Toni Lehtinen

Toni Lehtinen

Personal information
Full name	Toni-Pekka Lehtinen
Date of birth	(1984-05-05) 5 May 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth	Helsinki, Finland[1]
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	SJK (manager)
Youth career
0000–2000	TP-Seinäjoki
2000–2002	Peterborough
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	TP-Seinäjoki	19	(3)
2003–2008	Haka	130	(50)
2009	Levadiakos	9	(0)
2009–2010	Aarau	8	(0)
2010	Haka	6	(1)
2011	IFK Mariehamn	30	(7)
2012−2016	SJK	117	(39)
2015–2017	SJK II	10	(5)
Total		329	(105)
International career
2004–2008	Finland	4	(0)
Managerial career
2017	SJK Akatemia (player-coach)
2017-2018	SJK (assistant)
2018-2019	SJK Akatemia (assistant)
2020	SJK U19
2021	SJK Akatemia
2021	SJK (assistant)
2021–2023	JJK
2024	SJK
2024–	SJK (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Toni-Pekka Lehtinen (born 5 May 1984) is a Finnish football manager and former player. He is currently an assistant coach of Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (SJK).[2][3] Lehtinen was previously the manager of JJK Jyväskylä.

Playing career

Early career

Lehtinen has previously played for TP-Seinäjoki and was a youth player at English club Peterborough United. He returned to TP-Seinäjoki in 2002.

FC Haka

Toni signed for FC Haka in 2003. He won the Veikkausliiga in 2004 and finished runners up in 2007. He finished as the second highest scorer in the Veikkausliiga in 2004, 2007 and 2008 with 11 league goals in each of those seasons. He won the Veikkausliiga Rookie of the Year award in 2004. He won the Finnish Cup in 2005.

Levadiakos FC, FC Aarau

He joined the Greek club Levadiakos FC in the Super League Greece in January 2009,[4] and joined FC Aarau in the Swiss Super League later that year after the Greek season had ended.

Return to Finland

He returned to FC Haka after the 09/10 season with FC Aarau had finished. Signed for IFK Mariehamn in January 2011.

After only one season with IFK, he left the Mariehamn-based club and signed a five-year contract with SJK in Ykkönen.

International career

Toni made his debut for the Finnish national team against Bahrain in December 2004. He has made 3 appearances for his country.

Coaching career

The last years of his playing career, Lehtinen was in SJK Akatemia squad on a player-coach contract. He worked as an assistant coach and youth coach in SJK organisation, before he was named the head coach of JJK Jyväskylä in August 2021.[5]

On 12 January 2024, Lehtinen returned to Seinäjoki after he was named the manager of SJK first team.[6][7]

Career statistics

As of 15 May 2024.[8]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League Cup[b]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
TP-Seinäjoki	2002	Ykkönen	19	3	0	0	–		–
Haka	2003	Veikkausliiga	7	0	0	0	–		1[c]	0	8	0
	2004	Veikkausliiga	26	11	0	0	–		3[c]	0	29	11
	2005	Veikkausliiga	23	8	1	0	–		3[d]	1	27	9
	2006	Veikkausliiga	23	9	0	0	–		2	0	25	9
	2007	Veikkausliiga	25	11	0	0	–		4[c]	1	29	12
	2008	Veikkausliiga	26	11	2	0	–		4[c]	1	32	12
	Total		130	50	3	0	0	0	17	3	150	53
Levadiakos	2008–09	Super League Greece	9	0	0	0	–		–		9	0
Aarau	2009–10	Swiss Super League	8	0	2	1	–		–		10	1
Aarau II	2009–10	2. Liga Interregional	2	1	–		–		–		2	1
Haka	2010	Veikkausliiga	6	1	–		–		–		6	1
IFK Mariehamn	2011	Veikkausliiga	30	7	2	2	–		–		32	9
SJK	2012	Ykkönen	21	13	1	1	–		–		22	14
	2013	Ykkönen	25	10	–		–		–		25	10
	2014	Veikkausliiga	30	8	0	0	3[e]	0	–		33	8
	2015	Veikkausliiga	23	6	1	0	3[e]	0	2[f]	0	29	6
	2016	Veikkausliiga	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
	Total		107	41	3	1	6	0	2	0	52	10
SJK II	2015	Kakkonen	1	0	–		–		–		1	0
	2016	Kolmonen	3	2	–		–		–		3	2
	2017	Kolmonen	6	3	–		–		–		6	3
	Total		10	5	–	–	–	–	–	–	10	5
Career total			321	108	10	4	6	0	19	3	356	115

1. Includes Suomen Cup and Iranian Hazfi Cup
2. Includes Finnish League Cup
3. Includes UEFA Cup
4. Includes UEFA Champions League
5. Includes Finnish League Cup
6. Includes UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 21 March 2024

Finland
Year	Apps	Goals
2004	2	0
2005	0	0
2006	0	0
2007	0	0
2008	2	0
Total	4	0

Honours

As a player
Haka

• Veikkausliiga: 2004
• Finnish Cup: 2005

SJK

• Veikkausliiga: 2015
• Finnish Cup: 2016
• Finnish League Cup: 2014

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month: April 2024

References

1. Mina vänner 2011: Toni Lehtinen
2. Stevie Grieve kantaa jatkossa päävalmentajan titteliä, sjk.fi, 28 May 2024
3. "Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerhon päävalmentaja kaudella 2024 on Toni Lehtinen".
4. http://footballinfinland.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/toni-lehtinen-signs-for-levadiakos/ Toni Lehtinen signs for Levadiakos – Football in Finland-
5. Päävalmentaja Toni Lehtinen jättää JJK:n – siirtyy Veikkausliigaan, Keskisuomalainen, 30 November 2023
6. Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerhon päävalmentaja kaudella 2024 on Toni Lehtinen, sjk.fi, 12 January 2024
7. SJK aloittaa Veikkausliiga-kauden uuden valmentajan johdolla – Toni Lehtinen: ”Pääsy europeleihin realistinen tavoite”, Yle, 5 April 2024
8. Toni Lehtinen, Finnish FA

External links

• Profile at UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database