# 2015 Veikkausliiga

The 2015 Veikkausliiga was the 85th season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK Helsinki were the defending champions. The season was won by SJK, ending HJK's record streak of six straight titles.

## Teams

TPS were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2014 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions HIFK.
FC Honka and MYPA were not given a license due to the clubs' bad economic situation. The two places were given for KTP, the runner-up of 2014 Ykkönen, and Ilves, which finished third in Ykkönen.

### Stadia and location

| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Inter | Turku | Veritas Stadion | 10,000 |
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahden kisapuisto | 4,000 |
| FF Jaro | Jakobstad | Jakobstads Centralplan | 5,000 |
| 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 |
| KTP | Kotka | Arto Tolsa Areena | 4,780 |
| KuPS | Kuopio | Savon Sanomat Areena | 5,000 |
| RoPS | Rovaniemi | Rovaniemen keskuskenttä | 4,000 |
| SJK | Seinäjoki | Seinäjoen keskuskenttä | 3,500 |
| VPS | Vaasa | Hietalahti Stadium | 4,600 |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Sponsors |
| FC Inter | Job Dragtsma | Henri Lehtonen | Nike | Alfons Håkans |
| FC Lahti | Toni Korkeakunnas | Mikko Hauhia | Umbro | BE Group Lahti Energia Halton |
| FF Jaro | Alexei Eremenko Sr. | Jonas Emet | Macron | Stadshotellet Kaupunginhotelli Halpa-Halli Sagafurs |
| HIFK | Jani Honkavaara | Esa Terävä | Kappa | Aktia Bank |
| HJK | Mika Lehkosuo | Markus Heikkinen | Adidas | Apu |
| IFK Mariehamn | Pekka Lyyski | Jani Lyyski | Puma | Hotell Arkipelag |
| Ilves | Marco Baruffato | Antti Hynynen | Adidas | LähiTapiola Dextra |
| KTP | Sami Ristilä | Valeri Minkenen | Puma | Steveco Data Group Port of Haminakotka |
| KuPS | Marko Rajamäki | Miikka Ilo | Puma | LähiTapiola Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas |
| RoPS | Juha Malinen | Antti Okkonen | Puma | Saraware |
| SJK | Simo Valakari | Pavle Milosavljević | Adidas | GapCon |
| VPS | Petri Vuorinen | Ville Koskimaa | Puma | Various |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
| Ilves | Mika Malinen | End of contract | n/a | Keith Armstrong | 24 October 2014 | Pre-season |
| VPS | Olli Huttunen | Sacked | 29 June 2015 | Petri Vuorinen | 29 June 2015 | 12th |
| Ilves | Keith Armstrong | Sacked | 7 October 2015 | Marco Baruffato | 14 October 2015 | 8th |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | SJK (C) | 33 | 18 | 6 | 9 | 50 | 22 | +28 | 60 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | RoPS | 33 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 59 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | HJK | 33 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 45 | 30 | +15 | 58 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Inter Turku | 33 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 45 | 34 | +11 | 49 | |
| 5 | Lahti | 33 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 48 | |
| 6 | IFK Mariehamn | 33 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 30 | 36 | −6 | 45 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 7 | HIFK | 33 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 43 | |
| 8 | Ilves | 33 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 32 | 48 | −16 | 40 | |
| 9 | KuPS | 33 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 38 | |
| 10 | VPS | 33 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 33 | |
| 11 | KTP (R) | 33 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 32 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | Jaro (R) | 33 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 43 | −16 | 29 | Relegation to the Ykkönen |
* ↑ IFK Mariehamn qualified for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015 Finnish Cup.

## Results
### Relegation play-offs

PK-35 Vantaa won 3–2 on aggregate.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

Source: veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)
    As of 26 October 2015.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Aleksandr Kokko | RoPS | 17 |
| 2 | Juho Mäkelä | VPS | 16 |
| 3 | Akseli Pelvas | SJK | 14 |
| 4 | Matheus Alves | FC Lahti | 12 |
| 5 | Mika Lahtinen | Ilves | 10 |
| 6 | Pekka Sihvola | HIFK | 9 |
| 7 | Erfan Zeneli | HJK | 8 |
| 7 | Atomu Tanaka | HJK | 8 |
| 7 | Demba Savage | HJK | 8 |
| 7 | Dever Orgill | IFK Mariehamn | 8 |
| 7 | Roope Riski | SJK | 8 |
| 12 | Toni Lehtinen | SJK | 6 |
| 12 | Joni Aho | FC Inter | 6 |
| 12 | Ville Salmikivi | HIFK | 6 |
| 12 | Ousman Jallow | HJK | 6 |
| 12 | Ilari Äijälä | KTP | 6 |
| 12 | Guy Gnabouyou | FC Inter | 6 |
| 18 | 7 players | 7 players | 5 |
| 25 | 13 players | 13 players | 4 |
| 38 | 24 players | 24 players | 3 |
| 62 | 34 players | 34 players | 2 |
| 96 | 62 players | 62 players | 1 |

## Awards

| Month | Coach of the Month | Player of the Month |
| April | Job Dragtsma (FC Inter) | Vahid Hambo (FC Inter) |
| May | Juha Malinen (RoPS) | Mihkel Aksalu (SJK) |
| June | Juha Malinen (RoPS) | Aleksandr Kokko (RoPS) |
| July | Toni Korkeakunnas (FC Lahti) | Mika Hilander (Ilves) |
| August | Keith Armstrong (Ilves) | Mika Hilander (Ilves) |
| September | Job Dragtsma (FC Inter) | Antti Okkonen (RoPS) |
| October | Simo Valakari (SJK) | Aleksandr Kokko (RoPS) |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Player of the Year | Aleksandr Kokko | RoPS |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Mihkel Aksalu | SJK |
| Defender of the Year | Faith Obilor | RoPS |
| Midfielder of the Year | Moshtagh Yaghoubi | RoPS |
| Striker of the Year | Aleksandr Kokko | RoPS |
| Breakthrough of the Year | Kaan Kairinen | Inter Turku |
| Coach of the Year | Simo Valakari | SJK |