2024 Veikkausliiga

Veikkausliiga

Season	2024
Dates	6 April – 19 October 2024
Champions	KuPS
Relegated	EIF Lahti
Champions League	KuPS
Conference League	HJK Ilves SJK
Top goalscorer	Ashley Coffey (12 goals)
Biggest home win	Ilves 5–0 FC Haka 17 May 2024
Biggest away win	Ekenäs IF 0–7 Inter Turku 14 July 2024
Highest scoring	Ilves 4–6 IF Gnistan 13 April 2024 SJK 5–5 FC Lahti 27 July 2024
Highest attendance	8,835 HJK 0–1 Ilves (28 September 2024)
← 2023 2025 → All statistics correct as of 19 October 2024.

The 2024 Veikkausliiga was the 94th season of top-tier football in Finland, which takes place from April to November. Veikkaus was the league's sponsor.

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; ten teams remaining from the previous season, and two teams promoted from the Ykkönen. HJK entered the season as defending champions (for the fourth consecutive season).

Team changes

Promoted from 2023 Ykkönen	Relegated to 2024 Ykkösliiga	Relegated to 2025 Ykkösliiga
EIF Gnistan	KTP	EIF Lahti

EIF were promoted as champions of the 2023 Ykkönen (returning to the top flight after a 90-year absence), replacing the bottom-placed 2023 Veikkausliiga team (KTP, relegated after a single-year stint in top flight). Ykkönen runners-up Gnistan were also promoted (marking their debut in the top flight) after fifth-placed Veikkausliiga team Honka were demoted due to bankruptcy, replacing them in the league. ^{[1] [2]}

At the end of the season, EIF were relegated back to Ykkösliiga after finishing 12th. The 11th placed team FC Lahti were defeated in the relegation play-offs by FF Jaro and were also relegated.

Stadiums and locations

Oulu

EIF

Haka

Inter

FC Lahti

HJK, Gnistan

IFK M

Ilves

KuPS

SJK

VPS

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Location of teams in 2024 Veikkausliiga

Club	Location	Stadium	Turf	Capacity
AC Oulu	Oulu	Raatti Stadium	Natural	5,000
Ekenäs IF	Ekenäs, Raseborg	Ekenäs Centrumplan	Artificial	1,900
FC Haka	Valkeakoski	Tehtaan kenttä	Artificial	3,516
FC Inter Turku	Turku	Veritas Stadion	Artificial	9,372
FC Lahti	Lahti	Lahti Stadium	Natural	7,465
HJK	Töölö, Helsinki	Bolt Arena	Artificial	10,770
IF Gnistan	Oulunkylä, Helsinki	Mustapekka Areena	Artificial	2,200
IFK Mariehamn	Mariehamn	Wiklöf Holding Arena	Artificial	1,650
Ilves	Tampere	Tammelan Stadion	Artificial	8,000
KuPS	Kuopio	Väre Areena	Artificial	4,778
SJK	Seinäjoki	OmaSP Stadion	Artificial	5,817
VPS	Vaasa	Hietalahti Stadium	Artificial	6,005

Personnel and kits

All teams are obligated to have the Veikkausliiga logo on the right sleeve of their shirt.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer
AC Oulu	Mikko Isokangas and / Rafinha	Niklas Jokelainen	Craft
Ekenäs IF	Christian Sund	Enoch Kofi Adu	Craft
FC Haka	Andy Smith	Guilherme Morais	Puma
FC Inter Turku	Vesa Vasara	Juuso Hämäläinen	Nike
FC Lahti	Ricardo Duarte	Mikko Viitikko	Adidas
HJK	Toni Korkeakunnas	Joona Toivio	Adidas
IF Gnistan	Jussi Leppälahti	Jukka Raitala	Puma
IFK Mariehaman	Gary Williams	Robin Sid	Puma
Ilves	Joonas Rantanen	Otso Virtanen	Adidas
KuPS	Jani Honkavaara	Petteri Pennanen	Puma
SJK	Stevie Grieve	Ville Tikkanen	Adidas
VPS	Jussi Nuorela	Jesper Engström	Nike

