Kari Ukkonen

Kari Ukkonen

Personal information
Full name	Kari Ukkonen
Date of birth	(1961-02-19) 19 February 1961
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. 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		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
KuPS	1979	Mestaruussarja	12	0					12	0
	1980	Mestaruussarja	26	2			2	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	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	0	21	0
	1989–90	Belgian First Division	8	2	2	0	2	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	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

Honours

• Belgian Cup:
  • Winner (4): 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992
  • Runner-up (1): 1986
• Belgian First Division:
  • Winner (1): 1990–91
  • Runner-up (2): 1988–89, 1989–90

References

• Cerclemuseum.be (in Dutch)
• Kari Ukkonen player profile (in Dutch)
• Kari Ukkonen at National-Football-Teams.com