Kari Virtanen

Kari Virtanen (born 15 September 1958) is a Finnish football manager and former player.[1] He is currently coach of Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku.

Kari Virtanen
Personal information
Full name Kari Virtanen
Date of birth (1958-09-15) September 15, 1958
Place of birth Piikkiö, Finland
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club 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
National team
1978–1979 Finland U21 7 (0)
1979–1986 Finland 37 (1)
Teams managed
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
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

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.

International career

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.

Managerial career

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.

Honours and achievements

Player

AIK Fotboll

Rovaniemen Palloseura

Manager

Rovaniemen Palloseura

IFK Mariehamn

Individual

  • Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month: April 2016, October 2016 (with Peter Lundberg)
  • Veikkausliiga Manager of the Year: 2016 (with Peter Lundberg)[3]
  • Finnish Football Manager of the Year: 2016 (with Peter Lundberg) [4]

References
  1. "Kari Virtanen". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  2. "IFK Mariehamn dubbed the Finnish Leicester after stunning title win". espn.com. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  3. Veikkausliiga. "Palkinnot". veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  4. Finnish Football Managers' Association. "Palkitut valmentajat". jalkapallovalmentajat.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 7 August 2018.
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