The 2015 Veikkausliiga was the 85th season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK Helsinki were the defending champions. The season was won by SJK, ending HJK's record streak of six straight titles.

Veikkausliiga
Season2015
ChampionsSJK
1st Veikkausliiga title
RelegatedFF Jaro
KTP
Champions LeagueSJK
Europa LeagueRoPS
HJK
IFK Mariehamn
Matches played198
Goals scored448 (2.26 per match)
Top goalscorerAleksandr Kokko (17 goals)
Biggest home winSJK 5–0 KuPS
(11 May)
Biggest away winRoPS 0–4 FC Inter
(23 April)
Highest scoringIFK Mariehamn 4–3 FF Jaro
(19 July)
Highest attendance10,521
HJK Helsinki 1-1 HIFK (6 July)
Average attendance2,574
2014
2016

Teams

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TPS were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2014 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions HIFK.

FC Honka and MYPA were not given a license due to the clubs' bad economic situation. The two places were given for KTP, the runner-up of 2014 Ykkönen, and Ilves, which finished third in Ykkönen.[1]

Stadia and location

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Location of teams in 2015 Veikkausliiga
Club Location Stadium Capacity
FC Inter Turku Veritas Stadion 10,000
FC Lahti Lahti Lahden kisapuisto 4,000
FF Jaro Jakobstad Jakobstads Centralplan 5,000
HIFK Helsinki Sonera Stadium 10,770
HJK Helsinki Sonera Stadium 10,770
IFK Mariehamn Mariehamn Wiklöf Holding Arena 4,000
Ilves Tampere Tammela Stadion 5,040
KTP Kotka Arto Tolsa Areena 4,780
KuPS Kuopio Savon Sanomat Areena 5,000
RoPS Rovaniemi Rovaniemen keskuskenttä 4,000
SJK Seinäjoki Seinäjoen keskuskenttä 3,500
VPS Vaasa Hietalahti Stadium 4,600

Personnel and kits

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Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsors
FC Inter   Job Dragtsma   Henri Lehtonen Nike Alfons Håkans
FC Lahti   Toni Korkeakunnas   Mikko Hauhia Umbro BE Group
Lahti Energia
Halton
FF Jaro    Alexei Eremenko Sr.   Jonas Emet Macron Stadshotellet Kaupunginhotelli
Halpa-Halli
Sagafurs
HIFK   Jani Honkavaara   Esa Terävä Kappa Aktia Bank
HJK   Mika Lehkosuo   Markus Heikkinen Adidas Apu
IFK Mariehamn   Pekka Lyyski   Jani Lyyski Puma Hotell Arkipelag
Ilves   Marco Baruffato   Antti Hynynen Adidas LähiTapiola
Dextra
KTP   Sami Ristilä   Valeri Minkenen Puma Steveco
Data Group
Port of Haminakotka
KuPS   Marko Rajamäki   Miikka Ilo Puma LähiTapiola
Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas
RoPS   Juha Malinen   Antti Okkonen Puma Saraware
SJK   Simo Valakari   Pavle Milosavljević Adidas GapCon
VPS   Petri Vuorinen   Ville Koskimaa Puma Various

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment Table
Ilves   Mika Malinen End of contract n/a    Keith Armstrong 24 October 2014[2] Pre-season
VPS   Olli Huttunen Sacked 29 June 2015   Petri Vuorinen 29 June 2015[3] 12th
Ilves    Keith Armstrong Sacked 7 October 2015[4]   Marco Baruffato 14 October 2015[5] 8th

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 SJK (C) 33 18 6 9 50 22 +28 60 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2 RoPS 33 17 8 8 44 29 +15 59 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3 HJK 33 16 10 7 45 30 +15 58
4 Inter Turku 33 13 10 10 45 34 +11 49
5 Lahti 33 12 12 9 38 36 +2 48
6 IFK Mariehamn 33 11 12 10 30 36 −6 45 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[a]
7 HIFK 33 10 13 10 42 42 0 43
8 Ilves 33 11 7 15 32 48 −16 40
9 KuPS 33 9 11 13 32 40 −8 38
10 VPS 33 8 9 16 36 43 −7 33
11 KTP (R) 33 7 11 15 27 44 −17 32 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
12 Jaro (R) 33 6 11 16 27 43 −16 29 Relegation to the Ykkönen
Source: Veikkausliiga, 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 goals scored; 7) Fewer away goals allowed; 8) Home goals scored; 9) Fewer home goals allowed; 10) Play-off. (Note: Criteria 7–10 is only used if deciding Champion, teams to UEFA competitions or teams for relegation).[6]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

