AC Oulu
Encyclopedia
AC Oulu is a Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 football club, based in Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....

. The club's coach is Juha Malinen
Juha Malinen
Juha Malinen is an experienced Finnish football manager, who manages AC Oulu.In February 2007 Malinen signed a contract with Kazakhstan's FC Shakhter of Karaganda and was also appointed as a manager of U-21 National Team of Kazakhstan. FC Shakhter and Malinen parted their ways after 7 months...

, and it plays its home matches at Raatin Stadion
Raatti Stadion
Raatti Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Oulu, Finland. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 12,000 people and was built in 1952....

.

History

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
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Veikkausliiga is currently ranked as the 28th best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name...

 in the early 90's as the most recent team from Oulu to play top tier Finnish football). After four seasons in the Ykkönen
Ykkönen
Ykkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system , although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland.-Competition:...

 (First Division), the new flagship club, AC Oulu, reached the Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Veikkausliiga is currently ranked as the 28th best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name...

 (Premier League) in 2007. However, they were relegated back to the Ykkönen
Ykkönen
Ykkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system , although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland.-Competition:...

 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
Ykkönen
Ykkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system , although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland.-Competition:...

. 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
Ykkönen
Ykkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system , although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland.-Competition:...

.

Current squad

(as of 20 May 2011)

Season to season

class="wikitable">
Season Level Division Section Administration Position Movements
2003 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 8th
2004 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th
2005 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 10th
2006 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd Promoted
2007 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 14th Relegated
2008 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2009 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 1st Promoted
2010 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 11th
  • 2 seasons in Veikkausliiga
    Veikkausliiga
    Veikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Veikkausliiga is currently ranked as the 28th best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name...

  • 6 seasons in Ykkönen
    Ykkönen
    Ykkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system , although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland.-Competition:...


Notable players

Famous Players Seth Ablade
Seth Ablade
Seth Ablade is a Ghanaian football player, he last played for Oulun Palloseura.-Position:Ablade has played mostly as an attacking midfielder since arriving to Europe at the age of 16.-International:...

 Anatoli Bulgakov Raphael Edereho Ilya Fomitchev Janne Hietanen
Janne Hietanen
Janne Hietanen is a Finnish professional football defender who plays for AC Oulu in Veikkausliiga of Finland.He has played 17 times for Finland.- External links :*...

 Jarkko Hurme
Jarkko Hurme
Jarkko Erkki Hurme is a Finnish footballer.Hurme, a right back, started his career at OLS Oulu and AC Oulu,before moving to Veikkausliiga club RoPS Rovaniemi for the 2005 season. He then transferred to Udinese Calcio of the Italian Serie A on 1 January 2006. He played for Hellas Verona in Serie C1...

 Toni Kolehmainen
Toni Kolehmainen
Toni Kolehmainen is a Finnish professional football midfielder who currently plays for Turun Palloseura.He had previously played for AZ in Alkmaar, Netherlands. Kolehmainen also played in Blackburn Rovers' youth academy during 2004-05.-Career:After ending his stay with Blackburn Rovers' youth...

 Antti Niemi Mika Nurmela
Mika Nurmela
Mika Nurmela is a Finnish footballer who currently plays for the Veikkausliiga club AC Oulu.- Trivia :He is a right sided player who has played most of his career as a wide midfielder or winger, but can also play at full back....

 Antti Okkonen
Antti Okkonen
Antti Okkonen is a Finnish football player representing MyPa in the Finnish Veikkausliiga.His youth team was OLS in Oulu, Finland. At senior level, he has also played for MyPa, Landskrona BoIS, and Silkeborg IF. He has also gained 13 caps for the Finland national football team, his first being in...

 Rafinha   Dritan Stafsula Jani Viander
Jani Viander
Jani Viander is a former Finnish footballer who last played for HJK Helsinki. Currently he works as a goalkeeping coach for both HJK and it's reserves Klubi-04 and for the Finland U21.-Career:...



Notable Players

Jussi Äijälä
Jussi Äijälä
Jussi Äijälä is a Finnish footballer who represents Vaasan Palloseura of Veikkausliiga.-References:**...

 Toni Banduliev Dmitri Brovkin Titi Essomba Chijoke Festus   Aleksandr Gorbachyov
Aleksandr Valeryevich Gorbachyov
Aleksandr Valeryevich Gorbachyov is a Russian professional footballer. Currently, he plays for FC SKA Rostov-on-Don.-External links:*...

   Boussad Houche
Boussad Houche
Boussad Houche is an footballer of Algerian origin. He currently plays for IFK Mariehamn in the Veikkausliiga, having spent the 2008/2009 season playing as a defender for AC Oulu in the Finnish Ykkönen.-Career:...

 Friday Iyam Saša Kolic   Mamadou Konate
Mamadou Konate
Mamadou Konate was a politician from Mali who served in the French National Assembly from 1946-1956 .- references :...

 Valeri Minkenen Luiz Antonio Moraes Papa Niang Igor Joksimović
Igor Joksimović
Igor Joksimović is a Bosnian Serb football striker who currently plays for FK Sloboda Tuzla in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-Career:...


Joseph Nquiol Veli-Pekka Nurmi Patrice Derigobert Ollo N'doumba   Dayo Oyetuga Dragan Pejić Denys Pervov Jarno Rova Miki Sipiläinen
Miki Sipiläinen
Miki Sipiläinen is a Finnish footballer, who play as a striker in Ilves. He is a former player of Tampere United and also played on loan in PP-70 and AC Oulu. He also represented Finland U21 national team.-External links:*...

   Fitim Syla Jarno Tenkula
Jarno Tenkula
Jarno Tenkula is a Finnish football player currently playing for RoPS; he formerly played for OLS, TP-47, VPS and AC Oulu.-External links: -References:...

 Irakli Tsikolia István Gajda
István Gajda
István Gajda was a Hungarian football player, he's latest club was Békéscsaba 1912 Előre SE.-Death:...

 Ymer Xhaferi
Ymer Xhaferi
Ymer Xhaferi is a Kosovo football middlefielder playing for Finnish Veikkausliiga side FF Jaro.On 11 December 2009 Xhaferi signed one year long contract with Jaro....



External links

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