# 2018 Veikkausliiga

The 2018 Veikkausliiga was the 88th season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK were the defending champions.
Fixtures for the 2018 season were announced on 17 January 2017. The season started on 7 April 2018 and ended on 27 October 2018.

## Teams

JJK were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2017 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions TPS.
HIFK as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team FC Honka in a relegation/promotion playoff.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Stadium | Turf | Capacity |
| FC Honka | Espoo | Tapiolan Urheilupuisto | Natural | 6,000 |
| FC Inter | Turku | Veritas Stadion | Natural | 10,000 |
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahden Stadion | Natural | 15,000 |
| HJK | Helsinki | Telia 5G -areena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Mariehamn | Wiklöf Holding Arena | Natural | 4,000 |
| Ilves | Tampere | Tammelan Stadion | Natural | 5,040 |
| KuPS | Kuopio | Savon Sanomat Areena | Artificial | 5,000 |
| PS Kemi | Kemi | Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto | Natural | 4,500 |
| RoPS | Rovaniemi | Rovaniemen keskuskenttä | Artificial | 4,000 |
| SJK | Seinäjoki | OmaSP Stadion | Artificial | 6,000 |
| TPS | Turku | Veritas Stadion | Natural | 10,000 |
| VPS | Vaasa | Elisa Stadion | Artificial | 6,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
| FC Honka | Erik Jansson | Tommi Saarinen | Puma | |
| FC Inter | John Allen | Timo Furuholm | Nike | Alfons Håkans |
| FC Lahti | Toni Korkeakunnas | Mikko Hauhia | Umbro | Halton Lahti Energia Prima Power |
| HJK | Mika Lehkosuo | Rafinha | Adidas | Apu |
| IFK Mariehamn | Peter Lundberg | Kristian Kojola | Puma | Hotell Arkipelag |
| Ilves | Pontus Augustinsson | Mika Hilander | Adidas | LähiTapiola Pihlajalinna Kiilto |
| KuPS | Jani Honkavaara | Petteri Pennanen | Puma | LähiTapiola |
| PS Kemi | | Julián Guevara | Craft | Various |
| RoPS | Toni Koskela | Antti Okkonen | Puma | |
| SJK | Alexei Eremenko Sr. | Mihkel Aksalu | Adidas | LähiTapiola Prima Power Elisa |
| TPS | Tuomas Pekkarinen | Sami Rähmönen | Puma | OP Turun Seutu Silja Line LähiTapiola |
| VPS | Petri Vuorinen | Sebastian Strandvall | Puma | Various |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
| RoPS | Juha Malinen | Signed by Finland U19 | 31 October 2017 | Toni Koskela | 1 November 2017 | Pre-season |
| SJK | Brian Page Toni Lehtinen | End of caretaker spell | 31 October 2017 | Tommi Kautonen | 1 November 2017 | Pre-season |
| SJK | Tommi Kautonen | Sacked | 21 May 2018 | Alexei Eremenko Sr. | 22 May 2018 | 9th |
| FC Inter | Fabrizio Piccareta | Resigned | 9 June 2018 | John Allen | 10 June 2018 | 8th |
| PS Kemi | Jari Åhman | Sacked | 30 June 2018 | David Hannah | 1 July 2018 | 12th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | HJK (C) | 33 | 24 | 6 | 3 | 61 | 19 | +42 | 78 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | RoPS | 33 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 42 | 25 | +17 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | KuPS | 33 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 56 | 37 | +19 | 58 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Honka | 33 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 58 | |
| 5 | Ilves | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 45 | 41 | +4 | 49 | |
| 6 | VPS | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 41 | |
| 7 | Inter Turku | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 8 | Lahti | 33 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 40 | |
| 9 | SJK | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 32 | |
| 10 | IFK Mariehamn | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 37 | 59 | −22 | 31 | |
| 11 | TPS (R) | 33 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 37 | 55 | −18 | 29 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | PS Kemi Kings (R) | 33 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 29 | 59 | −30 | 24 | Relegation to the Ykkönen |
* ↑ HJK qualified for the Champions League first qualifying round
* ↑ Inter Turku qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2017-18 Finnish Cup

## 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.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of match played 27 October 2018
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Klauss | HJK | 21 |
| 2 | Rasmus Karjalainen | KuPS | 17 |
| 3 | Macoumba Kandji | Honka | 16 |
| 4 | Borjas Martín | Honka | 12 |
| 4 | Petteri Pennanen | KuPS | 12 |
| 6 | Aleksei Kangaskolkka | IFK Mariehamn | 10 |
| 6 | Sebastian Strandvall | VPS | 10 |
| 8 | Timo Furuholm | Inter Turku | 9 |
| 8 | Marius Noubissi | Ilves | 9 |
| 10 | Mika Ääritalo | TPS | 8 |
| 10 | Benjamin Källman | Inter Turku | 8 |
| 10 | Lassi Lappalainen | RoPS | 8 |

## Awards
### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Year | Klauss | HJK |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Antonio Reguero | RoPS |
| Defender of the Year | Faith Obilor | HJK |
| Midfielder of the Year | Petteri Pennanen | KuPS |
| Striker of the Year | Klauss | HJK |
| Breakthrough of the Year | Klauss | HJK |
| Coach of the Year | Toni Koskela | RoPS |

### Team of the Year

Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Antonio Reguero (RoPs) | Antonio Reguero (RoPs) | Antonio Reguero (RoPs) | Antonio Reguero (RoPs) |
| Defence | Henri Aalto (Honka) | Faith Obilor (HJK) | Leo Väisänen (RoPs) | Taye Taiwo (RoPs) |
| Midfield | Sebastian Strandvall (VPS) | Sebastian Dahlström (HJK) | Borjas Martin (Honka) | Petteri Pennanen (KuPs) |
| Attack | Klauss (HJK) | Macoumba Kandji (Honka) |