The 2019 Veikkausliiga was the 89th season of top-tier football in Finland. Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi were the defending champions.[1] KuPS won the title.
| Season | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Champions | KuPS 6th title |
| Relegated | KPV VPS |
| Champions League | KuPS |
| Europa League | Inter Turku Ilves |
| Matches played | 162 |
| Goals scored | 396 (2.44 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Filip Valenčič (16) |
| Highest scoring | IFK Mariehamn 3–4 KuPS (1 May 2019) |
← 2018 2020 → | |
New league format edit
Veikkausliiga adopted a new league format for the 2019 season. Each team played against each other twice in the regular season. After the regular season the top six teams advanced to the Championship Series which determines the champion and European tournament qualification places. The bottom six teams advanced to the Challenger Series. The best team from the Challenger Series plays in a tournament against the Championship Series' 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams. The winner from that plays in a final series against the 3rd best team from the Championship Series. The last UEFA Europa League qualification place goes to the winner of that final series.[2]
The bottom team from the Challenger Series will relegate to the Ykkönen, and second to last team will play in a relegation play-off series against the 2nd best team from Ykkönen.
Teams edit
Palloseura Kemi Kings were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2018 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions HIFK Fotboll.
Turun Palloseura as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team Kokkolan Palloveikot in a relegation/promotion playoff.
Stadia and locations edit
| Club | Location | Stadium | Turf | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Honka | Espoo | Tapiolan Urheilupuisto | Natural | 6,000 |
| Inter Turku | Turku | Veritas Stadion | Natural | 10,000 |
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahden Stadion | Natural | 15,000 |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Telia 5G -areena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| HJK | Helsinki | Telia 5G -areena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Mariehamn | Wiklöf Holding Arena | Natural | 4,000 |
| Ilves | Tampere | Tammelan Stadion | Natural | 5,040 |
| KPV | Kokkola | Kokkolan Keskuskenttä | Natural | 2,000 |
| KuPS | Kuopio | Savon Sanomat Areena | Artificial | 5,000 |
| RoPS | Rovaniemi | Rovaniemen keskuskenttä | Artificial | 4,000 |
| SJK | Seinäjoki | OmaSP Stadion | Artificial | 6,000 |
| VPS | Vaasa | Elisa Stadion | Artificial | 6,000 |
League table edit
Regular season edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KuPS (C) | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 46 | 24 | +22 | 53 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round. |
| 2 | Inter Turku | 27 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 42 | 29 | +13 | 48 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round. |
| 3 | FC Honka (O) | 27 | 14 | 5 | 8 | 41 | 29 | +12 | 47 | Qualification for the national Europa League qualification final. |
| 4 | Ilves | 27 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 47 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round.[b] |
| 5 | HJK | 27 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 33 | 29 | +4 | 37 | Qualification for the national Europa League qualification tournament. |
| 6 | IFK Mariehamn | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 31 | 34 | −3 | 32 | |
| 7 | HIFK | 27 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 39 | Qualification for the national Europa League qualification tournament. |
| 8 | FC Lahti | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 29 | 36 | −7 | 36 | |
| 9 | SJK | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 29 | −11 | 30 | |
| 10 | RoPS | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 35 | −12 | 30 | |
| 11 | KPV (R) | 27 | 7 | 4 | 16 | 32 | 47 | −15 | 25 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | VPS (R) | 27 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 30 | 45 | −15 | 19 | Relegation to the Ykkönen |
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; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Teams played against each other twice (22 matches) after which the league split in two (top 6 and bottom 6 teams).
- ^ Ilves qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2019 Finnish Cup
Results edit
European competition edit
Five teams will play for a spot in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round.
| HJK | 2–2 (a.e.t.) | FC Lahti |
|---|---|---|
|
Report | |
| Penalties | ||
| 4–2 | ||
| IFK Mariehamn | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | HIFK |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
| 4–2 | ||
| HJK | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | IFK Mariehamn |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Bracket edit
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||||
| 23 October 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
| HJK | 2(4) | |||||||||||||||
| 27 October 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
| FC Lahti | 2(2) | |||||||||||||||
| HJK | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| 23 October 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
| IFK Mariehamn | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| IFK Mariehamn | 0(4) | |||||||||||||||
| HIFK | 0(2) | |||||||||||||||
| IFK Mariehamn | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| FC Honka | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||
Final stage edit
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IFK Mariehamn | 1–3 | FC Honka | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| IFK Mariehamn | 2-3 | FC Honka |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| FC Honka | 2-1 | IFK Mariehamn |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Relegation play-offs edit
Season statistics edit
Top scorers edit
Final standings[3]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Filip Valenčič
|
Inter Turku | 16 |
| 2 |  Lauri Ala-Myllymäki
|
Ilves | 12 |
 Borjas Martín
|
Honka | ||
| 4 | Timo Furuholm
|
Inter Turku | 10 |
 Tiquinho
|
HIFK | ||
| 6 | Luís Henrique
|
HIFK | 8 |
 Denys Oliynyk
|
SJK | ||
| Lucas Rangel
|
KuPS |
Awards edit
Annual awards edit
| Award[4] | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Filip Valenčič
|
Inter Turku |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Mika Hilander
|
Ilves |
| Defender of the Year |  Luis Carlos Murillo
|
KuPS |
| Midfielder of the Year | Petteri Pennanen
|
KuPS |
| Striker of the Year | Filip Valenčič
|
Inter Turku |
| Breakthrough of the Year | Jair
|
Ilves |
| Coach of the Year | Jonas Rantanen
|
HJK |
Team of the Year edit
Hilander
Diallo
Aspegren
Mensah
Murillo
Saxman
Myllymäki
Pennanen
Valenčič
Martín
Markkula
|
| Team of the Year[5] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Mika Hilander (Ilves)
| |||||||||||
| Defence |
Felipe Aspegren (Ilves) |
Babacar Diallo (KuPS) |
Baba Mensah (Ilves) |
Luis Carlos Murillo (HJK) | ||||||||
| Midfield |
Niko Markkula (Inter Turku) |
(KuPS) |
Lauri Ala-Myllymäki (Ilves)
|
Petteri Pennanen (KuPs) | ||||||||
| Attack | Filip Valenčič (Inter Turku)
|
Borjas Martín (Honka)
| ||||||||||
References edit
- ^ "Veikkausliiga".
- ^ "Sarjajärjestelmä" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga.com. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ^ "Perustilastot". veikkausliiga.com/ (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ "Palloliitto ja Veikkausliiga palkitsivat kauden 2019 parhaita - katso tästä kaikki palkitut | Sportti.com". www.sportti.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- ^ Zavros, Christos (2019-10-19). "Ilveksen ja KuPSin ylivoimaa - tässä on Veikkausliigan tähdistöjoukkue". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.