# Simo Valakari

Simo Johannes Valakari (born 28 April 1973) is a Finnish football manager and a former international football player. He is currently the manager of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone.

## Playing career
### Club

Valakari played in the youth sector of Käpylän Pallo (KäPa) in Käpylä, Helsinki, and began his senior career with KäPa first team in 1990 in the fourth-tier Kolmonen. He played also for Kontula-based club KontU in the Finnish second-tier Ykkönen and third-tier Kakkonen, before first moving to Veikkausliiga club FinnPa in 1995 and then to Scottish Premier League club Motherwell in 1996. After four seasons in Scotland, he was off to Derby County in the Premier League.
Valakari failed to become a first team regular at Pride Park Stadium and decided to join Dallas Burn for the 2004 MLS season and finished the year with a goal and four assists. Following the 2006 season, his contract was not renewed with the team, known by that time as FC Dallas.
Valakari decided to return to Finland for the 2007 Veikkausliiga season, where he signed for TPS, managed by Mixu Paatelainen. He retired from playing in 2009 after several injuries.

### International

Valakari was a regular with the Finnish national team during his stay in Europe. He made a total of 32 caps for his country.

## Managerial career

Valakari was named manager of Åbo IFK (ÅIFK) in January 2010 and subsequently ended his playing career. He, however returned "home" as he announced his return to Käpylän Pallo as a youth coach after the 2010 season.

### SJK

In 2012, Valakari joined Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (SJK) as the head coach. In 2013, he managed the team to gain promotion to the Veikkausliiga and they went on to win the Finnish championship in 2015. The team also won the Finnish League Cup in 2014 and the Finnish Cup in 2016. In the early 2016, he had been linked with Motherwell, but eventually signed an upgraded contract extension with SJK on 10 February 2016. Valakari was dismissed on 17 February 2017, due to disagreement with the club's chairman Raimo Sarajärvi.

### Tromsø IL

After working as assistant manager for the Finnish national team after being fired from the SJK job, he was appointed head coach of Norwegian Eliteserien side Tromsø IL in June 2017. In 2018, his contract was extended until 2022, but he was fired due to disagreements in April 2020, after the club had suffered a relegation at the end of the 2019 season.

### KuPS

In November 2020, Valakari was appointed as the head coach of Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS). Under Valakari, KuPS won two consecutive Finnish Cup titles in 2021 and 2022, and finished as the Veikkausliiga runner-up twice, falling just a one point short to HJK on both occasions. Valakari also led KuPS to the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers on two occasions. In 2021–22, the club reached to the (fourth) play-off round, but was knocked out by Union Berlin. Next year they reached to the 3rd round, where they eventually fell short to Young Boys. In the summer 2022, Valakari was rumoured for a head coach position of Motherwell, but eventually was not chosen.
His contract with KuPS was terminated by mutual consent on 13 January 2023, after Valakari had announced his lack of "passion and ability" to continue to coach KuPS.

### FK Auda

Shortly after his contract termination with KuPS, it was announced that Valakari was named the head coach of FK Auda in Latvia for the 2023 season. Valakari was named The Virslīga Coach of the Month in September 2023. At the end of the season, Auda finished 3rd in the league and won their first medal in the premier division, and also qualified for the UEFA Conference League qualifiers again.

### Riga FC

On 13 December 2023, it was reported in Finnish media that Valakari is about to be named the new head coach of a fellow Latvian side Riga FC. On the next day, the club confirmed that they had appointed Valakari as the new head coach. On 2 March 2024, Valakari and Riga FC won the 2024 Latvian Supercup, beating RFS in the final on penalties. On 14 September, in a press conference after the match against Auda, Valakari hinted that he was not the one who had selected the starting line-up for the match. He left the club on 30 September, after Riga and St. Johnstone had agreed on a fee for his contract. Prior to his departure, Riga FC was comfortably sitting in the 2nd place of the league table.

### St. Johnstone

On 1 October 2024, Valakari returned to Scotland when he was named the new manager of the Scottish Premiership club St. Johnstone on a three-year deal, becoming the first foreign manager in the club's 140-year-history. Due to work visa issues, the first two matches he couldn't officially access the bench, but on 26 October, he managed St. Johnstone as they beat Dundee 2–1 away at Dens Park.

