There are three different Finnish Player of the Year Awards in Finland. The sports journalists have elected their male "Player of the Year" since 1947, the Football Association of Finland theirs since 1953. In 1976 the FA began selecting a female "Player of the Year".
AC Oulu is a Finnish professional football club based in Oulu, currently playing in Finland's premier division, Veikkausliiga. Formed in 2002, the club have played five seasons in Finland's highest football league Veikkausliiga and 16 seasons in the second highest league Ykkönen. They currently play their home games at Raatti Stadium, and the club colours are navy blue, and white.
Roman Alekseyevich Eremenko is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Veikkausliiga club IF Gnistan. Born in Russia, he has represented Finland at international level.
Erfan Zeneli is a Finnish footballer of Kosovar Albanian descent who plays for SexyPöxyt as a striker or left winger. Besides Finland, he has played in Israel and Kazakhstan.
Laura Elina Österberg Kalmari is a Finnish former professional footballer. Immediately prior to her retirement in early 2012, she had been playing as a forward for American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) team Sky Blue FC. She is the Finland women's national football team's most capped player.
Markku Tapio Kanerva is a Finnish football manager, former player and elementary school teacher. He is the current manager of the Finland national team.
Jani Lyyski is a Finnish former footballer.
Tim Väyrynen is a Finnish professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for Liechtensteiner club Vaduz in the Swiss Challenge League.
Walter Viitala is a Finnish footballer who plays as goalkeeper for Inter Turku.
Emile Paul Tendeng is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.
The 2008 Naisten Liiga, part of the 2008 Finnish football season, was the second season of the 2006 established Naisten Liiga. FC Honka were the defending champions, having won the 2007 season. SC Raisio withdrew from the league and was replaced by TPS Turku.
The 2016 Veikkausliiga is the 86th season of top-tier football in Finland. The season started on 2 April 2016; the regular season ended on 23 October 2016, with a promotion/relegation playoff continuing until 29 October. SJK were the defending champions.
Aleksandr Yuryevich Vasyutin is a Russian football player who plays as a goalkeeper.
The 2017 Veikkausliiga was the 87th season of top-tier football in Finland. IFK Mariehamn were the defending champions.
Mikko Kuningas is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or forward for Lahti.
Elisa Holopainen is a Finnish ice hockey winger and member of the Finnish national team, currently signed in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with Frölunda HC.
The Päivi Halonen Award is an ice hockey trophy awarded seasonally by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the best defenceman in the Naisten Liiga, called the Naisten SM-sarja during 1982 to 2017. It is named after Päivi Virta, previously Halonen, former SM-sarja defender and trailblazer for women's ice hockey in Finland, who won fifteen Finnish Championship titles during her career, four more than any other player in league history.
The Riikka Nieminen Award is an ice hockey trophy, seasonally awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the Naisten Liiga Player of the Year. It is named after Riikka Sallinen, now retired, who is widely considered the best European women’s ice hockey player to ever compete internationally.
The Emma Laaksonen Award is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association to the fair play player of the year of the Naisten Liiga, called the Naisten SM-sarja until 2017. The award recognizes a player who best contributes to the scoring of their team while "playing fair," that is to say, while incurring very few penalties. Winners typically exceed one point per game and are issued fewer than ten penalty minutes (PIM) over a full season. It is named after defenceman Emma Terho, former captain of the Finnish women's national ice hockey team and general manager of Kiekko-Espoo Naiset. Despite being named after a defenceman, it has only ever been awarded to forwards.
Chris Mulumba is a Finnish professional gridiron football defensive tackle for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). A judo champion in his youth, he played college football at Colorado and was selected eleventh overall by the Tiger-Cats in the 2021 CFL Global Draft.
Matias Tamminen is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku.