2017 Veikkausliiga

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Veikkausliiga 2017
Season information
Season statistics
Matches played	67
Goals scored	179
Top goalscorer	Alfredo Morelos 11 goals
Biggest home win	HJK 6–0 SJK (31 May)
Biggest away win	JJK 1–5 HJK (23 April)
Highest scoring	FC Inter 6–2 RoPS (12 April)
← 2016	2018 →

The 2017 Veikkausliiga was the eighty-seventh season of top-tier football in Finland. IFK Mariehamn are the defending champions.

Fixtures for the 2017 season were announced on 19 January 2017. The season started on 5 April 2017 and will end in 28 October 2017.

Teams

PK-35 Vantaa were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2016 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions JJK.

FC Inter as 11th-placed team regained their Veikkausliiga spot after winning the second-placed Ykkönen team TPS 2–0 on aggregate in a relegation/promotion playoff.

Stadia and locations

Club	Location	Stadium	Turf	Capacity
FC Inter	Turku	Veritas Stadion	Natural	10,000
FC Lahti	Lahti	Lahden kisapuisto	Natural	4,000
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
JJK	Jyväskylä	Harjun stadion	Natural	3,000
KuPS	Kuopio	Savon Sanomat Areena	Artificial	5,000
PS Kemi	Kemi	Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto	Natural	4,500
RoPS	Rovaniemi	Rovaniemen keskuskenttä	Artificial	4,000
SJK	Seinäjoki	OmaSP Stadion	Artificial	6,000
VPS	Vaasa	Elisa Stadion	Artificial	6,000

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
FC Inter	Kuqi, ShefkiShefki Kuqi	Furuholm, TimoTimo Furuholm	Nike	Alfons Håkans
FC Lahti	Korkeakunnas, ToniToni Korkeakunnas	Hauhia, MikkoMikko Hauhia	Umbro	BE Group Lahti Energia Halton
HIFK	Muurinen, AnttiAntti Muurinen	Väyrynen, MikaMika Väyrynen	Puma	Aktia Bank
HJK	Lehkosuo, MikaMika Lehkosuo	Rafinha	Adidas	Apu
IFK Mariehamn	Lundberg, PeterPeter Lundberg	Lyyski, JaniJani Lyyski	Puma	Hotell Arkipelag
Ilves	Wiss, JarkkoJarkko Wiss	Hynynen, AnttiAntti Hynynen	Adidas	Various
JJK	Pasoja, JuhaJuha Pasoja	Kari, TommiTommi Kari	Nike	Harvia
KuPS	Honkavaara, JaniJani Honkavaara	Sorsa, SebastianSebastian Sorsa	Puma	Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas
PS Kemi	Åhman, JariJari Åhman	Nurmos, LassiLassi Nurmos	Stanno	Various
RoPS	Malinen, JuhaJuha Malinen	Okkonen, AnttiAntti Okkonen	Puma	Saraware
SJK	Manuel Roca	Aksalu, MihkelMihkel Aksalu	Adidas	LähiTapiola EPKK Prima Power
VPS	Vuorinen, PetriPetri Vuorinen	Lampi, VeliVeli Lampi	Puma	Various

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
KuPS	Marko Rajamäki	End of contract	n/a	Jani Honkavaara	17 October 2016	Pre-season
SJK	Simo Valakari	Sacked	17 February 2017	Sixten Boström	20 February 2017	Pre-season
SJK	Sixten Boström	Sacked	2 June 2017	Manuel Roca	2 June 2017	8th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	HJK	33	23	7	3	78	16	+62	76	Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2	KuPS	33	16	8	9	51	36	+15	56	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3	Ilves	33	15	11	7	39	35	+4	56
4	FC Lahti	33	12	13	8	46	31	+15	49
5	IFK Mariehamn	33	13	10	10	44	42	+2	49
9	SJK	33	13	8	12	42	47	−5	47
10	RoPS	33	12	6	15	43	51	−8	42
8	VPS	33	9	12	12	38	51	−13	39
9	FC Inter	33	10	8	15	54	57	−3	38
10	PS Kemi	33	8	8	17	38	59	−21	32
11	HIFK  (R)	33	6	11	16	37	54	−17	29	Qualification to Relegation play-offs
12	JJK  (R)	33	6	8	19	32	63	−31	26	Relegation to Ykkönen

Updated to games played on 28 October 2017
Source: Veikkausliiga (Finnish), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Statistics

Top scorers Source: veikkausliiga.com (Finnish) As of match played 4 June 2017. Rank Player Club Goals 1 Alfredo Morelos HJK 11 2 Aleksei Kangaskolkka IFK Mariehamn 6 Tuco Ilves 6 4 Njazi Kuqi FC Inter 5 Filip Valenčič PS Kemi 5 6 Gaël Etock JJK 4 Billy Ions SJK 4 Evans Mensah HJK 4 Steven Morrissey VPS 4 Urho Nissilä KuPS 4 Gbolahan Salami KuPS 4 Pekka Sihvola HIFK 4 13 8 players 3 21 22 players 2 43 42 players 1

Top assists Source: veikkausliiga.com (Finnish) As of match played 4 June 2017. Rank Player Club Assists 1 Steven Morrissey VPS 6 2 Robbin Sellin IFK Mariehamn 5 Atomu Tanaka HJK 5 4 Timo Furuholm FC Inter 4 Alfredo Morelos HJK 4 Philip Sparrdal Mantilla IFK Mariehamn 4 7 Johannes Laaksonen SJK 3 Abdoulie Mansally PS Kemi 3 Brian Span IFK Mariehamn 3 Filip Valenčič PS Kemi 3 Moshtagh Yaghoubi HJK 3 12 19 players 2 31 48 players 1

Monthly awards

Month	Coach of the Month	Player of the Month
April	Mika Lehkosuo (HJK)	Alfredo Morelos (HJK)

Football in Finland

League competitions FAF Cup competitions Veikkausliiga (tier 1) Finland Finnish Cup Ykkönen (tier 2) {U-21) (U-19) (U-17) Finnish League Cup Kakkonen (tier 3) · Kolmonen (tier 4) List of clubs Nelonen (tier 5) · Vitonen (tier 6) List of competitions Kutonen (tier 7) · Seiska (tier 8) List of venues