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Relegation play-offs

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PK-35 Vantaa0–0KTP
Report
Attendance: 2,050
Referee: Mikko Mörö

KTP2–3PK-35 Vantaa
Äijälä   72' (pen.)
Kaivonurmi   76'
Report García   24'
Ositashvili   39' (o.g.)
Couñago   64'
Attendance: 3,470
Referee: Ville Nevalainen

PK-35 Vantaa won 3–2 on aggregate.

Statistics

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Top scorers

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Source: veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)

As of 26 October 2015.
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Aleksandr Kokko RoPS 17
2   Juho Mäkelä VPS 16
3   Akseli Pelvas SJK 14
4   Matheus Alves FC Lahti 12
5   Mika Lahtinen Ilves 10
6   Pekka Sihvola HIFK 9
7   Erfan Zeneli HJK 8
  Atomu Tanaka HJK 8
  Demba Savage HJK 8
  Dever Orgill IFK Mariehamn 8
  Roope Riski SJK 8
12   Toni Lehtinen SJK 6
  Joni Aho FC Inter 6
  Ville Salmikivi HIFK 6
  Ousman Jallow HJK 6
  Ilari Äijälä KTP 6
  Guy Gnabouyou FC Inter 6
18 7 players 5
25 13 players 4
38 24 players 3
62 34 players 2
96 62 players 1

Awards

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Month Coach of the Month Player of the Month
April[7]   Job Dragtsma (FC Inter)   Vahid Hambo (FC Inter)
May[8]   Juha Malinen (RoPS)   Mihkel Aksalu (SJK)
June[9]   Juha Malinen (RoPS)   Aleksandr Kokko (RoPS)
July[10]   Toni Korkeakunnas (FC Lahti)   Mika Hilander (Ilves)
August[11]   Keith Armstrong (Ilves)   Mika Hilander (Ilves)
September[12]   Job Dragtsma (FC Inter)   Antti Okkonen (RoPS)
October[13]   Simo Valakari (SJK)   Aleksandr Kokko (RoPS)

Annual awards

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Award[14] Winner Club
Player of the Year   Aleksandr Kokko RoPS
Goalkeeper of the Year   Mihkel Aksalu SJK
Defender of the Year   Faith Obilor RoPS
Midfielder of the Year   Moshtagh Yaghoubi RoPS
Striker of the Year   Aleksandr Kokko RoPS
Breakthrough of the Year   Kaan Kairinen Inter Turku
Coach of the Year   Simo Valakari SJK

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Liigalisenssikomitea päätti Veikkausliigalisensseistä kaudelle 2015
  2. ^ "Keith Armstrong on Ilveksen uusi valmentaja". Ilves (in Finnish). Ilves. 24 October 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  3. ^ "VPS on irtisanonut päävalmentajansa". VPS (in Finnish). VPS. 29 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Ilves kiittää Armstrongia hyvin tehdystä työstä". Ilves (in Finnish). Ilves. 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Marco Baruffato toimii päävalmentajana loppukauden". Ilves (in Finnish). Ilves. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Veikkausliiga 2015 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  7. ^ Vahid Hambo huhtikuun kuukauden pelaaja (in Finnish)
  8. ^ SJK:n Mihkel Aksalu toukokuun pelaaja (in Finnish)
  9. ^ Aleksandr Kokko kesäkuun pelaaja (in Finnish)
  10. ^ Mika Hilander Veikkausliigan heinäkuun pelaaja (in Finnish)
  11. ^ [1] (in Finnish)
  12. ^ [2] (in Finnish)
  13. ^ [3] (in Finnish)
  14. ^ Kai (2015-10-30). "Tässä ovat Captain's Ball -futisgaalan kaikki palkitut tahot". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
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  NODES
Note 3