Otso Virtanen

Otso Virtanen

Virtanen playing for Finland U-21s in November 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	(1994-04-03) 3 April 1994 (age 31)
Place of birth	Turku, Finland
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Ilves
Number	1
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2012	ÅIFK	20	(0)
2011–2012	TPS	1	(0)
2013–2016	IFK Mariehamn	65	(0)
2016–2017	Hibernian	0	(0)
2017–2022	KuPS	115	(0)
2023–	Ilves	64	(0)
International career‡
2014–2016	Finland U21	13	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 July 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 5 April 2016

Otso Virtanen (born 3 April 1994) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ilves.

Club career

Virtanen started his professional career in 2011 at TPS, appearing primarily for their reserve team ÅIFK. Before the 2013 season, he moved to IFK Mariehamn and appeared in 22 matches. In 2014, he served primarily as the backup for Swedish goalkeeper Simon Nurme. ^[1]

Virtanen signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Scottish club Hibernian on 24 January 2016. ^[2] Virtanen was an unused substitute as Hibs lost the 2015–16 Scottish League Cup final to Ross County. ^[3] He made his first appearance for Hibs in a 2015–16 Scottish Cup tie against Inverness, coming on as a substitute after regular goalkeeper Mark Oxley lost a contact lens. ^{[4] [5]} Oxley was shown a yellow card by the referee during this incident, which caused him to be suspended for the Scottish Cup semi-final. ^[5] Hibs manager Alan Stubbs then signed Conrad Logan as an alternative goalkeeper, ^[6] and chose to play Logan in the semi-final ahead of Virtanen. ^[7]

Virtanen made one starting appearance for Hibs, playing in a 2016–17 UEFA Europa League qualifying first leg match against Brondby. ^[4] He was at fault for the Brondby goal in that match and was replaced for the second leg by Ross Laidlaw. ^[8] Virtanen left Hibs in January 2017 and signed for Finnish club KuPS. ^[4]

On 22 May 2024, Virtanen signed a contract extension with Ilves, on a deal until the end of 2026. ^[9] He had gained a team captaincy in his first season with the club in 2023.

International career

In May 2014, Virtanen was selected for the Finland national under-21 team for the match against Moldova. ^[10]

Career statistics

As of 11 March 2025 ^[11]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup [a]		League cup [b]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
ÅIFK	2011	Kakkonen	2	0	–		–		–		2	0
	2012	Kakkonen	18	0	–		–		–		18	0
	Total		20	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	20	0
TPS	2011	Veikkausliiga	1	0	0	0	0	0	–		1	0
	2012	Veikkausliiga	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	–	–	1	0
IFK Mariehamn	2013	Veikkausliiga	22	0	2	0	6	0	–		30	0
	2014	Veikkausliiga	17	0	3	0	4	0	–		24	0
	2015	Veikkausliiga	26	0	1	0	2	0	–		29	0
	Total		65	0	6	0	12	0	–	–	83	0
Hibernian	2015–16	Scottish Championship	0	0	1	0	0	0	–		1	0
	2016–17	Scottish Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [c]	0	1	0
	Total		0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
KuPS	2017	Veikkausliiga	33	0	6	0	–		–		39	0
	2018	Veikkausliiga	25	0	4	0	–		2 [c]	0	31	0
	2019	Veikkausliiga	25	0	4	0	–		4 [c]	0	33	0
	2020	Veikkausliiga	22	0	6	0	–		4 [d]	0	32	0
	2021	Veikkausliiga	5	0	5	0	–		0	0	10	0
	2022	Veikkausliiga	5	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	Total		115	0	29	0	0	0	10	0	154	0
KuPS II	2022	Kakkonen	2	0	–		–		–		2	0
Ilves	2023	Veikkausliiga	25	0	6	0	5	0	–		36	0
	2024	Veikkausliiga	24	0	1	0	6	0	3 [e]	0	34	0
	2025	Veikkausliiga	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		49	0	7	0	16	0	3	0	75	0
Career total			252	0	43	0	28	0	14	0	337	0

1. Includes Suomen Cup and Scottish Cup
2. Includes Finnish League Cup
3. Includes UEFA Europa League
4. Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in UEFA Conference League

Honours

Hibernian

• Scottish Cup: 2015–16
• Scottish League Cup runners-up: 2015–16 ^[3]

Kuopion Palloseura

• Veikkausliiga: 2019
• Suomen Cup: 2021, 2022

Ilves

• Veikkausliiga runner-up: 2024 ^[12]
• Suomen Cup: 2023

IFK Mariehamn

• Suomen Cup: 2015

References

1. "VIRTANEN Otso" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
2. "Hibernian: Finnish goalkeeper Otso Virtanen signed". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
3. Wilson, Richard (13 March 2016). "Scottish League Cup Final: Hibernian 1 Ross County 2". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
4. "Goalkeeper Otso Virtanen leaves Hibs to return to Finland". Edinburgh Evening News. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
5. "Inverness 1-2 Hibs: Stubbs frustrated by Oxley suspension". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
6. "Hibernian sign former Leicester City goalkeeper Conrad Logan". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
7. "Conrad Logan: Hibs keeper 'buzzing' after 'perfect' debut". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
8. Lamont, Alasdair (24 July 2016). "Ross Laidlaw surprise at Hibs bow against Brondby in Europa League". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
9. Ilves-kapteeni Otso Virtaselle kaksivuotinen jatkosopimus, ilvesfootball.com, 22 May 2024
10. "Pikkuhuuhkajat nimetty Moldova-otteluun" (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
11. Otso Virtanen stats, Football Association of Finland
12. Ilveksen päävalmentaja hopeasta: ”Voitettu mitali”, Yle, 19 October 2024

External links

• Otso Virtanen at IFK Mariehamn (in Swedish)
• Otso Virtanen – UEFA competition record ( archive )
• Otso Virtanen at Soccerway