Kari Ukkonen

Kari Ukkonen
Personal information
Full name Kari Ukkonen
Date of birth (1961-02-19) 19 February 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth Kuopio, Finland
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1982 KuPS 91 (13)
1982–1986 Cercle Brugge 107 (16)
1986–1987 Lokeren 32 (8)
1987–1991 Anderlecht 38 (3)
1991–1993 Royal Antwerp 39 (1)
1993–1996 Châteauroux 52 (1)
International career
1983–1996 Finland 59 (4)
Managerial career
Finland (youth coach)
2004–2006 TPS
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kari Ukkonen (born 19 February 1961) is a Finnish former football manager and former football player. As a player, Ukkonen was fielded as defender as well as midfielder.

Club career

Ukkonen started playing football in his hometown club Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS) in top-tier Mestaruussarja in 1979. In 1982, Ukkonen moved from Finland to Belgium, when he was bought by Cercle Brugge. Ukkonen made his Belgian début on 13 November, when Cercle defeated SV Waregem with 2–1. Ukkonen would go on to win the Belgian Cup with Cercle in 1985. Ukkonen would spend most of his career in Belgium, also playing for other First division teams as Lokeren, Anderlecht and Royal Antwerp.[1] Ukkonen ended his playing career with French side LB Châteauroux.

International career

Ukkonen represented Finland at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Three years later, he earned his first cap for Finland in a 1–1 draw against Poland. The same year, Ukkonen was voted Finnish Footballer of the Year by sports journalists and the Football Association of Finland. He made 59 appearances for the Finland national team, scoring four goals.

Coaching career

He stayed in football as manager. First he was coach of Finland's national youth team. He was head coach of Finland at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Argentina.

His next job was the manager of Turun Palloseura (TPS) in 2004–2006.

Career statistics

Club

As of 16 May 2024.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Domestic Cups[a] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
KuPS 1979 Mestaruussarja 12 0 12 0
1980 Mestaruussarja 26 2 2[b] 0 28 2
1981 Mestaruussarja 25 7 25 7
1982 Mestaruussarja 28 4 28 4
Total 91 13 – – 2 0 93 13
Cercle Brugge 1982–83 Belgian First Division 21 2 – – 21 2
1983–84 Belgian First Division 30 1 1 0 – 31 1
1984–85 Belgian First Division 25 3 7 2 – 32 5
1985–86 Belgian First Division 31 10 13 1 2[c] 0 46 11
Total 107 16 21 3 2 0 130 19
Lokeren 1986–87 Belgian First Division 32 8 2 1 – 34 9
RSC Anderlecht 1987–88 Belgian First Division 14 1 4 0 – 18 1
1988–89 Belgian First Division 15 0 3 0 3[c] 0 21 0
1989–90 Belgian First Division 8 2 2 0 2[c] 1 12 3
1990–91 Belgian First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 39 3 9 0 5 1 53 4
Royal Antwerp 1991–92 Belgian First Division 27 0 5 0 – 32 0
1992–93 Belgian First Division 11 1 1 0 1[c] 0 13 1
Total 38 1 6 0 1 0 45 1
Châteauroux 1993–94 Division 2 0 0 1 1 – 1 1
1994–95 Division 2 37 1 7 1 – 44 2
1995–96 Division 2 15 0 1 0 – 16 0
Total 52 1 9 2 – – 61 3
Career total 359 42 47 6 10 1 416 49
  1. ^ Includes Suomen Cup, Belgian Cup, Belgian Super Cup, Belgian Ligabeker and Coupe de France
  2. ^ Includes UEFA Cup
  3. ^ a b c d Includes UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Honours

References

  1. ^ Kasila, Markku; Vuorinen, Juha. Pelimiehet. Suomen Urheilumuseosäätiö. p. 354. ISBN 978-952-99075-9-5.