Jussi Nuorela
Finnish footballer (born 1974)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jussi Nuorela (born 11 August 1974) is a Finnish professional football coach and a former player. He is the manager of VPS in the Veikkausliiga.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jussi Johan Nuorela | ||
| Date of birth | 11 August 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Valkeakoski, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | VPS (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1991 | Haka | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1996 | Haka | 93 | (8) |
| 1993–1995 | PSV | 0 | (0) |
| 1993–1995 | EVV Eindhoven | 7 | (0) |
| 1994–1995 | Groningen | 8 | (0) |
| 1993–1995 | Twente | 9 | (1) |
| 1996–1999 | PEC Zwolle | 23 | (1) |
| 1999–2000 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 26 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | MYPA | 45 | (7) |
| 2002–2003 | Malmö | 22 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Silkeborg (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Elazığspor | 12 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Vaduz | 26 | (1) |
| 2005–2007 | TPS | 44 | (3) |
| 2008–2009 | Inter Turku | 7 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1994–2003 | Finland | 20 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2012 | Espoo | ||
| 2013 | TPS (assistant) | ||
| 2021 | VPS (assistant) | ||
| 2021– | VPS | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
Nuorela began his professional career with Haka in the Veikkausliiga. Besides his native Finland, Nuorela played in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey,[2] and Switzerland. He retired from professional playing career after the 2009 season and started as a youth coach at Inter Turku.
International career
Nuorela has made 20 appearances for the Finland national football team, debuting coming in a friendly match against Qatar on 25 January 1994.[3] He scored one goal, in a friendly match against Oman on 18 February 2001.
Coaching career
Nuorela started coaching as a U19 coach for Inter Turku, additionally coaching the club's reserve team Sinimustat. In 2011–12 he served as the head coach of FC Espoo, and in 2013 as an assistant coach of TPS. During 2014–2020, he worked as a youth coach of TPS and Inter Turku.
On 18 June 2021, Nuorela was promoted to the position of the head coach of Vaasan Palloseura (VPS) in the Finnish second-tier Ykkönen.[4] He led the club to the promotion to the top-level Veikkausliiga at the end of the 2021 season.
In the 2023 Veikkausliiga season, Nuorela led VPS to the record-tying streak of 12 victories,[5] and managed the club to finish 3rd in the league and thus qualifying for the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League qualifiers. He was named the Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month in three consecutive times in July, August and September 2023, and ultimately he was named the Finnish Football Manager of the Year and Veikkausliiga Manager of the Year.
Personal life
His son Josep Nuorela is a footballer playing for VPS, and his younger son Luka plays for VPS U19 youth team.[6]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 31 December 2020[7]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Haka | 1991 | Veikkausliiga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | Veikkausliiga | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 3 | |||
| 1993 | Veikkausliiga | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 2 | |||
| 1994 | Veikkausliiga | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||
| Total | 61 | 5 | — | — | 61 | 5 | ||||||
| EVV Eindhoven (loan) | 1993–94 | Eerste Divisie | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Groningen | 1994–95 | Eredivisie | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| Haka | 1995 | Veikkausliiga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| 1996 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | — | 25 | 3 | ||
| Total | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 3 | ||
| Twente | 1996–97 | Eerste Divisie | 9 | 1 | — | — | 9 | 1 | ||||
| PEC Zwolle | 1997–98 | Eredivisie | 23 | 1 | — | — | 23 | 1 | ||||
| 1998–99 | Eerste Divisie | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Total | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 2 | ||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 1999–2000 | Regionalliga West-Südwest | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| MyPa | 2000 | Veikkausliiga | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 3 | ||
| 2001 | Veikkausliiga | 31 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | — | 33 | 4 | ||
| Total | 45 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 7 | ||
| Malmö FF | 2002 | Allsvenskan | 15 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||||
| 2003 | Allsvenskan | 7 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| Silkeborg (loan) | 2002–03 | Danish Superliga | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Elazığspor | 2003–04 | Süper Lig | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| FC Vaduz | 2004–05 | Swiss Challenge League | 26 | 1 | 4 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | 31 | 3 | |
| TPS | 2005 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2006 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 2 | |||
| 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 1 | |||
| Total | 44 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 3 | ||
| Inter Turku | 2008 | Veikkausliiga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2009 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| PoPa | 2009 | Ykkönen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 344 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 365 | 22 | ||
- Includes Suomen Cup, KNVB Beker, DFB-Pokal and Liechtenstein Football Cup
International
- As of match played 22 May 2003
| Finland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 1994 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 1 | |
International goals
- As of match played 18 February 2001. Finland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Nuorela goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 February 2001 | Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat, Oman |  Oman | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
Managerial
- As of 12 May 2025
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | W% | |||||||
| VPS |  |
18 June 2021 | present | 146 | 72 | 22 | 52 | 49.32 | |||
| Total | 146 | 72 | 22 | 52 | 49.32 | ||||||
Managerial achievements
VPS
- Veikkausliiga: 2023 3rd place
- Ykkönen: 2021
Individual
- Finnish Football Manager of the Year: 2023
- Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2023[8]
- Veikkausliiga Manager of the Year: 2023[9]
- Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month: July 2023, August 2023,[10] October 2023[11]