The 2021 Veikkausliiga was the 91st season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK were the defending champions and successfully defended their title.

Veikkausliiga
Season2021
ChampionsHJK
RelegatedKTP
Matches played162
Goals scored408 (2.52 per match)
Top goalscorerBenjamin Källman
Ariel Ngueukam
(14 goals each)
Biggest home winKuPS 4–0 KTP
(15 August 2021)
Biggest away winHIFK 1–5 KuPS
(22 August 2021)
Highest scoringHJK 4–2 Honka
(24 April 2021)
Lahti 2–4 KuPS
(11 May 2021)
HIFK 1–5 KuPS
(22 August 2021)
Longest winning run9 matches
HJK
Longest unbeaten run12 matches
Lahti
Longest winless run13 matches
KTP
Longest losing run7 matches
Mariehamn
2020
2022

Teams

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RoPS (relegated after eight years in the top flight) were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2020 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions AC Oulu (promoted after a ten-year absence).

TPS (relegated after one year in the top flight) as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team KTP (promoted after a five-year absence) in a relegation/promotion playoff.

Stadia and locations

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Club Location Stadium Turf Capacity
AC Oulu Oulu Raatti Stadion Natural 4,392
FC Haka Valkeakoski Tehtaan kenttä Artificial 3,516
FC Honka Espoo Tapiolan Urheilupuisto Natural 6,000
FC Inter Turku Veritas Stadion Natural 9,372
FC Lahti Lahti Lahden Stadion Natural 7,465
HIFK Helsinki Bolt Arena Artificial 10,770
HJK Helsinki Bolt Arena Artificial 10,770
IFK Mariehamn Mariehamn Wiklöf Holding Arena Artificial 4,000
Ilves Tampere Tampere Stadium Natural 16,800
KTP Kotka Arto Tolsa Areena Artificial 4,780
KuPS Kuopio Savon Sanomat Areena Artificial 5,000
SJK Seinäjoki OmaSP Stadion Artificial 6,000

Personnel and kits

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

Team Manager Captain Manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s)
AC Oulu   Jyrki Ahola   Lassi Nurmos Craft Go On Oulu / Codemate / Oulun Energia
FC Haka   Teemu Tainio   Jacob Bushue Puma Volkswagen
FC Honka   Vesa Vasara   Duarte Tammilehto Puma Volkswagen
FC Inter   José Riveiro   Timo Furuholm Nike Alfons Håkans
FC Lahti   Ilir Zeneli   Kari Arkivuo Umbro Halton / Oomi / Green Lahti
HIFK   Joaquín Gómez   Sakari Mattila Puma Aktia Bank
HJK   Toni Koskela   Daniel O'Shaughnessy Adidas Apu
IFK Mariehamn   Lukas Syberyjski   Robin Buwalda Puma Åland / Arkipelag
Ilves   Toni Kallio   Tuure Siira Adidas Pohjola Rakennus / Avant Tecno / Pihlajalinna / NYQS Oy
KTP   Teemu Kankkunen   David Ramadingaye Puma Kotkamills Oy / Steveco Oy / Hartwall
KuPS   Simo Valakari   Nana Boateng Puma Pohjola Sairaala (home) / LähiTapiola (away)
SJK   Jani Honkavaara   Mehmet Hetemaj Adidas LähiTapiola / Oma Säästöpankki / Elisa

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 KuPS 22 15 4 3 38 14 +24 49 Qualification for the Championship round
2 HJK 22 15 4 3 32 12 +20 49
3 Inter Turku 22 12 3 7 36 22 +14 39
4 SJK 22 11 4 7 29 24 +5 37
5 HIFK 22 9 6 7 23 23 0 33
6 Ilves 22 10 3 9 21 23 −2 33
7 Lahti 22 8 8 6 27 25 +2 32 Qualification for the Relegation round
8 Honka 22 7 5 10 28 29 −1 26
9 Haka 22 7 3 12 21 26 −5 24
10 Mariehamn 22 7 2 13 20 32 −12 23
11 Oulu 22 5 3 14 17 35 −18 18
12 KTP 22 1 5 16 18 45 −27 8
Source: Flashscore
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).