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in the table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
AC Oulu	Rauno Ojanen / Jussi-Pekka Savolainen	Contract expired	30 November 2023	Pre-season	Tuomas Silvennoinen	8 November 2023
AC Oulu	Tuomas Silvennoinen	Dismissed	13 June 2024	10th	Kostas Bratsos	20 June 2024
AC Oulu	Kostas Bratsos	Dismissed	2 September 2024	9th	Mikko Isokangas / Rafinha (caretakers)	2 September 2024
Ekenäs IF	Gabriel Garcia Xatart	Dismissed	10 August 2024	12th	Christian Sund	12 August 2024
FC Haka	Teemu Tainio	Signed by AEL Limassol		Pre-season	Andy Smith	31 October 2023 [3]
FC Inter Turku	Jarkko Wiss	Contract terminated	6 November 2023 [4]		Vesa Vasara	17 November 2023 [5]
FC Lahti	Toni Lindberg	Dismissed	20 June 2024	11th	Ricardo Duarte	21 June 2024
HJK	Toni Korkeakunnas	Contract expired		Pre-season	Ossi Virta / Ferran Sibila	14 November 2023
HJK	Ossi Virta / Ferran Sibila	Dismissed	20 May 2024	5th	Toni Korkeakunnas	20 May 2024
IF Gnistan	Joonas Rantanen	Signed by Ilves	23 October 2023 [6]	Pre-season	Jussi Leppälahti	10 November 2023 [7]
IFK Mariehamn	Jimmy Wargh	Appointed the club director			Bruno Romão	20 December 2023 [8]
IFK Mariehamn	Bruno Romão	Resigned	14 August 2024 [9]	11th	Gary Williams	16 August 2024
Ilves	Joni Lehtonen	Appointed the assistant coach		Pre-season	Joonas Rantanen	23 October 2023
SJK	Joaquín Gomez	Signed by Al Qadsiah FC	4 November 2023		Stevie Grieve/ Toni Lehtinen	12 January 2024 [10]

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	KuPS	22	13	5	4	39	22	+17	44	Qualification for the Championship Round
2	HJK	22	13	4	5	41	21	+20	43
3	Ilves	22	11	6	5	45	25	+20	39
4	SJK	22	10	6	6	40	33	+7	36
5	Haka	22	10	5	7	35	32	+3	35
6	VPS	22	9	5	8	34	36	−2	32
7	Inter Turku	22	9	4	9	38	29	+9	31	Qualification for the Relegation Round
8	Gnistan	22	8	6	8	32	34	−2	30
9	Oulu	22	5	6	11	26	36	−10	21
10	Mariehamn	22	5	5	12	20	38	−18	20
11	Lahti	22	3	10	9	26	38	−12	19
12	EIF	22	3	4	15	19	51	−32	13

Source: Flashscore
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).

Results

Home \ Away	EIF	GNI	HAK	HJK	ILV	INT	KPS	LAH	MAR	OUL	SJK	VPS
EIF	—	1–0	1–2	0–3	0–2	0–7	1–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–2
Gnistan	1–2	—	0–3	0–4	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	3–0
Haka	2–1	1–2	—	1–1	4–3	0–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	4–3	2–0	1–2
HJK	0–0	1–0	2–0	—	1–1	1–0	3–1	4–0	2–1	3–0	4–1	1–2
Ilves	5–0	4–6	5–0	3–0	—	3–0	1–2	0–0	2–0	3–2	2–2	3–2
Inter Turku	2–1	2–2	3–1	0–1	0–2	—	1–1	3–0	3–0	3–3	3–0	3–1
KuPS	4–1	3–1	0–1	3–1	1–0	1–2	—	1–0	3–0	4–1	2–1	2–1
Lahti	4–0	3–3	1–1	2–1	2–2	0–2	0–1	—	3–0	1–2	0–4	0–0
Mariehamn	3–2	1–1	0–3	1–2	0–1	3–1	2–2	0–0	—	2–1	0–4	0–0
Oulu	2–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	—	1–2	1–2
SJK	3–1	0–1	2–1	3–3	1–0	3–1	1–1	5–5	0–2	2–1	—	3–1
VPS	2–3	3–2	3–2	1–3	1–1	3–1	1–3	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	—

Source: Flashscore
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship Round

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	KuPS (C)	27	17	5	5	46	24	+22	56	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Ilves	27	16	6	5	56	27	+29	54	Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round [a]
3	HJK	27	13	6	8	44	27	+17	45	Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round [a]
4	SJK (O)	27	11	7	9	46	44	+2	40	Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off final
5	VPS	27	11	6	10	43	45	−2	39	Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals
6	Haka	27	11	5	11	40	43	−3	38

Source: Flashscore
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; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:

1. The 2024 Finnish Cup winners qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round. Since the cup winners (KuPS) qualified based on league position, the Conference League second round spot was passed to the second-placed team, the Conference League first round spot was passed to the third-placed team, the Conference League play-off final spot was passed to the fourth-placed team, and the fourth Conference League play-off quarter-final spot was passed to the eighth-placed team.