## Personal life

Valakari's three sons are also footballers. His oldest son Paavo is a former player and current coach, Onni is playing professionally for San Diego FC, and the youngest one Toivo plays for Käpylän Pallo in Helsinki, Finland.
Valakari meditates in his everyday life.

## Career statistics

    As of 31 December 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | League cup | League cup | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| KäPa | 1990 | Kolmonen | 16 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 2 |
| Kontu | 1991 | Ykkönen | | | | | — | — | | |
| Kontu | 1992 | Kakkonen | | | | | — | — | | |
| Kontu | 1993 | Ykkönen | | | | | — | — | | |
| Kontu | 1994 | Ykkönen | | | | | — | — | | |
| Kontu | Total | Total | 59 | 7 | | | — | — | 59 | 7 |
| FinnPa | 1995 | Veikkausliiga | 22 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 22 | 3 |
| FinnPa | 1996 | Veikkausliiga | 26 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 26 | 2 |
| FinnPa | Total | Total | 48 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 5 |
| Motherwell | 1996–97 | Scottish Premier Division | 11 | 0 | | | | | 11 | 0 |
| Motherwell | 1997–98 | Scottish Premier Division | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| Motherwell | 1998–99 | Scottish Premier League | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | | 36 | 0 |
| Motherwell | 1999–00 | Scottish Premier League | 30 | 0 | | | | | 30 | 0 |
| Motherwell | Total | Total | 103 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 114 | 0 |
| Derby County | 2000–01 | Premier League | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Derby County | 2001–02 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Derby County | 2002–03 | First Division | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Derby County | 2003–04 | First Division | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Derby County | Total | Total | 46 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 51 | 3 |
| FC Dallas | 2004 | MLS | 26 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 26 | 1 |
| FC Dallas | 2005 | MLS | 30 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 30 | 0 |
| FC Dallas | 2006 | MLS | 33 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 33 | 0 |
| FC Dallas | Total | Total | 89 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 1 |
| TPS | 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| TPS | 2008 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| TPS | 2009 | Veikkausliiga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| TPS | Total | Total | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 399 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 419 | 19 |
* 1 2 "Dallas Burn" before name change to FC Dallas in 2005
* ↑ Includes Scottish Cup
* ↑ Includes Scottish League Cup
* 1 2 3 Includes EFL League Cup
* ↑ Includes Finnish League Cup

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Finland | 1996 | 1 | 0 |
| Finland | 1997 | 3 | 0 |
| Finland | 1998 | 5 | 0 |
| Finland | 1999 | 5 | 0 |
| Finland | 2000 | 5 | 0 |
| Finland | 2001 | 0 | 0 |
| Finland | 2002 | 4 | 0 |
| Finland | 2003 | 9 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 32 | 0 |

## Managerial statistics

    As of 15 March 2025
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Team | Nat | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W% |
| SJK Seinäjoki | | 1 September 2012 | 17 February 2016 | 165 | 92 | 32 | 41 | 275 | 153 | +122 | 055.76 |
| Tromsø | | 27 July 2017 | 20 April 2020 | 81 | 31 | 11 | 39 | 126 | 136 | −10 | 038.27 |
| KuPS | | 1 January 2021 | 13 January 2023 | 83 | 52 | 18 | 13 | 153 | 80 | +73 | 062.65 |
| Auda | | 16 January 2023 | 14 December 2023 | 40 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 50 | 49 | +1 | 042.50 |
| Riga FC | | 14 December 2023 | 30 September 2024 | 36 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 86 | 26 | +60 | 069.44 |
| St. Johnstone | | 1 October 2024 | Present | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 27 | 37 | −10 | 034.62 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 432 | 226 | 82 | 124 | 717 | 483 | +234 | 052.31 |

## Managerial achievements

SJK Seinäjoki
* Veikkausliiga: 2015
* Veikkausliiga runner-up: 2014
* Veikkausliiga 3rd place: 2016
* Finnish Cup: 2016
* Finnish League Cup: 2014
Kuopion Palloseura
* Veikkausliiga runner-up: 2021, 2022
* Finnish Cup: 2021, 2022
FK Auda
* Virslīga 3rd place: 2023
Riga FC
* Latvian Supercup: 2024
Individual
* Finnish Football Manager of the Year: 2015
* Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month: June 2014, October 2015
* Veikkausliiga Manager of the Year: 2015
* Virslīga Manager of the Month: September 2023