AC Oulu
Full nameAC Oulu
Founded2002 (2002)
GroundRaatti Stadium, Oulu
Capacity5,000
ChairmanTomi Kaismo
ManagerTuomas Silvennoinen
LeagueVeikkausliiga
2023Veikkausliiga, 7th of 12
WebsiteClub website

AC Oulu (ACO) is a Finnish professional football club based in Oulu, currently playing in Finland's premier division, Veikkausliiga. Formed in 2002, the club have played five seasons in Finland's highest football league Veikkausliiga and 16 seasons in the second highest league Ykkönen. They currently play their home games at Raatti Stadium, and the club colours are navy blue, and white.

History

Early years; 2002–2010 and the first promotions

AC Oulu was founded in 2002 as a joint initiative of the OLS, OPS, OTP and Tervarit clubs with the aim of bringing top level football back to Oulu. FC Oulu played in the Veikkausliiga in the early '90s as the most recent team from Oulu to play top-tier Finnish football.

After four seasons in the Ykkönen, AC Oulu reached the Finlands premier division Veikkausliiga in 2007. However, they were relegated back to the Ykkönen at the end of their first season in the top division. After two seasons in the second tier AC Oulu won promotion again to the Veikkausliiga at the end of the 2009 season after finishing top of the Ykkönen.

Having finished 11th in 2010 season the club were initially going to continue in the Veikkausliiga for the 2011 season. However, they were denied a league licence for financial reasons and therefore dropped down to the Ykkönen.

"Eternal Ykkönen"; 2011–2020

Since the relegation for financial reasons in 2010, AC Oulu played in Ykkönen for ten years, where it was considered as a candidate to promote for a long time. During 2009–2014, the former Finland national team winger Mika Nurmela played for the club, and simultaneously worked as a sporting director in AC Oulu. During 2016–2018, the former national team defender Markus Heikkinen played for the club as a player-coach. Since 2017, he has also been working as a sporting director for the club. In 2018, Tomi Kaismo and his investment company OTC-Sijoitus Oy, became the biggest shareholder of the club.[1] The club managed to create stability to their economy during those years, and finally won Ykkönen in the 2020 season, gaining a promotion back to Veikkausliiga for the 2021 season, last time being in 2010.[2]

Veikkausliiga; 2021–present

In the 2021 Veikkausliiga season, after the run of poor results, the head coach Jyrki Ahola was sacked in September and replaced by Portuguese Ricardo Duarte.[3][4] AC Oulu finished 11th in the league, and successfully defended its place in the relegation play-offs against RoPS.[5]

In the 2022 season, the club finished in the 7th place, after having narrowly missed the top-6 championship group in the league. AC Oulu established its place in the league, after having mostly played in the second-tier Ykkönen since its foundation in 2002.

In 2023, AC Oulu reached to the final of the pre-season Finnish League Cup tournament, after winning Inter Turku on penalties in the semi-final. They eventually fell short to HJK 2–1 in the final.[6] In August 2023, the head coach Duarte announced that he will leave the club after the season, and his option will not be exercised.[7] Only a couple of weeks later, the club announced that Duarte was sacked with an immediate effect, following the loss in the 2023 Finnish Cup semi-final against Ilves, and the miserable results in the league.[8] However, in the end of the season, the club renewed its position in 7th place in the league, having narrowly missed the top-6 again.[9]

Honours

Current squad

As of 23 November 2023[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
8 MF Finland FIN Jere Kallinen
9 FW England ENG Ashley Coffey
13 DF Finland FIN Joona Lohela
14 MF Finland FIN Niklas Jokelainen
18 MF Wales WAL Danny Barrow
19 FW Finland FIN Onni Suutari
22 MF Finland FIN Daniel Heikkinen
23 DF Finland FIN Yassin Daoussi
25 DF Finland FIN Eelis Taskila
27 GK Finland FIN Nuutti Kaikkonen
28 MF Finland FIN Nestori Kekonen
35 GK England ENG Calum Ward
47 FW Finland FIN Eemeli Raittinen
63 DF Finland FIN Alexander Forsström
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF France FRA Hamed Dramé
— FW Finland FIN Julius Paananen
— FW Finland FIN Rene Kähkönen
— DF Finland FIN Aaro Tiihonen
— MF Northern Ireland NIR Jake Dunwoody
— MF Finland FIN Aleksi Paananen
— MF Finland FIN Julius Körkkö
— DF Finland FIN Niklas Orjala
— MF Finland FIN Roope Salo
— FW Finland FIN Jesse Huhtala
— DF Finland FIN Samuli Hölttä
— DF Finland FIN Juho Lehtiranta
— MF Finland FIN Asla Peltola
— MF Finland FIN Otto Salmensuu

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Youth and reserve teams

In the summer 2020, AC Oulu and one of its founding member clubs Oulun Luistinseura (OLS) signed a new co-operation deal, by which AC Oulu acquired the U-17 team and OLS first team under its command.[11][12]

In the end of the 2023 season, the club's U17 team won the silver medal in the league of their age group.[13] In addition, the club's reserve team OLS gained a promotion from Kakkonen to new Ykkönen.[14]

On 13 November 2023, the club announced that they had signed a co-operation deal with one of their associate clubs Oulunsalon Pallo (OsPa), and acquired the control and the management of the OsPa first team in Kolmonen, as AC Oulu's second reserve team for youth players.[15]

After the 2023 season, Olli-Pekka Piisilä, the head coach of the AC Oulu/OLS U17 team, was awarded The Best Coach of the Boys' Team by the Football Association of Finland.[16]

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 18 November 2023[17]