Results

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Home \ Away HAK HFK HJK HON ILV INT KPS KTP LAH MAR OUL SJK
Haka 2–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–3 1–1 1–2 0–1 4–0
HIFK 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–4 1–5 2–2 0–1 0–3 3–1 1–0
HJK 2–0 0–2 4–2 2–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–1 0–0
Honka 2–1 0–3 0–0 4–1 1–2 0–1 3–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–1
Ilves 1–0 1–0 0–3 0–0 2–1 3–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1
Inter Turku 2–1 0–1 1–3 2–2 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 3–0 4–0 2–0
KuPS 1–2 0–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 4–0 2–2 2–0 2–0 3–0
KTP 0–0 0–2 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–3 1–2 1–2 1–3 1–3 0–1
Lahti 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 3–1 2–1 2–4 3–0 1–1 0–0 2–1
Mariehamn 0–3 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–0 0–2 0–1 4–2 0–3 3–1 0–1
Oulu 0–1 1–2 2–1 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2
SJK 4–0 1–1 0–2 3–2 1–0 2–2 0–1 1–1 4–1 3–0 3–2
Source: Flashscore
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship round

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HJK KPS SJK INT ILV HFK
1 HJK (C) 27 18 5 4 41 19 +22 59 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round 2–3 2–1 1–0
2 KuPS 27 17 7 3 46 20 +26 58 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round 1–1 2–1 0–0
3 SJK 27 14 6 7 45 34 +11 48 2–2 4–2
4 Inter Turku 27 14 3 10 45 32 +13 45 2–3 2–5 2–0
5 Ilves 27 11 3 13 29 34 −5 36 2–3 0–2
6 HIFK 27 9 8 10 25 31 −6 35 2–2 0–3
Source: Soccerway
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


Relegation round

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LAH HAK HON MAR OUL KTP
7 Lahti 27 10 10 7 35 30 +5 40 2–3 0–0 2–1
8 Haka 27 10 5 12 30 29 +1 35 1–1 2–0 0–0
9 Honka 27 9 6 12 38 37 +1 33 0–2 1–1 6–1
10 Mariehamn 27 9 3 15 28 40 −12 30 0–3 5–1
11 Oulu (O) 27 6 5 16 21 44 −23 23 Qualification for the relegation play-offs 1–2 2–1
12 KTP (R) 27 2 5 20 25 58 −33 11 Relegation to Ykkönen 2–4 2–0
Source: Soccerway
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).
(O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated


Relegation play-offs

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First leg

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RoPS2–1Oulu
Report
Attendance: 1,640
Referee: Oliver Reitala

Second leg

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Oulu2–0RoPS
Report
Attendance: 2,738
Referee: Joni Hyytiä

Statistics

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Top goalscorers

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As of 1 November 2021[1]
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Benjamin Källman Inter Turku 14
  Ariel Ngueukam SJK
3   Tim Väyrynen KuPS 9
4   Jake Jervis SJK 8
  Urho Nissilä KuPS
  Darren Smith FC Honka
7   Geoffrey Chinedu Lahti 7
  Timo Furuholm Inter Turku
  Denys Oliynyk SJK
 /  Altin Zeqiri Lahti

Awards

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Annual awards

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Award[2] Winner Club
Player of the Year   Urho Nissilä KuPS
Goalkeeper of the Year   Johannes Kreidl KuPS
Defender of the Year   Daniel O'Shaughnessy HJK
Midfielder of the Year   Urho Nissilä KuPS
Striker of the Year   Benjamin Källman Inter Turku
Breakthrough of the Year   Pyry Hannola SJK
Coach of the Year   Simo Valakari KuPS

Team of the Year

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Team of the Year[3]
Goalkeeper   Johannes Kreidl (KuPS)
Defence  

Macario Hing-Glover (HIFK)

 

Diogo Tomas (KuPS)

 

Daniel O'Shaughnessy (HJK)

 

Luis Carlos Murillo (HJK)

Midfield  

Riku Riski (HJK)

  Jair (HJK)

 

Urho Nissilä (KuPS)

 

Peteri Forsell (Inter Turku)

Attack   Benjamin Källman (Inter Turku)   Tim Väyrynen (KuPS)

References

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  1. ^ Veikkausliiga.com
  2. ^ Liimatta, Ville (2021-12-03). "Tässä suomalaisen jalkapallon vuoden 2021 parhaat - katso kaikki Captain's Ball -gaalassa palkitut". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  3. ^ "Perinteinen Koplajoukkue nimetty Veikkausliigakauden 2021 osalta". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
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