Results

Home \ Away	HAK	HJK	ILV	KPS	SJK	VPS
Haka	—	—	—	—	0–3	2–3
HJK	0–1	—	0–1	—	2–2	—
Ilves	3–2	—	—	1–0	4–0	—
KuPS	2–0	1–0	—	—	—	3–1
SJK	—	—	—	0–1	—	1–4
VPS	—	1–1	0–2	—	—	—

Source: Flashscore
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation Round

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Inter Turku	27	12	5	10	46	34	+12	41	Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals
2	Gnistan	27	10	7	10	40	43	−3	37
3	Oulu	27	7	7	13	32	40	−8	28
4	Mariehamn	27	7	5	15	27	44	−17	26
5	Lahti (R)	27	4	12	11	31	47	−16	24	Qualification for the Veikkausliiga play-off
6	EIF (R)	27	4	7	16	24	57	−33	19	Relegation to the Ykkösliiga

Source: Flashscore
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).
(R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	EIF	GNI	INT	LAH	MAR	OUL
EIF	—	3–1	—	—	—	1–1
Gnistan	—	—	—	2–2	2–1	1–0
Inter Turku	1–1	3–2	—	3–1	—	—
Lahti	0–0	—	—	—	2–1	—
Mariehamn	3–0	—	0–1	—	—	—
Oulu	—	—	1–0	3–0	1–2	—

Source: Flashscore
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Results by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
AC Oulu	L	D	D	L	L	D	D	L	W	L	D	D	W	L	W	W	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	W	L	D	L
Ekenäs IF	L	L	D	L	D	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	D	W	L	D	D
FC Haka	L	W	D	D	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	D	L	W	W	L	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	L	L	W	L
FC Inter Turku	L	D	D	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	D	W	W	W	D	W	L	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	W
FC Lahti	D	L	D	L	L	W	D	L	L	L	D	D	D	L	L	L	D	W	W	D	D	D	L	W	L	D	D
HJK	L	W	W	D	D	D	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	W	W	D	D	L	L	L
IF Gnistan	W	W	L	L	L	D	D	L	D	W	L	L	D	L	L	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	L	W	D	L
IFK Mariehamn	W	D	L	L	W	L	D	D	W	L	D	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	W
Ilves	D	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	D	L	D	W	D	D	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	D	W	W	W	W	W
KuPS	W	D	D	W	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W
SJK	W	D	W	D	W	D	L	W	W	L	L	W	D	W	W	W	D	D	W	L	L	D	D	W	L	L	L
VPS	W	D	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	D	D	D	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	D	L	L	D	W	L	W

Source: veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose

Play-offs

Conference League play-off

Teams placed 4th-8th entered play-off matches for the second spot in the Conference League first qualifying round; the 4th-placed team received a bye to the final. The quarter and semi-finals are held over one leg (with the higher-placed team gaining home advantage), while the final is held over two legs.

Quarter-finals

Haka (6th) v Inter Turku (7th)

23 October 2024	Haka (6th)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Inter Turku (7th)	Valkeakoski
13:00 BST	Olusanya 73' Bah-Traoré 114'		Botué 40'	Stadium: Tehtaan kenttä

VPS (5th) v Gnistan (8th)

23 October 2024	VPS (5th)	0–1	Gnistan (8th)	Vaasa
13:00 BST			Penninkangas 78'	Stadium: Hietalahti

Semi-finals

Haka (6th) v Gnistan (8th)

26 October 2024	Haka (6th)	3–3 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Gnistan (8th)	Valkeakoski
15:00 BST	Olusanya 32' Whyte 89' Dantas 115'		Väyrynen 68' Heiskanen 83' Latonenn 109'	Stadium: Tehtaan kenttä
	Penalties
	Lanquedoc Mastokangas Olusanya Dantas Whyte		Väyrynen Pyyskänen Eremenko Kabashi Tatar

