| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 20 September 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Finland | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Suurmetsän Urheilijat | |||
| Puotinkylän Valtti | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008 | HIFK | 24 | (12) |
| 2009 | Atlantis | 0 | (0) |
| 2009 | PK-35 | 4 | (0) |
| 2010–2014 | HIFK | 67 | (17) |
| 2014–2015 | Gnistan | 9 | (0) |
| 2016 | Kiffen | 10 | (3) |
| 2017 | HIFK II | 12 | (8) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2018 | FC Vaajakoski (youth) | ||
| 2019 | FC Vaajakoski (assistant) | ||
| 2020–2021 | FC Vaajakoski | ||
| 2022 | JIPPO | ||
| 2023 | HIFK | ||
| 2024 | KäPa | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 February 2024 | |||
Sami Okkonen (born 20 September 1987) is a Finnish football manager and a former player, who played as a forward. Okkonen completed the UEFA A -coaching license in 2022.
Okkonen started football in the youth teams of Suurmetsän Urheilijat in Suurmetsä, Helsinki, and Puotinkylän Valtti in Vartiokylä, Helsinki.
During his playing career, Okkonen played for Helsinki-based clubs HIFK, Atlantis, [1] PK-35, Gnistan and Kiffen [2] in second tier Ykkönen, third tier Kakkonen and fourth tier Kolmonen. In the 2014 season when playing in Ykkönen with HIFK, the club won a promotion. However, due to injury, he did not make an appearance in Veikkausliiga. [3] He ended his playing career in 2018 with FC Vaajakoski and worked as youth coach for the club. Next season in 2019, he started as the club's assistant coach. [4]
Okkonen worked as the manager of FC Vaajakoski during 2020–2021 in third tier Kakkonen. [5] [6]
He was named the manager of fellow Kakkonen side JIPPO for the 2022 season. [7] On 11 August 2022, the club exercised their option and extended his contract until the end of 2024. [8] [9]
However, on 29 November 2022, Okkonen was named the manager of a newly relegated HIFK in second tier Ykkönen, the club he used to represent for several years as a player. [10] He signed a two-year deal with the club. [11] [12] He terminated his contract at the end of the season, due to the club's severe financial problems, which ultimately forced HIFK to bankruptcy. [13]
On 8 December 2023, after terminating his contract with HIFK, it was simultaneously announced that Okkonen was appointed the manager of Käpylän Pallo (KäPa), competing in the new second tier Ykkösliiga in the 2024 season. [14] [15] [16] He was dismissed on 29 July 2024. [17]
In November 2024, he started working for IF Gnistan, developing the coaching in the club.
Besides football, Okkonen has played also futsal for Liikunnan Riemu. [18] He has studied in the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä in Jyväskylä, Finland, while working for FC Vaajakoski.
| Club | Season | League | National cup [a] | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| HIFK | 2008 | Kakkonen | 24 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 12 |
| Atlantis | 2009 | Ykkönen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PK-35 | 2009 | Kakkonen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| HIFK | 2010 | Kakkonen | 25 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 14 |
| 2011 | Ykkönen | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 | |
| 2012 | Ykkönen | 25 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 11 | |
| 2013 | Kakkonen | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2014 | Ykkönen | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | |
| Total | 92 | 31 | 4 | 2 | 96 | 33 | ||
| IF Gnistan | 2014 | Kakkonen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2015 | Kakkonen | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| FC Kiffen | 2016 | Kakkonen | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| HIFK II | 2017 | Kolmonen | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 8 |
| Career total | 151 | 54 | 4 | 2 | 155 | 56 | ||
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W% | ||||
| FC Vaajakoski |  | 1 January 2020 | 31 December 2021 | 40 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 60 | 51 | +9 | 45.0 |
| JIPPO | | 1 January 2022 | 31 December 2022 | 28 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 59 | 25 | +34 | 64.3 |
| HIFK | | 1 January 2023 | 31 December 2023 | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 44.4 |
| Käpylän Pallo | | 1 January 2024 | 29 July 2024 | 25 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 41 | 60 | −19 | 16.0 |
| Total | 129 | 56 | 30 | 43 | 215 | 185 | +30 | ||||
As a player
FC Vaajakoski is an active sports club from Vaajakoski, Jyväskylä, Finland. The club was formed in 1993 and their home ground is at the Vaajakosken keskuskenttä. The men's first team currently plays in the Ykkönen, the Finnish third-tier in 2024. The Chairman of FCV is Laasi Paavolainen.
