albion Ademi
Roope Riski
(12 each) [1]
Biggest home win
HJK 6–1 IFK Mariehamn
(30 August 2020) [1]
Biggest away win FC Lahti 0–4 HJK
(1 July 2020) [1]
Highest scoring Ilves 4–3 IFK Mariehamn
(1 July 2020)
HJK 6–1 IFK Mariehamn
(30 August 2020)
HIFK 4–3 HJK
(10 September 2020) [1]
Longest winning run7 matches
KuPS [1]
Longest unbeaten run10 matches
HJK [1]
Longest winless run16 matches
RoPS [1]
Longest losing run12 matches
RoPS [1]
2019
2021

The 2020 Veikkausliiga was the 90th season of top-tier football in Finland with KuPS being the defending champions. [2] HJK won the league.

Contents

New league format

Veikkausliiga adopted a new league format for the 2019 season. Each team played against each other twice in the regular season. After the regular season the top six teams advanced to the Championship Series which determines the champion and European tournament qualification places. The bottom six teams advanced to the Challenger Series. The best team from the Challenger Series plays in a tournament against the Championship Series' 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams. The winner from that plays in a final series against the 3rd best team from the Championship Series. The last UEFA Europa Conference League qualification place goes to the winner of that final series. [3]

The bottom team from the Challenger Series will relegate to the Ykkönen, and second to last team will play in a relegation play-off series against the 2nd best team from Ykkönen.

Teams

VPS were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2019 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions FC Haka.

KPV as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team TPS in a relegation/promotion playoff.

Stadiums and locations

ClubLocationStadiumTurfCapacity
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 15,000
HIFK Helsinki Bolt Arena Artificial 10,770
HJK Helsinki Bolt Arena Artificial 10,770
IFK Mariehamn Mariehamn Wiklöf Holding Arena Artificial [4] 4,000
Ilves Tampere Tammelan Stadion Natural 5,040
KuPS Kuopio Savon Sanomat Areena Artificial 5,000
RoPS Rovaniemi Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Artificial 4,000
SJK Seinäjoki OmaSP Stadion Artificial 6,000
TPS Turku Veritas Stadion [5] Natural 9,372

League table

On 28 October 2020, it was decided to cancel the championship and relegation round due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland, and the regular season standings after 22 rounds would be considered final. [6]

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1 HJK (C)2214625317+3648Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Inter Turku 2212553617+1941Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3 KuPS 2212553926+1341
4 FC Honka 2291032617+937
5 Ilves 2210663729+836
6 FC Lahti 228863330+332
7 SJK 228592729229
8 HIFK 2284102933428
9 IFK Mariehamn 22651129431423
10 FC Haka 22571025411622
11 TPS (R)22631323391621Qualification for the relegation play-offs
12 RoPS (R)2212191551365Relegation to the Ykkönen
Source: ,
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; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away HAK HON INT LAH HFK HJK MAR ILV KPS RPS SJK TPS
FC Haka 1–10–22–20–21–40–10–22–40–21–42–1
FC Honka 1–21–12–10–10–01–03–21–11–00–03–1
Inter Turku 2–00–03–03–21–02–15–12–03–10–13–0
FC Lahti 0–00–02–22–10–43–13–21–23–00–01–1
HIFK 0–11–10–00–34–32–21–20–31–02–12–0
HJK 3–11–11–11–13–06–12–02–24–02–02–2
IFK Mariehamn 2–20–02–02–20–30–50–20–24–02–31–0
Ilves 1–14–10–23–12–21–24–30–01–00–04–0
KuPS 2–30–21–03–03–20–32–11–13–02–13–1
RoPS 2–21–30–20–40–10–12–31–10–22–32–3
SJK 1–10–23–20–13–21–21–21–31–12–11–0
TPS 2–30–21–01–31–00–21–10–13–24–11–0

European competition

Five teams would originally play for a spot in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round, but this was cancelled and the spot would be awarded based on regular season position.

Relegation play-offs

KTP 0–0 TPS
Arto Tolsa Areena , Kotka
Attendance: 1315
Referee: Mattias Gestranius
TPS 1–1 KTP
Muzaci Soccerball shade.svg58' Mäkijärvi Soccerball shade.svg83'
Veritas Stadion , Turku
Attendance: 2469
Referee: Dennis Antamo

1–1 on aggregate. KTP won on away goals.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 4 November 2020 [7]

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Flag of Finland.svg Roope Riski HJK 16
2 Flag of Albania.svg Albion Ademi IFK Mariehamn 14
3 Flag of Finland.svg Timo Furuholm Inter Turku 10
4 Flag of Finland.svg Jasin-Amin Assehnoun FC Lahti 9
Flag of Finland.svg Tim Väyrynen HJK
6 Flag of Finland.svg Lauri Ala-Myllymäki Ilves 7
Flag of Cameroon.svg Jean Marie Dongou FC Honka
Flag of Finland.svg Naatan Skyttä Ilves
Flag of Nigeria.svg Aniekpeno Udo KuPS
10 Flag of France.svg Dimitry Imbongo FC Lahti 6
Flag of Finland.svg Ilmari Niskanen KuPS
Flag of Finland.svg Salomo Ojala FC Haka

Awards

Annual awards

Award [8] WinnerClub
Player of the Year Flag of Finland.svg Roope Riski HJK
Goalkeeper of the Year Flag of the United States.svg Tim Murray Honka
Defender of the Year Flag of Finland.svg Daniel O'Shaughnessy HJK
Midfielder of the Year Flag of Ghana.svg Nana Boateng KuPS
Striker of the Year Flag of Finland.svg Roope Riski HJK
Breakthrough of the Year Flag of Nigeria.svg Usman Sale KuPS
Coach of the Year Flag of Finland.svg Samuel Fagerholm KuPS

Team of the Year

Team of the Year [9]
Goalkeeper Flag of the United States.svg Tim Murray (Honka)
Defence Flag of Finland.svg

Nikolai Alho

(HJK)

Flag of the Netherlands.svg

Rick Ketting (Inter Turku)

Flag of Finland.svg

Daniel O'Shaughnessy (HJK)

Flag of Colombia.svg

Luis Carlos Murillo (HJK)

Midfield Flag of Finland.svg

Riku Riski (HJK)

Flag of Ghana.svg Nana Boateng (KuPS)

Flag of Finland.svg

Naatan Skyttä (Ilves)

Flag of Albania.svg

Albion Ademi (Mariehamn)

Attack Flag of Finland.svg Timo Furuholm (Inter Turku) Flag of Finland.svg Roope Riski (HJK)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Summary: Veikkausliiga 2020 Regular Season". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  2. "Veikkausliiga".
  3. "Sarjajärjestelmä" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga.com. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. Wiklöf Holding Arenan uuden kentän rakennus etenee aikataulussa
  5. "Veikkausliiga - FC TPS". Archived from the original on 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  6. "Veikkausliiga päättyy runkosarjaan" [The Veikkausliiga ends in the regular season] (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. 29 October 2020.
  7. "PLAYERS: Topscorers". Soccerway. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  8. "Teemu Pukki ja Natalia Kuikka kruunattiin Vuoden jalkapalloilijoiksi – HJK:n Roope Riski kahmi palkintoja". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  9. "Pallo-Koplan Veikkausliigan tähdistöjoukkue on valittu". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.