Final

First leg

Haka (6th) v SJK (4th)

30 October 2024	Haka (6th)	1–2	SJK (4th)	Valkeakoski
16:00 BST	Fall 66'		Streng 45' Moreno 80'	Stadium: Tehtaan kenttä

Second leg

SJK (4th) v Haka (6th)

2 November 2024	SJK (4th)	2–2 (4–3 agg.)	Haka (6th)	Seinäjoki
12:30 BST				Stadium: OmaSP Stadion

Veikkausliiga play-off

The eleventh-placed team (Lahti) faced the second-placed team from the 2024 Ykkösliiga (Jaro) in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the 2025 Veikkausliiga.

First leg

Jaro v Lahti

23 October 2024	Jaro	2–0	Lahti	Jakobstad
16:30 BST	Crona 35' Eremenko 52' (pen.)			Stadium: Centralplan

Second leg

Lahti v Jaro

27 October 2024	Lahti	1–0 (1–2 agg.)	Jaro	Lahti
14:00 BST	Luquinhas 56' (pen.)			Stadium: Lahden Stadion

Season statistics

Top goalscorers As of 2 November 2024 [11] Rank Player Club Goals 1 Ashley Coffey AC Oulu 12 Jaime Moreno SJK 3 Joakim Latonen Gnistan 11 Roope Riski Ilves Adam Larsson IFK Mariehamn 6 Mads Borchers VPS 10 Santeri Haarala Ilves 8 Michael López Lahti 9 Evangelos Patoulidis Haka Darren Smith Inter Turku Anthony Olusanya HJK / Haka 12 Maissa Fall Haka 8 Kasper Paananen SJK 14 Teemu Hytönen VPS 7 Rasmus Karjalainen SJK Salomo Ojala EIF Petteri Pennanen KuPS Jean Botué Inter Turku 19 Topi Keskinen HJK 6 Luke Plange HJK Vertti Hänninen Gnistan Luke Ivanovic Lahti

Hat-tricks As of 7 June 2024 Player For Against Result Date Joakim Latonen Gnistan Ilves 6–4 (A) 13 April 2024 [12] Luke Plange HJK SJK 4–1 (H) 7 June 2024 [13]

Awards

Annual awards

Award [14]	Winner	Club
Player of the Year	Petteri Pennanen	KuPS
Goalkeeper of the Year	Johannes Kreidl	KuPS
Defender of the Year	Juhani Pikkarainen	Ilves
Midfielder of the Year	Petteri Pennanen	KuPS
Striker of the Year	Ashley Coffey	AC Oulu
Rookie of the Year	Matias Siltanen	KuPS
Manager of the Year	Jani Honkavaara	KuPS

Monthly awards

Month	Coach of the Month	Player of the Month
April [15]	Toni Lehtinen (SJK)	Topi Keskinen (HJK)
May [16]	Jani Honkavaara (KuPS)	Ashley Coffey (AC Oulu)
June [17]	Toni Korkeakunnas (HJK)	Jaime Moreno (SJK)
July [18]	Jani Honkavaara (KuPS)(2)	Santeri Haarala (Ilves)
August [19]	Jussi Leppälahti (Gnistan)	Tim Väyrynen (Gnistan)
September	Joonas Rantanen (Ilves)	Adeleke Akinyemi (Ilves)
October [20]	Jani Honkavaara (KuPS)(3)	Petteri Pennanen (KuPS)

Team of the Year

Kreidl Pikkarainen Antwi Cissé Heiskanen Pennanen Popovitch Veteli Haarala Moreno Jukkola

Team of the Year [21]
Goalkeeper	Johannes Kreidl (KuPS)
Defence	Clinton Antwi (KuPS)	Juhani Pikkarainen (Ilves)	Ibrahim Cissé (KuPS)	Saku Heiskanen (Gnistan)
Midfield	Petteri Pennanen (KuPS)	Anton Popovitch (Ilves)	Joona Veteli (Ilves)	Oiva Jukkola (Ilves)
Attack	Jaime Moreno (SJK)	Santeri Haarala (Ilves)

