Rovaniemen Palloseura

RoPS
Full name	Rovaniemen Palloseura
Founded	1950;74 years ago
Ground	Keskuskenttä,; Rovaniemi
Capacity	4,000
Chairman	Matti Poikajärvi
Manager	Ville Ulanen
League	Ykkönen
2024	Ykkönen, 5th of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours

Last updated October 20, 2024

Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. RoPS participated 32 years in the Finnish Premier Division, ( Veikkausliiga ) since 1981. In 2021 RoPS withdrew from professional football and voluntarily relegated to the amateur Kakkonen third division. The club plays home games at the Rovaniemen Keskuskenttä in the Arctic Circle of Lapland.

History

RoPS have won the Finnish Cup on two occasions, in 1986 and 2013, and were runners-up in 1962. They placed third in the Finnish Premier Division in 1988 and 1989, before finishing as runner-up in 2015, losing out on the title by 1 point to eventual champions SJK. The club's most notable international achievement was reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup-Winners' Cup in 1987–88 against Marseille.

Match fixing allegations and scandal

Throughout the 2000s, RoPS became infamous for suspected involvement in match fixing.

In spring 2011 the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation started a large investigation into match fixing. On February 25 Singaporean businessman Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted match fixer, was arrested after entering Finland with a fake passport. The National Bureau of Investigation suspected that over 30 games between 2008 and 2011, mostly from the Finnish premier league, had been fixed or manipulated.^[1]

On July 19, 2011, the Rovaniemi Court of Appeal convicted Perumal and nine RoPS players of match-fixing. Altogether 24 games had been manipulated, and the intended score had been achieved in 11 of them. Perumal was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to return 150,000 euros deemed to be match-fixing profits. The bribes ranged from 500 euros offered to one player to a total of 80,000 euros offered to eight players. The highest total of bribes for one individual was slightly over 40,000 euros. The players received suspended sentences. The sentenced players were six Zambian and two Georgian players: Godfrey Chibanga, Chileshe Chibwe, Francis Kombe, Stephen Kunda, Christopher Musonda, Chanda Mwaba, Nchimunya Mweetwa, Pavle Khorguashvili, and Valter Khorguashvili.^[2]

Domestic history

Season	Level	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	For	Against	Points	Finnish Cup	League Cup	Top goalscorer
1991	1st	7	33	14	8	11	63	51	50		-
1992		7	33	12	6	15	53	49	42		-
1993		7	29	11	5	13	32	35	38	Runners-up	-
1994		5	26	10	8	8	32	32	38
1995		9	26	8	8	10	29	30	32	Ninth Round
1996		8	27	11	6	10	35	29	39	Quarter-final	Runners-up
1997		6	27	9	6	12	31	30	33	Semi-final
1998		8	27	6	14	7	27	31	32
1999		8	29	7	10	12	31	46	31	Seventh Round
2000		9	33	10	6	17	35	50	36
2001		12	33	5	9	19	25	56	24	Sixth Round	-
2002	2nd	4	22	9	4	9	41	10	31	Quarter-final	-	Niclas Grönholm – 11
2003	2nd	2	26	14	7	5	40	27	49	Sixth Round	-
2004	1st	12	26	7	4	15	28	45	25	Quarter-final
2005	1st	13	26	3	8	15	18	50	17
2006	2nd	7	26	10	8	8	40	35	38		-
2007	2nd	2	26	16	7	3	44	23	55		-
2008	1st	10	26	8	6	12	31	37	30	Sixth Round	Quarter-finals
2009	1st	14	26	4	4	18	21	66	16	Sixth Round	Group stage	Echiabhi Okodugha – 5
2010	2nd	1	26	15	9	2	61	17	54	Fourth round	-	Nchimunya Mweetwa – 13
2011	1st	12	33	5	8	20	39	78	23	Fifth Round	Group stage	José Manuel Rivera – 10
2012	2nd	1	27	18	5	4	53	20	59	Fifth Round	-	Aleksandr Kokko – 15
2013	1st	11	33	8	10	15	25	36	34	Winners	Quarter-finals	Aleksandr Kokko – 6
2014		9	33	11	5	17	37	41	38	Sixth Round	Group stage	Aleksandr Kokko – 9
2015		2	33	17	8	8	44	29	59	Sixth Round	Runners-up	Aleksandr Kokko – 17
2016		6	33	13	11	9	43	33	50	Sixth Round	Group stage	Robert Taylor – 11
2017		7	33	12	6	15	43	51	42	Quarter-final Play-offs	-	Emeka Friday Eze – 7
2018		2	33	18	8	7	42	25	62	Sixth Round	-	Lassi Lappalainen – 8
2019		10	27	8	6	13	23	35	30	Quarterfinal	-	Youness Rahimi – 5
2020		12
2021	2nd	2

