Kari_Virtanen
Kari Virtanen
Finnish footballer and manager (born 1958)
Kari Virtanen (born 15 September 1958) is a Finnish football manager and former player.[1] He is currently coach of Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kari Virtanen | ||
| Date of birth | (1958-09-15) September 15, 1958 (age 65) | ||
| Place of birth | Piikkiö, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | FC Inter Turku | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976 | Piikkiön Palloseura | ||
| 1977–1979 | TPS | 62 | (10) |
| 1980–1981 | IFK Eskilstuna | 45 | (1) |
| 1982 | TPS | 21 | (6) |
| 1983–1985 | AIK | 45 | (4) |
| 1986–1987 | RoPS | 41 | (3) |
| 1988–1989 | KePS | 43 | (2) |
| 1990 | Kuusankosken Kumu | 6 | (0) |
| 1991–1992 | Piikkiön Palloseura | ||
| International career | |||
| 1978–1979 | Finland U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 1979–1986 | Finland | 37 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1993–1994 | Piikkiön Palloseura | ||
| 1996 | Kanuunat Rovaniemi | ||
| 1997–1999 | RoPS | ||
| 2000–2002 | VG-62 | ||
| 2003–2006 | FC Inter Turku | ||
| 2007 | RoPS | ||
| 2011 | PIF | ||
| 2012–2013 | RoPS | ||
| 2016–2017 | IFK Mariehamn | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
As a player Virtanen spent his career in Finland and Sweden, representing Piikkiön Palloseura, TPS, IFK Eskilstuna, AIK, Rovaniemen Palloseura, Kemin Palloseura and Kuusankosken Kumu.
Virtanen represented Team Finland in the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, Soviet Union. Finland finished 3rd in Group D with one win, one draw and one loss. Virtanen was in starting eleven in all three matches.
As a manager Virtanen has been working with teams in different tiers of Finnish football league system. His first manager position in Veikkausliiga was in 2003 with Inter Turku. He has been a manager of Rovaniemen Palloseura on two occasions. In 2012 he won Ykkönen with RoPS and promoted to Veikkausliiga. In the following season RoPS also won Finnish Cup for the second time in their history.
In 2016 he was named as a co-manager of IFK Mariehamn with Peter Lundberg. IFK Mariehamn won Veikkausliiga for the first time in history that season.[2] Virtanen remained in the club as an advisor for one more season.
Player
AIK Fotboll
Rovaniemen Palloseura
- Finnish Cup: 1986
Manager
Rovaniemen Palloseura
IFK Mariehamn
Individual
- Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month: April 2016,[3] October 2016[4] (with Peter Lundberg)
- Veikkausliiga Manager of the Year: 2016 (with Peter Lundberg)[5]
- Finnish Football Manager of the Year: 2016[ (with Peter Lundberg) [6]
- "Kari Virtanen". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
- "IFK Mariehamn dubbed the Finnish Leicester after stunning title win". espn.com. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
- Jani Lyyski kuukauden pelaajaksi (in Finnish)
- Veikkausliiga. "Palkinnot". veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 7 August 2018.
- Finnish Football Managers' Association. "Palkitut valmentajat". jalkapallovalmentajat.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 7 August 2018.