# 2016 Veikkausliiga

The 2016 Veikkausliiga is the 86th season of top-tier football in Finland. The season started on 2 April 2016; the regular season ended on 23 October 2016, with a promotion/relegation playoff continuing until 29 October. SJK were the defending champions.

## Teams

FF Jaro were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2015 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions PS Kemi.
KTP as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team PK-35 Vantaa 3–2 on aggregate in a relegation/promotion playoff.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Inter | Turku | Veritas Stadion | 10,000 |
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahden kisapuisto | 4,000 |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Sonera Stadium | 10,770 |
| HJK | Helsinki | Sonera Stadium | 10,770 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Mariehamn | Wiklöf Holding Arena | 4,000 |
| Ilves | Tampere | Tammela Stadion | 5,040 |
| KuPS | Kuopio | Savon Sanomat Areena | 5,000 |
| PK-35 Vantaa | Vantaa | Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion | 4,500 |
| PS Kemi | Kemi | Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto | 4,500 |
| RoPS | Rovaniemi | Rovaniemen keskuskenttä | 4,000 |
| SJK | Seinäjoki | OmaSP Stadion | 6,000 |
| VPS | Vaasa | Hietalahti Stadium | 4,600 |
* SJK will move to their new stadium OmaSp Stadion in June 2016 (capacity 6,000).

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
| FC Inter | Shefki Kuqi | Henri Lehtonen | Nike | Alfons Håkans |
| FC Lahti | Toni Korkeakunnas | Mikko Hauhia | Umbro | BE Group Lahti Energia Halton |
| HIFK | Antti Muurinen | Esa Terävä | Kappa/Puma | Aktia Bank |
| HJK | Mika Lehkosuo | Sebastian Sorsa | Adidas | Apu |
| IFK Mariehamn | Kari Virtanen Peter Lundberg | Jani Lyyski | Puma | Hotell Arkipelag |
| Ilves | Jarkko Wiss | Antti Hynynen | Adidas | Various |
| KuPS | Marko Rajamäki | Petteri Pennanen | Puma | Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas |
| PK-35 Vantaa | Pasi Pihamaa | Kim Raimi | Nike | Vantaan Energia |
| PS Kemi | Jari Åhman | Billy Ions | Stanno | Various |
| RoPS | Juha Malinen | Antti Okkonen | Puma | Saraware |
| SJK | Simo Valakari | Mihkel Aksalu | Adidas | LähiTapiola EPKK Prima Power |
| VPS | Petri Vuorinen | Ville Koskimaa | Puma | Various |
* ↑ HIFK switched from Kappa to Puma kits mid-season.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
| Ilves | Marco Baruffato | End of contract | n/a | Jarkko Wiss | 6 November 2015 | Pre-season |
| IFK Mariehamn | Pekka Lyyski | End of contract | n/a | Kari Virtanen Peter Lundberg | 19 November 2015 | Pre-season |
| FC Inter | Job Dragtsma | Mutual termination | 26 May 2016 | Jami Wallenius (as caretaker) | 26 May 2016 | 7th |
| PK-35 Vantaa | Shefki Kuqi | Mutual termination | 27 July 2016 | Pasi Pihamaa | 27 July 2016 | 12th |
| HIFK | Jani Honkavaara | Sacked | 27 July 2016 | Antti Muurinen | 28 July 2016 | 11th |
| FC Inter | Jami Wallenius (as caretaker) | Mutual termination | 3 August 2016 | Shefki Kuqi | 3 August 2016 | 10th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | IFK Mariehamn (C) | 33 | 17 | 10 | 6 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 61 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | HJK | 33 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 58 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | SJK | 33 | 17 | 6 | 10 | 49 | 36 | +13 | 57 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | VPS | 33 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 53 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Ilves | 33 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 52 | |
| 6 | RoPS | 33 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 43 | 33 | +10 | 50 | |
| 7 | KuPS | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 49 | |
| 8 | Lahti | 33 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 42 | |
| 9 | PS Kemi Kings | 33 | 10 | 5 | 18 | 29 | 48 | −19 | 35 | |
| 10 | HIFK | 33 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 34 | |
| 11 | Inter Turku (O) | 33 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 28 | 41 | −13 | 32 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | PK-35 Vantaa (R) | 33 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 32 | 65 | −33 | 13 | Relegation to the Ykkönen |
* ↑ SJK qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2016 Finnish Cup.
* ↑ PK-35 Vantaa were deducted 6 points for overdue debts.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

Source: veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)
    As of 23 October 2016.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Roope Riski | SJK | 17 |
| 2 | Njazi Kuqi | PK-35 Vantaa / FC Inter | 16 |
| 2 | Alfredo Morelos | HJK | 16 |
| 4 | Gbolahan Salami | KuPS | 14 |
| 5 | Billy Ions | PS Kemi / SJK | 13 |
| 6 | Dever Orgill | IFK Mariehamn | 12 |
| 7 | Robert Taylor | RoPS | 11 |
| 8 | Pyry Soiri | VPS | 10 |
| 8 | Jasse Tuominen | FC Lahti | 10 |
| 10 | Lauri Ala-Myllymäki | Ilves | 9 |
| 10 | Aleksandr Kokko | RoPS | 9 |
| 10 | Jussi Vasara | SJK | 9 |
| 13 | 3 players | 3 players | 8 |
| 16 | 5 players | 5 players | 7 |
| 21 | 4 players | 4 players | 6 |
| 25 | 5 players | 5 players | 5 |
| 30 | 10 players | 10 players | 4 |
| 40 | 9 players | 9 players | 3 |
| 49 | 30 players | 30 players | 2 |
| 79 | 72 players | 72 players | 1 |

## Awards

| Month | Coach of the Month | Player of the Month |
| April | Peter Lundberg (IFK Mariehamn) Kari Virtanen (IFK Mariehamn) | Walter Viitala (IFK Mariehamn) |
| May | Mika Lehkosuo (HJK) | Taye Taiwo (HJK) |
| June | Juha Malinen (RoPS) | Roope Riski (SJK) |
| July | Petri Vuorinen (VPS) | Pyry Soiri (VPS) |
| August | Jari Åhman (PS Kemi) | Erik Törnros (PS Kemi) |
| September | Jarkko Wiss (Ilves) | Alfredo Morelos (HJK) |
| October | Peter Lundberg (IFK Mariehamn) Kari Virtanen (IFK Mariehamn) | Jani Lyyski (IFK Mariehamn) |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Year | Emile Paul Tendeng | Ilves |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Walter Viitala | Mariehamn |
| Defender of the Year | Jani Lyyski | Mariehamn |
| Midfielder of the Year | Emile Paul Tendeng | Ilves |
| Striker of the Year | Alfredo Morelos | HJK |
| Breakthrough of the Year | Mikael Soisalo | Ilves |
| Coach of the Year | Peter Lundberg | Mariehamn |

### Team of the Year

Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Walter Viitala (Mariehamn) | Walter Viitala (Mariehamn) | Walter Viitala (Mariehamn) | Walter Viitala (Mariehamn) |
| Defence | Albin Granlund (Mariehamn) | Jani Lyyski (Mariehamn) | Kristian Kojola (Mariehamn) | Taye Taiwo (HJK) |
| Midfield | Mikael Soisalo (Ilves) | Mika Väyrynen (HIFK) | Atomu Tanaka (HJK) | Emile Tendeng (Ilves) |
| Attack | Roope Riski (SJK) | Alfredo Morelos (HJK) |