European history

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1987–88	Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Glentoran	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
		2R	Vllaznia	1–0	1–0	2–0
		QF	Marseille	0–1	0–3	0–4
1989–90	UEFA Cup	1R	GKS Katowice	1–1	1–0	2–1
1989–90	UEFA Cup	2R	Auxerre	0–5	0–3	0–8
1990–91	UEFA Cup	1R	1. FC Magdeburg	0–1	0–0	0–1
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Asteras Tripoli	1–1	2–4	3–5
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Shamrock Rovers	1–1	2–0	3–1
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Lokomotiva	1–1	0–3	1–4
2019–20	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Aberdeen	1–2	1–2	2–4

Notes

1R: First round
2R: Second round
1Q: First qualifying round
QF: Quarter-finals

Honours

Finnish Cup
- Champions (2): 1986, 2013
Ykkönen
- Champions (2): 2010, 2012

Current squad

As of 1 January 2022

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	FIN	Miikka Mujunen
2	DF	FIN	Simo Majander
6	MF	NED	Nino Roffelsen
7	FW	FIN	Veka Pyyny
8	MF	FIN	Vili Saarikoski
12	GK	FIN	Mikko Rantala
15	DF	FIN	Miska Ylitolva
16	FW	FIN	Kirill Bullat
19	DF	FIN	Joona Lahdenmäki


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	FW	FIN	Simo Roiha
21	MF	FIN	Elmeri Hirvonen
22	DF	POR	Rodrigo Antunes
23	DF	FIN	Sampo Ala-Iso
26	DF	FIN	Eerik Kantola
28	FW	FIN	Jarkko Luiro
33	MF	GHA	Geoffrey Acheampong
34	FW	SRB	Srđan Vujaklija
—	DF	FIN	Aaro Tiihonen

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 18 February 2020.

Name	Role
Vesa Tauriainen	Head Coach
Mika Pulkkinen	Coach
Jari Alamäki	Fitness Coach
Ossi Koskela	Goalkeeping Coach
Tuomas Könönen	Physiotherapist
Vilma Poutiainen	Physiotherapist
David Coull	Kit Manager
Essi Jokelainen	Masseur
Olavi Tammimies	Team Manager

Boardroom

As of 18 February 2020^[3]

Name	Role
Risto Niva	Chairman, Managing director
Pekka Konstenius	Vice chairman
Jari Ilola	Director of Football

Rovaniemi Football Academy

Rovaniemi Football Academy (RFA)^[4] is the reserve team of RoPS. The team plays in Kakkonen in 2020 season. It is coached by Aleksi Tanner.

