# 2024 Veikkausliiga

The 2024 Veikkausliiga was the 94th season of top-tier football in Finland, which takes place from April to November. Veikkaus was the league's sponsor.

## Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; ten teams remaining from the previous season, and two teams promoted from the Ykkönen. HJK entered the season as defending champions (for the fourth consecutive season).

### Team changes

| Promoted from 2023 Ykkönen | Relegated to 2024 Ykkösliiga | Relegated to 2025 Ykkösliiga |
| EIF Gnistan | KTP | EIF Lahti |
EIF were promoted as champions of the 2023 Ykkönen (returning to the top flight after a 90-year absence), replacing the bottom-placed 2023 Veikkausliiga team (KTP, relegated after a single-year stint in top flight). Ykkönen runners-up Gnistan were also promoted (marking their debut in the top flight) after fifth-placed Veikkausliiga team Honka were demoted due to bankruptcy, replacing them in the league.
At the end of the season, EIF were relegated back to Ykkösliiga after finishing 12th. The 11th placed team FC Lahti were defeated in the relegation play-offs by FF Jaro and were also relegated.

### Stadiums and locations

| Club | Location | Stadium | Turf | Capacity |
| AC Oulu | Oulu | Raatti Stadium | Natural | 5,000 |
| Ekenäs IF | Ekenäs, Raseborg | Ekenäs Centrumplan | Artificial | 1,900 |
| FC Haka | Valkeakoski | Tehtaan kenttä | Artificial | 3,516 |
| FC Inter Turku | Turku | Veritas Stadion | Artificial | 9,372 |
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahti Stadium | Natural | 7,465 |
| HJK | Töölö, Helsinki | Bolt Arena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| IF Gnistan | Oulunkylä, Helsinki | Mustapekka Areena | Artificial | 2,200 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Mariehamn | Wiklöf Holding Arena | Artificial | 1,650 |
| Ilves | Tampere | Tammelan Stadion | Artificial | 8,000 |
| KuPS | Kuopio | Väre Areena | Artificial | 4,778 |
| SJK | Seinäjoki | OmaSP Stadion | Artificial | 5,817 |
| VPS | Vaasa | Hietalahti Stadium | Artificial | 6,005 |

### Personnel and kits

All teams are obligated to have the Veikkausliiga logo on the right sleeve of their shirt.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer |
| AC Oulu | Mikko Isokangas and / Rafinha | Niklas Jokelainen | Craft |
| Ekenäs IF | Christian Sund | Enoch Kofi Adu | Craft |
| FC Haka | Andy Smith | Guilherme Morais | Puma |
| FC Inter Turku | Vesa Vasara | Juuso Hämäläinen | Nike |
| FC Lahti | Ricardo Duarte | Mikko Viitikko | Adidas |
| HJK | Toni Korkeakunnas | Joona Toivio | Adidas |
| IF Gnistan | Jussi Leppälahti | Jukka Raitala | Puma |
| IFK Mariehaman | Gary Williams | Robin Sid | Puma |
| Ilves | Joonas Rantanen | Otso Virtanen | Adidas |
| KuPS | Jani Honkavaara | Petteri Pennanen | Puma |
| SJK | Stevie Grieve | Ville Tikkanen | Adidas |
| VPS | Jussi Nuorela | Jesper Engström | Nike |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| AC Oulu | Rauno Ojanen / Jussi-Pekka Savolainen | Contract expired | 30 November 2023 | Pre-season | Tuomas Silvennoinen | 8 November 2023 |
| AC Oulu | Tuomas Silvennoinen | Dismissed | 13 June 2024 | 10th | Kostas Bratsos | 20 June 2024 |
| AC Oulu | Kostas Bratsos | Dismissed | 2 September 2024 | 9th | Mikko Isokangas / Rafinha (caretakers) | 2 September 2024 |
| Ekenäs IF | Gabriel Garcia Xatart | Dismissed | 10 August 2024 | 12th | Christian Sund | 12 August 2024 |
| FC Haka | Teemu Tainio | Signed by AEL Limassol | | Pre-season | Andy Smith | 31 October 2023 |
| FC Inter Turku | Jarkko Wiss | Contract terminated | 6 November 2023 | Pre-season | Vesa Vasara | 17 November 2023 |
| FC Lahti | Toni Lindberg | Dismissed | 20 June 2024 | 11th | Ricardo Duarte | 21 June 2024 |
| HJK | Toni Korkeakunnas | Contract expired | | Pre-season | Ossi Virta / Ferran Sibila | 14 November 2023 |
| HJK | Ossi Virta / Ferran Sibila | Dismissed | 20 May 2024 | 5th | Toni Korkeakunnas | 20 May 2024 |
| IF Gnistan | Joonas Rantanen | Signed by Ilves | 23 October 2023 | Pre-season | Jussi Leppälahti | 10 November 2023 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Jimmy Wargh | Appointed the club director | | Pre-season | Bruno Romão | 20 December 2023 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Bruno Romão | Resigned | 14 August 2024 | 11th | Gary Williams | 16 August 2024 |
| Ilves | Joni Lehtonen | Appointed the assistant coach | | Pre-season | Joonas Rantanen | 23 October 2023 |
| SJK | Joaquín Gomez | Signed by Al Qadsiah FC | 4 November 2023 | Pre-season | Stevie Grieve/ Toni Lehtinen | 12 January 2024 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | KuPS | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 39 | 22 | +17 | 44 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 2 | HJK | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 41 | 21 | +20 | 43 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 3 | Ilves | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 45 | 25 | +20 | 39 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 4 | SJK | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 40 | 33 | +7 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 5 | Haka | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 35 | 32 | +3 | 35 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 6 | VPS | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 36 | −2 | 32 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 7 | Inter Turku | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 31 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 8 | Gnistan | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 32 | 34 | −2 | 30 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 9 | Oulu | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 36 | −10 | 21 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 10 | Mariehamn | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 38 | −18 | 20 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 11 | Lahti | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 26 | 38 | −12 | 19 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 12 | EIF | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 51 | −32 | 13 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |

### Results

| Home \ Away | EIF | GNI | HAK | HJK | ILV | INT | KPS | LAH | MAR | OUL | SJK | VPS |
| EIF | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–7 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Gnistan | 1–2 | — | 0–3 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Haka | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| HJK | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 |
| Ilves | 5–0 | 4–6 | 5–0 | 3–0 | — | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 |
| Inter Turku | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| KuPS | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Lahti | 4–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–0 |
| Mariehamn | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–4 | 0–0 |
| Oulu | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| SJK | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–5 | 0–2 | 2–1 | — | 3–1 |
| VPS | 2–3 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |

## Championship Round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | KuPS (C) | 27 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 46 | 24 | +22 | 56 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Ilves | 27 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 56 | 27 | +29 | 54 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round |
| 3 | HJK | 27 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 45 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 4 | SJK (O) | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 40 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off final |
| 5 | VPS | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 39 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals |
| 6 | Haka | 27 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 38 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals |
* 1 2 The 2024 Finnish Cup winners qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round. Since the cup winners (KuPS) qualified based on league position, the Conference League second round spot was passed to the second-placed team, the Conference League first round spot was passed to the third-placed team, the Conference League play-off final spot was passed to the fourth-placed team, and the fourth Conference League play-off quarter-final spot was passed to the eighth-placed team.

### Results

| Home \ Away | HAK | HJK | ILV | KPS | SJK | VPS |
| Haka | — | — | — | — | 0–3 | 2–3 |
| HJK | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | — |
| Ilves | 3–2 | — | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | — |
| KuPS | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | — | — | 3–1 |
| SJK | — | — | — | 0–1 | — | 1–4 |
| VPS | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | — | — |

## Relegation Round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Inter Turku | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 46 | 34 | +12 | 41 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals |
| 2 | Gnistan | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 37 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals |
| 3 | Oulu | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 28 | |
| 4 | Mariehamn | 27 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 26 | |
| 5 | Lahti (R) | 27 | 4 | 12 | 11 | 31 | 47 | −16 | 24 | Qualification for the Veikkausliiga play-off |
| 6 | EIF (R) | 27 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 24 | 57 | −33 | 19 | Relegation to the Ykkösliiga |

### Results

| Home \ Away | EIF | GNI | INT | LAH | MAR | OUL |
| EIF | — | 3–1 | — | — | — | 1–1 |
| Gnistan | — | — | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Inter Turku | 1–1 | 3–2 | — | 3–1 | — | — |
| Lahti | 0–0 | — | — | — | 2–1 | — |
| Mariehamn | 3–0 | — | 0–1 | — | — | — |
| Oulu | — | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | — |

## Results by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| AC Oulu | L | D | D | L | L | D | D | L | W | L | D | D | W | L | W | W | L | L | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | D | L |
| Ekenäs IF | L | L | D | L | D | L | D | L | L | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | D | W | L | D | D |
| FC Haka | L | W | D | D | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | D | L | W | W | L | L | W | D | L | W | D | L | L | L | W | L |
| FC Inter Turku | L | D | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | D | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | L | W | D | L | W | W | W |
| FC Lahti | D | L | D | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | D | D | D | L | L | L | D | W | W | D | D | D | L | W | L | D | D |
| HJK | L | W | W | D | D | D | W | L | W | D | L | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | D | L | L | L |
| IF Gnistan | W | W | L | L | L | D | D | L | D | W | L | L | D | L | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | D | L |
| IFK Mariehamn | W | D | L | L | W | L | D | D | W | L | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | W | L | L | W | L | W |
| Ilves | D | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | D | W | D | D | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | W | W | W |
| KuPS | W | D | D | W | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W |
| SJK | W | D | W | D | W | D | L | W | W | L | L | W | D | W | W | W | D | D | W | L | L | D | D | W | L | L | L |
| VPS | W | D | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | D | D | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | W | D | L | L | D | W | L | W |

## Play-offs
### Conference League play-off

Teams placed 4th-8th entered play-off matches for the second spot in the Conference League first qualifying round; the 4th-placed team received a bye to the final. The quarter and semi-finals are held over one leg (with the higher-placed team gaining home advantage), while the final is held over two legs.

#### Final
##### First leg
##### Second leg
### Veikkausliiga play-off

The eleventh-placed team (Lahti) faced the second-placed team from the 2024 Ykkösliiga (Jaro) in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the 2025 Veikkausliiga.

#### Second leg
## Season statistics
## Awards
### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Year | Petteri Pennanen | KuPS |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Johannes Kreidl | KuPS |
| Defender of the Year | Juhani Pikkarainen | Ilves |
| Midfielder of the Year | Petteri Pennanen | KuPS |
| Striker of the Year | Ashley Coffey | AC Oulu |
| Rookie of the Year | Matias Siltanen | KuPS |
| Manager of the Year | Jani Honkavaara | KuPS |

### Monthly awards

| Month | Coach of the Month | Player of the Month |
| April | Toni Lehtinen (SJK) | Topi Keskinen (HJK) |
| May | Jani Honkavaara (KuPS) | Ashley Coffey (AC Oulu) |
| June | Toni Korkeakunnas (HJK) | Jaime Moreno (SJK) |
| July | Jani Honkavaara (KuPS) (2) | Santeri Haarala (Ilves) |
| August | Jussi Leppälahti (Gnistan) | Tim Väyrynen (Gnistan) |
| September | Joonas Rantanen (Ilves) | Adeleke Akinyemi (Ilves) |
| October | Jani Honkavaara (KuPS) (3) | Petteri Pennanen (KuPS) |

### Team of the Year

Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Johannes Kreidl (KuPS) | Johannes Kreidl (KuPS) | Johannes Kreidl (KuPS) | Johannes Kreidl (KuPS) |
| Defence | Clinton Antwi (KuPS) | Juhani Pikkarainen (Ilves) | Ibrahim Cissé (KuPS) | Saku Heiskanen (Gnistan) |
| Midfield | Petteri Pennanen (KuPS) | Anton Popovitch (Ilves) | Joona Veteli (Ilves) | Oiva Jukkola (Ilves) |
| Attack | Jaime Moreno (SJK) | Santeri Haarala (Ilves) |
| Manager | Jani Honkavaara (KuPS) |
| Director | Miika Takkula (Ilves) |

## Attendance

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Average | Change |
| 1 | HJK | 85,069 | 8,835 | 6,363 | +13.0%$^†$ |
| 2 | Ilves | 80,941 | 8,017 | 5,782 | +128.2%$^†$ |
| 3 | KuPS | 49,843 | 8,543 | 3,560 | +26.4%$^†$ |
| 4 | SJK | 40,384 | 4,619 | 3,106 | +1.2%$^†$ |
| 5 | VPS | 37,727 | 3,412 | 2,961 | +10.6%$^†$ |
| 6 | FC Inter Turku | 35,967 | 4,023 | 2,511 | −17.0%$^†$ |
| 7 | FC Lahti | 29,315 | 3,471 | 2,255 | +3.7%$^†$ |
| 8 | Haka | 29,116 | 4,347 | 2,240 | −11.8%$^†$ |
| 9 | Gnistan | 29,838 | 3,024 | 2,131 | +161.8%$^†$ |
| 10 | AC Oulu | 24,336 | 2,929 | 1,738 | −10.5%$^†$ |
| 11 | IFK Mariehamn | 17,446 | 1,723 | 1,342 | +14.4%$^†$ |
| 12 | EIF | 15,053 | 1,640 | 1,158 | +24.2%$^†$ |
| | League total | 473,225 | 8,835 | 2,957 | +9.3%$^†$ |
Source: Notes: $^†$ Promoted from 2023 Ykkönen