Manager	Jani Honkavaara (KuPS)
Director	Miika Takkula (Ilves)

Attendance

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	HJK	85,069	8,835		6,363	+13.0%†
2	Ilves	80,941	8,017		5,782	+128.2%†
3	KuPS	49,843	8,543		3,560	+26.4%†
4	SJK	40,384	4,619		3,106	+1.2%†
5	VPS	37,727	3,412		2,961	+10.6%†
6	FC Inter Turku	35,967	4,023		2,511	−17.0%†
7	FC Lahti	29,315	3,471		2,255	+3.7%†
8	Haka	29,116	4,347		2,240	−11.8%†
9	Gnistan	29,838	3,024		2,131	+161.8%†
10	AC Oulu	24,336	2,929		1,738	−10.5%†
11	IFK Mariehamn	17,446	1,723		1,342	+14.4%†
12	EIF	15,053	1,640		1,158	+24.2%†
	League total	473,225	8,835		2,957	+9.3%†

Source:
Notes:
^† Promoted from 2023 Ykkönen

See also

• Association football portal
• Finland portal

Competitions 2024 Ykkösliiga 2024 Ykkönen 2024 Kakkonen 2024 Finnish Cup

Team seasons 2024 HJK season 2024 Kuopion Palloseura season 2024 Vaasan Palloseura season

References

1. "Ghanaian midfielder Enoch Adu Kofi leads Ekenäs IF to Finnish top-flight promotion after 90-year hiatus". Ghana Soccernet. 14 November 2023.
2. "Gnistan gets Veikkausliiga-level conditions in Oulunkylä - "Thanks to the city for excellent cooperation"". Veikkausliiga. 22 February 2024.
3. FC Haka palkkasi yllätysnimen – ansioluettelo päävalmentajana erittäin lyhyt, Helsingin Sanomat, 31 October 2023.
4. Turun Inter erotti Jarkko Wissin – MTV: päävalmentaja ahdisteli naistyöntekijää, Yle, 6 November 2023.
5. Vesa Vasara siirtyy FC Interin päävalmentajaksi, suomifutis.com, 17 November 2023.
6. Joonas Rantanen Ilveksen päävalmentajaksi – jalkapallojoukkueen nykyinen valmennustiimi jatkaa tukena, Yle, 23 October 2023.
7. JUSSI LEPPÄLAHTI GNISTANIN PÄÄVALMENTAJAKSI, gnistan.fi, 10 November 2023.
8. IFK Mariehamn portugalilaiskomentoon - Bruno Romão uusi päävalmentaja, veikkausliiga.com, 20 December 2023.
9. IFK Mariehamnin vuoro vaihtaa päävalmentajaa: Bruno Romao sivuun, Yle
10. Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerhon päävalmentaja kaudella 2024 on Toni Lehtinen, sjk.fi, 12 January 2024.
11. "Veikkausliiga perustilastot". Veikkausliiga .
12. Villi 10 maalin ottelu Veikkausliigassa – tulikuuma Joakim Latonen iski hattutempun ja Gnistan nousi sarjakärkeen, Yle, 13 April 2024.
13. Luke Plangen hattutempulla kolme pistettä – ”Tarvitsimme tätä voittoa”, hjk.fi, 8 June 2024
14. Captain’s Ball 2024 Timo Nummelinille – Katso kaikki palkitut, Football Association of Finland, 5 December 2024
15. Huhtikuun joukkue valittu - HJK:n Topi Keskinen Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaaja (in Finnish)
16. AC Oulun Ashley Coffey kuukauden pelaaja - Veikkausliigan toukokuun joukkue valittu (in Finnish)
17. SJK:n Jaime Moreno Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaaja kesäkuussa, veikkaus.fi, 5 July 2024
18. Ilveksen Santeri Haarala Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaaja heinäkuussa, veikkaus.fi, 2 August 2024
19. Gnistanin Tim Väyrynen Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaaja elokuussa, veikkaus.fi, 30 August 2024
20. KuPS:n Petteri Pennanen Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaaja lokakuussa, veikkaus.fi, 6 November 2024
21. "Koplajoukkue 2024 nimetty - jalkapallotoimittajien valinnat vuoden parhaiksi palkitaan lauantaina". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-10-20.

External links

• Official website
• Veikkausliiga 2024 Regular Season at Soccerway
• Flashscore