As of 14 September 2020^[5]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
11	GK	FIN	Lauri Vetri
24	MF	FIN	Kirill Bullat
30	GK	FIN	Tino Korhonen
35	GK	FIN	Pauli Tuisku
36	MF	FIN	Vertti Hänninen
37	DF	FIN	Joona Lahdenmäki
36	MF	FIN	Jonne Länsipää
39	DF	FIN	Akseli Kantola
40	MF	FIN	Ville Ojala
40	FW	FIN	Santeri Matilainen
41	MF	FIN	Jonne Koistinen
42	MF	FIN	Riku-Veli Niska


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
43	FW	FIN	Joona Kähkönen
44	DF	FIN	Tuomas Leppäkangas
46	FW	FIN	Adam Mekki
47	FW	FIN	Janne Ojaniemi
49	MF	EGY	Karam Hadhoud
50	DF	FIN	Severi Salmirinne
52	DF	FIN	Miska Ylitolva
53	MF	FIN	Roni Pietsalo
54	FW	FIN	Antti Salmi
56	DF	FIN	Luka Kuittinen
57	DF	FIN	Sampo Ala-Iso

Managers

Jerzy Masztaler (1990–91)
Graham Williams (1991)
Olavi Tammimies (1992)
Keith Armstrong (1993–94)
Timo Salmi (1995)
Graham Williams (1995)
Ari Matinlassi (1995)
Ari Rantamaa (1996–97)
Kari Virtanen (1997–99)
Olavi Tammimies (2000)
Mauri Holappa (2001)
Tomi Molin (2002)
György Hamori (Jan 1, 2003 – June 23, 2004)
Mika Lumijärvi (June 23, 2004 – June 30, 2005)
Matti Vikman (interim) (June 30, 2005 – Dec 31, 2005)
Jukka Ikäläinen (2006)
Tom Saintfiet (Jan 1, 2008 – April 7, 2008)
Valeri Bondarenko (April 14, 2008 – May 27, 2009)
Mika Lumijärvi (May 27, 2009 – Oct 6, 2009)
Zeddy Saileti (Oct 6, 2009 – Dec 31, 2009)
John Allen (Jan 1, 2010 – Aug 9, 2011)
Matti Hiukka (Aug 9, 2011 – Dec 31, 2011)
Kari Virtanen (Jan 1, 2012 – Oct 13)
Juha Malinen (Nov, 2013 – Oct, 2017)
Toni Koskela (Oct, 2017 – May 22, 2019)
Pasi Tuutti (May 22, 2019– )

Related Research Articles

Kuopion Palloseura, commonly referred to as KuPS, is a Finnish football club based in Kuopio. KuPS competes in Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. The team plays its home matches at Kuopio Football Stadium.

Myllykosken Pallo -47 is a Finnish football club, based in the industrial village of Myllykoski, part of the city of Kouvola. The club temporarily shut down after having ceased operations in 2015 due to financial difficulties, but returned in 2017 earning a place in the fourth tier and won back-to-back promotions to reach the second division in 2019. It then suffered consecutive relegations in 2020 and 2021, ending up in the fourth-tier of Finnish football league Kolmonen.

Toni Koskela is a Finnish football manager and former player. He most recently managed Cypriot First Division club AEL Limassol.

Keskuskenttä is a multi-purpose stadium in Rovaniemi, Finland. It is currently used for football matches, football training and sport classes of nearby schools and daycare centres. During winter there is a skiing track for young skiers. The stadium has covered seating capacity of 2800, in two stands. Main stand capacity is 2000, second stand 800. Total capacity is up to over 5000. For running there are three tracks, with fourth track in front of main stand. Lanes are green in color.

Zeddy Saileti is a former Zambian football striker and football coach, currently the manager of Nkana Football Club in Kitwe. As a good goalscorer, he formed part of the Zambia squad that reached the final of the 1994 African Nations Cup, eventually losing 2–1 to Nigeria. Saileti was born and raised in a family of eleven children. His father was a mine worker and his mother a home school teacher. His little brother Derek Saileti is also a football player. Saileti used to play several sports when he was young - mostly football and tennis. The Luanshya mining company paid for the gear. Saileti has four daughters, two of which live in Zambia.

Aleksandr Kokko is a Russian-born Finnish former footballer who plays as a striker.

Nchimunya Mweetwa is a Zambian football striker for Nico United.