Name Role
Finland Tuomas Silvennoinen Head Coach
Finland Mikko Viitsalo Assistant Coach
Finland Rauno Ojanen Assistant Coach
Finland Mikko Isokangas Assistant Coach
Finland Jani Luukkonen Goalkeeping Coach
England Luke Robertson Fitness Coach
Finland Olli Kyösti Technical Assistant
Finland Pasi Moilanen Team Manager
Finland Jari Malmi Kit Manager
Finland Ari Korkala Physiotherapist
Finland Ville Puukka Doctor

Boardroom

As of 23 November 2023[18]

Name Role
Finland Tomi Kaismo Chairman
Finland Timo Kalermo Vice Chairman
Finland Hanna Väänänen CEO
Finland Markus Heikkinen Director of Football

Statistics

Divisional History

Season to season

Year League T Tier G W D L GF - GA P
2003 Ykkönen 8. Tier 2 26 9 8 9 37 - 37 35
2004 Ykkönen 5. Tier 2 26 10 9 7 39 - 33 39
2005 Ykkönen 10. Tier 2 26 8 7 11 32 - 33 31
2006 Ykkönen 2. Tier 2 26 15 7 4 53 - 25 52
2007 Veikkausliiga 14. Tier 1 26 5 7 14 28 - 49 22
2008 Ykkönen 4. Tier 2 26 10 11 5 40 - 26 41
2009 Ykkönen 1. Tier 2 26 16 5 5 57 - 24 53
2010 Veikkausliiga 11. Tier 1 26 8 6 12 31 - 44 30
2011 Ykkönen 3. Tier 2 24 14 6 4 51 - 22 48
2012 Ykkönen 6. Tier 2 27 9 10 8 38 - 35 37
2013Ykkönen5.Tier 227117936 - 3840
2014Ykkönen4.Tier 227138646 - 3247
2015Ykkönen5.Tier 227128731 - 2844
2016Ykkönen4.Tier 227127850 - 3143
2017Ykkönen4.Tier 227126940 - 4042
2018Ykkönen4.Tier 227135941 - 3044
2019Ykkönen7.Tier 227781234 - 3029
2020Ykkönen1.Tier 222155238 - 1650
2021Veikkausliiga11.Tier 127651621 - 4423
2022Veikkausliiga7.Tier 1271161046 - 4339
2023Veikkausliiga7.Tier 1271151141 - 4538

[19]

References

  1. ↑ AC Oulun pää­omis­ta­ja Tomi Kaismo kertoo nyt, miten hän suh­tau­tuu seuran jät­ti­tap­pioi­hin – "Aion olla pitkään mukana", Kaleva, Kai Nevala, 4 April 2023
  2. ↑ AC Oulun korpivaellus kesti tolkuttoman kauan, mutta nyt se on ohi – tähtipuolustaja avoimena: ”Tämä on ollut unelma koko ajan”, Ilta-Sanomat, Jarmo Korhonen, 3 May 2021
  3. ↑ Jyrki Aholalle lyötiin eteen lohduton valinta: eroa tai tulee kenkää – tyly ”jäähyväislahja” kertoo tilanteesta kaiken, Ilta-Sanomat, Janne Oivio, 29 September 2021
  4. ↑ Professori Duarte aloittaa nyt urakkansa Oulussa, eikä tilanne voisi olla pahempi: ”Mitään taikatemppuja ei ole”, Ilta-Sanomat, Janne Oivio, 15 October 2021
  5. ↑ AC Oulu säilytti sarjapaikkansa – RoPS-hyökkääjä ei sulattanut joukkuekaverin ulosajoa: "Se oli tuomarivirhe", Yle, Hinni Hirvonen, 7 November 2021
  6. ↑ Sami Hyypiä Trophy jaossa lauantaina – Liigacup 2023 huipentuu finaaliin, Veikkausliiga, 31 March 2023
  7. ↑ AC Oulun päävalmentaja Ricardo Duarte jättää seuran kauden jälkeen, Veikkausliiga, 17 August 2023
  8. ↑ AC Oulu teki uuden päätöksen – Ricardo Duarte jättää seuran jo nyt, suomifutis.com, 25 August 2023
  9. ↑ AC Oulun karmea sulaminen huipentui runkosarjan päätöskierroksella – HJK:lla ja KuPSilla kiivas mestaruustaisto, Ilta-Sanomat, 3 September 2021
  10. ↑ "Joukkue 2023" (in Finnish). AC Oulu. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  11. ↑ RESERVIJOUKKUE KAKKOSEEN - TOIMISTO, VALMENNUS JA TAUSTAT KASASSA!, acoulu.fi, 22 December 2020
  12. ↑ Seuraesimerkki Huuhkaja- ja Helmaripolulta: Näin OLS:ssa varmistetaan, että tieto kehittää päivittäistä tekemistä, Finnish FA/Palloliitto, 23 August 2023
  13. ↑ AC OULU / OLS -JUNIORIT TAISTELEE HOPEAMITALISTA LAUANTAINA, acoulu.fi, 28 September 2023
  14. ↑ OTTELUENNAKKO: RESERVIJOUKKUEEN ENSIMMÄINEN KARSINTAOTTELU KOHTI YKKÖSLIIGAA PELATAAN TÄNÄÄN, acoulu.fi, 13 October 2023
  15. ↑ AC OULUN PELAAJAPUTKI PÄIVITTYY, acoulu.fi, 13 November 2023
  16. ↑ Captain's Ball 2023 – Palkitut osa 1, Finnish FA, 1 December 2023
  17. ↑ AC Oulun uusi valmennuskolmikko: Rauno Ojanen, Tuomas Silvennoinen ja Mikko Viitsalo, Yle, 8 November 2023
  18. ↑ "Yhteystiedot" (in Finnish). AC Oulu. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  19. ↑ "Finland - List of League Second Level Tables".
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