Kari Ukkonen

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.

He was inducted to the Finnish Football Hall of Fame in 2022.

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

International goals As of match played 9 October 1991. Finland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ukkonen goal.

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