Chanda Mwaba is a Zambian football midfielder who is currently a free agent.

Stephen Kunda is a Zambian football central defender who is currently a free agent. He played for Power Dynamos F.C. in his home country before moving to Finland. Kunda can also play as a defensive midfielder. Kunda had a contract with RoPS until the end of season 2012.

Jackson "Jack" Chileshe Chibwe is a retired Zambian football midfielder. A versatile forward, Chibwe can play either as a winger or attacking midfielder / second striker. Despite his short stature, Chibwe is known to be a good header of the ball. In 2011, he was convicted of match-fixing after taking bribes to fix the outcome of eleven games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FC Santa Claus</span> Finnish association football club

FC Santa Claus is a football club from Rovaniemi, Finland that currently plays in the Nelonen, the sixth tier of the Finnish football league system. The club has played as high as the third tier, Kakkonen, where they have played a total of 14 seasons. They were nearly promoted to the second-tier, Ykkönen, but lost their promotion playoff match to HIFK in 2010. The club plays at the Saarenkylän Stadion. Previously, they played at the Keskuskenttä Stadium, which seats 4,000 spectators, of which 2,800 are covered. They shared that stadium with Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS), who played in the top tier Veikkausliiga, until their relegation at the end of the 2020 season.

Kari Virtanen is a Finnish football manager and former player. He is currently coach of Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku.

Guirlain Désiré Wato Kuaté is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Italian Serie D club Atletico Uri.

The 2017 season is RoPS's 5th Veikkausliiga season since their promotion back to the top flight in 2012.

Leo Väisänen is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Austin FC in Major League Soccer and the Finland national team. Väisänen was born in Helsinki, Finland. He began his senior club career playing for HJK and RoPS, before signing with Den Bosch at age 21 in 2018.

The 2018 season is RoPS's 6th Veikkausliiga season since their promotion back to the top flight in 2012.

The 2019 season was RoPS's 7th Veikkausliiga season since their promotion back to the top flight in 2012. RoPS finished the season in 10th position, reached the Quarterfinals of the Finnish Cup where they were knocked out by KPV and the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League where they were beaten by Aberdeen.

The 2020 season is RoPS's 7th Veikkausliiga season since their promotion back to the top flight in 2012.

Miska Ylitolva is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a right back for Veikkausliiga club HJK.

Sampo Ala-Iso is a Finnish professional football player who plays as a centre back for Ykkönen side KPV.

References

↑ Susanna Kemppainen. "RoPS:lla yli 30 epäiltyä sopupeliä | Pohjois-Suomi". Kaleva.fi. Archived from the original on 2012-09-10. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
↑ Uusi Suomi. "Oikeus: Sopupeleistä 150 000 euroa – 2 vuotta vankeutta — Uusi Suomi". Uusisuomi.fi. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
↑ "Yhteystiedot" (in Finnish). RoPS. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
↑ "RoPS/2 on jatkossa Rovaniemi Football Academy". rops.fi. RoPS. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
↑ "Kokoonpano: Rovaniemi Football Academy 2020". rops.fi. RoPS. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

External links

Official website (in Finnish)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Susanna Kemppainen. "RoPS:lla yli 30 epäiltyä sopupeliä | Pohjois-Suomi". Kaleva.fi. Archived from the original on 2012-09-10. Retrieved 2012-02-12.

[2] Uusi Suomi. "Oikeus: Sopupeleistä 150 000 euroa – 2 vuotta vankeutta — Uusi Suomi". Uusisuomi.fi. Retrieved 2012-02-12.

[3] "Yhteystiedot" (in Finnish). RoPS. Retrieved 18 February 2020.

[4] "RoPS/2 on jatkossa Rovaniemi Football Academy". rops.fi. RoPS. Retrieved 20 February 2020.

[5] "Kokoonpano: Rovaniemi Football Academy 2020". rops.fi. RoPS. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]