# 2017 Veikkausliiga

The 2017 Veikkausliiga was the 87th season of top-tier football in Finland. IFK Mariehamn were the defending champions.
Fixtures for the 2017 season were announced on 19 January 2017. The season started on 5 April 2017 and ended on 28 October 2017.

## Teams

PK-35 Vantaa were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2016 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions JJK.
FC Inter as 11th-placed team regained their Veikkausliiga spot after beating the second-placed Ykkönen team TPS 2–0 on aggregate in a relegation/promotion playoff.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Stadium | Turf | Capacity |
| FC Inter Turku | Turku | Veritas Stadion | Natural | 10,000 |
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahden Stadion | Natural | 15,000 |
| HIFK Fotboll | Helsinki | Telia 5G -areena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi | Helsinki | Telia 5G -areena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Mariehamn | Wiklöf Holding Arena | Natural | 4,000 |
| FC Ilves | Tampere | Tammelan Stadion | Natural | 5,040 |
| JJK Jyväskylä | Jyväskylä | Harjun stadion | Natural | 3,000 |
| Kuopion Palloseura | Kuopio | Savon Sanomat Areena | Artificial | 5,000 |
| Palloseura Kemi Kings | Kemi | Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto | Natural | 4,500 |
| RoPS | Rovaniemi | Rovaniemen keskuskenttä | Artificial | 4,000 |
| Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho | Seinäjoki | OmaSP Stadion | Artificial | 6,000 |
| Vaasan Palloseura | Vaasa | Elisa Stadion | Artificial | 6,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
| FC Inter | Fabrizio Piccareta | Timo Furuholm | Nike | Alfons Håkans |
| FC Lahti | Toni Korkeakunnas | Mikko Hauhia | Umbro | BE Group Lahti Energia Halton |
| HIFK | Antti Muurinen | Mika Väyrynen | Puma | Aktia Bank |
| HJK | Mika Lehkosuo | Rafinha | Adidas | Apu |
| IFK Mariehamn | Peter Lundberg | Jani Lyyski | Puma | Hotell Arkipelag |
| Ilves | Jarkko Wiss | Antti Hynynen | Adidas | Various |
| JJK | Juha Pasoja | Tommi Kari | Nike | Harvia |
| KuPS | Jani Honkavaara | Sebastian Sorsa | Puma | Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas |
| PS Kemi | Jari Åhman | Lassi Nurmos | Stanno | Various |
| RoPS | Juha Malinen | Antti Okkonen | Puma | Saraware |
| SJK | Brian Page Toni Lehtinen | Mihkel Aksalu | Adidas | LähiTapiola EPKK Prima Power |
| VPS | Petri Vuorinen | Veli Lampi | Puma | Various |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
| KuPS | Marko Rajamäki | End of contract | n/a | Jani Honkavaara | 17 October 2016 | Pre-season |
| SJK | Simo Valakari | Sacked | 17 February 2017 | Sixten Boström | 20 February 2017 | Pre-season |
| SJK | Sixten Boström | Sacked | 2 June 2017 | Manuel Roca | 2 June 2017 | 8th |
| FC Inter Turku | Shefki Kuqi | Sacked | 3 August 2017 | Fabrizio Piccareta | 3 August 2017 | 9th |
| SJK | Manuel Roca | Sacked | 9 September 2017 | Brian Page Toni Lehtinen | 9 September 2017 | 5th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | HJK (C) | 33 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 78 | 16 | +62 | 76 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | KuPS | 33 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 51 | 36 | +15 | 56 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Ilves | 33 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 56 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Lahti | 33 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 46 | 31 | +15 | 49 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | IFK Mariehamn | 33 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 49 | |
| 6 | SJK | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 42 | 47 | −5 | 47 | |
| 7 | RoPS | 33 | 12 | 6 | 15 | 43 | 51 | −8 | 42 | |
| 8 | VPS | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 38 | 51 | −13 | 39 | |
| 9 | Inter Turku | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 54 | 57 | −3 | 38 | |
| 10 | PS Kemi Kings | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 38 | 59 | −21 | 32 | |
| 11 | HIFK (R) | 33 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 29 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | JJK Jyväskylä (R) | 33 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 32 | 63 | −31 | 26 | Relegation to the Ykkönen |
* ↑ Since HJK, winners of the 2016–17 Finnish Cup, qualified for the Champions League first qualifying round, the spot awarded to the cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) is passed to the next best-placed team (in this case to the fourth-placed team).

## Results

Each team plays three times against every other team, either twice at home and once away or once at home and twice away, for a total of 33 matches played each.

## Relegation play-offs
### Second Match

FC Honka won 1-1 on away goals.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

Source: veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)
    As of match played 28 October 2017.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Aleksei Kangaskolkka | IFK Mariehamn | 16 |
| 2 | Tuco | Ilves | 15 |
| 2 | Filip Valenčič | HJK | 15 |
| 4 | Akseli Pelvas | HJK | 14 |
| 5 | Marko Simonovski | FC Lahti | 13 |
| 6 | Billy Ions | SJK | 12 |
| 7 | Gaël Etock | JJK | 11 |
| 7 | Alfredo Morelos | HJK | 11 |
| 9 | Pekka Sihvola | HIFK | 10 |
| 10 | Timo Furuholm | FC Inter | 9 |
| 10 | Stênio | FC Lahti | 9 |
| 10 | Benjamin Källman | FC Inter | 9 |
| 10 | Gbolahan Salami | KuPS | 9 |
| 10 | Urho Nissilä | KuPS | 9 |

## Awards

| Month | Coach of the Month | Player of the Month |
| April | Mika Lehkosuo (HJK) | Alfredo Morelos (HJK) |
| May | Jani Honkavaara (KuPS) | Alfredo Morelos (HJK) |
| June | Mika Lehkosuo (HJK) | Filip Valenčič (PS Kemi) |
| July | Toni Korkeakunnas (FC Lahti) | Santeri Hostikka (FC Lahti) |
| August | Jarkko Wiss (Ilves) | Akseli Pelvas (HJK) |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Year | Filip Valenčič | HJK |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Aleksandr Vasyutin | Lahti |
| Defender of the Year | Juha Pirinen | HJK |
| Midfielder of the Year | Anthony Annan | HJK |
| Striker of the Year | Filip Valenčič | HJK |
| Breakthrough of the Year | Kaan Kairinen | Inter Turku |
| Coach of the Year | Mika Lehkosuo | HJK |

### Team of the Year

Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Aleksandr Vasjutin (Lahti) | Aleksandr Vasjutin (Lahti) | Aleksandr Vasjutin (Lahti) | Aleksandr Vasjutin (Lahti) |
| Defence | Albin Granlund (Mariehamn) | Hannu Patronen (HJK) | Hamed Coulibaly (KuPS) | Juha Pirinen (HJK) |
| Midfield | Rasmus Karjalainen (PS Kemi) | Anthony Annan (HJK) | Filip Valenčič (HJK) | Santeri Hostikka (Lahti) |
| Attack | Aleksei Kangaskolkka (Mariehamn) | Ariel Ngueukam (Ilves) |