IF Gnistan, commonly known as Gnistan, is a Finnish football club from the city of Helsinki, founded in 1924. The club is currently playing in the Veikkausliiga, the first tier of the Finnish league system. IF Gnistan play their home matches at Mustapekka Areena. Club's home district is Oulunkylä, which locates in northern part of the capital city.
The 2011 Finnish Cup is the 57th season of the main annual football (soccer) cup competition in Finland. It is organized as a single-elimination knock–out tournament. Participation in the competition is voluntary.
The 2012 Finnish Cup is the 58th season of the main annual association football cup competition in Finland. It is organised as a single-elimination knock–out tournament. Participation in the competition is voluntary. A total of 198 teams registered for the competition, with 12 teams from the Veikkausliiga, 10 from the Ykkönen, 28 from the Kakkonen, 54 from the Kolmonen and 94 teams from other divisions.
The 2013 Ykkönen season began on 29 April 2013 and ended on 5 October 2013. The winning team was directly promoted to the 2014 Veikkausliiga. The bottom two teams were relegated to Kakkonen.
The season started on 20 April 2013 and is scheduled to end on 5 October 2013.
The 2014 Ykkönen began on 27 April 2014 and ended on 4 October 2014. The winning team was directly promoted to the 2015 Veikkausliiga. The bottom two teams were relegated to Kakkonen.
The 2014 Finnish Cup(Suomen Cup) is the 60th season of the Finnish Cup. 152 clubs entered the competition, including all sides on the top two levels of the Finnish football pyramid, 29 sides from Kakkonen and 101 from lower levels. The winner of the cup enters the qualifying rounds of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.
HIFK Fotboll or IFK Helsingfors is the association football section of HIFK, a sports club based in Helsinki, Finland. The men's football team currently competes in the Kolmonen whereas the women's first team is in Naisten Kakkonen. Both teams use Väinämöisen kenttä in Töölö as their home ground.
Jani Honkavaara is a Finnish football manager and retired football player, who is currently the head coach of Swedish side Djurgårdens IF. Previously he served as the manager of Veikkausliiga club Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS), leading the club to win two Finnish championship titles in two separate stints, in 2019 and 2024, respectively.
The 2016 Ykkönen was the 45th season of Ykkönen, the second highest football league in Finland. The winning team qualified directly for promotion to the 2017 Veikkausliiga, while the second-placed team had to play a play-off against the eleventh-placed team from Veikkausliiga to decide who wod play in that division. The bottom two teams were relegated to Kakkonen.
A total of 36 teams will contest the league divided into three groups, Lohko A, Lohko B and Lohko C. 25 returning from the 2015 season, two relegated from Ykkönen and nine promoted from Kolmonen. The champion of each group and the best runner-up will qualify to promotion matches to decide which two teams get promoted to the Ykkönen. The bottom three teams in each group will qualify directly for relegation to Kolmonen. Each team will play a total of 22 matches, playing twice against each team of its group.
The 2023 Kakkonen was the 51st season of Kakkonen, the third-highest football league in Finland. The season began on 21 April 2023 and ended on 8 October 2023. It was the final season of the Kakkonen serving as the third-tier football league in Finland, following its demotion to fourth-tier.
Kaius Simojoki is a Finnish professional footballer, playing as a centre back for Klubi 04.
Jussi Leppälahti is a Finnish football manager and a former player, currently working as a manager of IF Gnistan in Veikkausliiga.
Joonas Rantanen is a Finnish football manager, currently working as a manager of Veikkausliiga club Ilves. Rantanen has a UEFA Pro -coaching license.
Emil Pallas is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Veikkausliiga club Ekenäs IF (EIF).
Kim Raimi is a Finnish football manager and a former player. He was most recently the manager of PK-35 in Ykkösliiga, having previously worked for the team as an assistant coach. During his playing career, he played mainly as a centre back for Helsinki-based clubs, and captained PK-35 Vantaa until the club's bankruptcy at the end of 2016.
Jonas Nyholm is a Finnish football coach and a former player, who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently working as a manager of Ykkösliiga club Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat (KTP).
Mikko Mannila is a Finnish football manager of Ykkönen club OLS and a former player.