Sami Ristilä

Sami Ristilä (born 15 August 1974) is a Finnish football manager and former player.

Playing career Ristilä was born in Valkeakoski. Before he joined Drogheda Ristilä played for MyPa, SC Neukirchen, FC Zwolle and FC Haka. He played an important role in the Drogheda midfield and sometimes played up front. He has represented the Finland national side on two occasions. He played three seasons with Zwolle in the Dutch Eerste divisie. In December 2008 he returned to FC Haka and signed a contract to 30 December 2011.

He has played 247 games in the Veikkausliiga.

Manager career The longest spell of his career as a manager was 2013–2016 with Finnish club KTP. After 2015 season KTP got relegated from Veikkausliiga. Poor results continued the next year and Ristilä was replaced by his assistant coach in middle of the season on 30 June 2016.

On 31 August 2016, he joined the coaching staff of Shamrock Rovers under head coach Stephen Bradley, who he formerly played together with at Drogheda United. Sami would work with the development of the Shamrock Rovers Academy on a deal until the end of 2016.

In 2017, he returned to Finland and at the end of the year, he was appointed assistant coach to Toni Korkeakunnas at FC Lahti for the 2018 season with an option for one further year. He was also going to be responsible for the youth development from the U19s to the first team. On 8 October 2018, he was appointed head coach of Lahti, signing a deal until the end of 2020 with an option for one further year. The club announced in October 2019, that Ristilä would leave his position at the end of the year.

Career statistics

Honours Haka Veikkausliiga (1): 2004

Drogheda United FAI Cup (1): 2005 Setanta Sports Cup (2): 2006, 2007 League of Ireland (1): 2007

Individual Veikkausliiga Coach of the Month: October 2010 August 2011,