Rovaniemen Palloseura

Finnish football club From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. RoPS played in the Finnish Premier Division, (Veikkausliiga) for 32 years, from 1981 to 2021. In 2021, RoPS withdrew from professional football and voluntarily relegated to the amateur Kakkonen division. The club plays home games at the Rovaniemen Keskuskenttä in the Arctic Circle of Lapland.

Full nameRovaniemen Palloseura
Founded1950; 76 years ago (1950)
GroundKeskuskenttä,
Rovaniemi
Capacity2,803
Quick facts Full name, Founded ...
RoPS
Full nameRovaniemen Palloseura
Founded1950; 76 years ago (1950)
GroundKeskuskenttä,
Rovaniemi
Capacity2,803
ChairmanMatti Poikajärvi
ManagerJari Alamäki
LeagueYkkönen
2024Ykkönen, 5th of 12
Websitewww.rops.fi
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History

Keskuskenttä, home ground of RoPS

RoPS have won the Finnish Cup on two occasions, in 1986 and 2013, and were runners-up in 1962. They placed third in the Finnish Premier Division in 1988 and 1989, before finishing as runner-up in 2015, losing out on the title by 1 point to eventual champions SJK. The club's most notable international achievement was reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup-Winners' Cup in 1987–88 against Marseille.

Match fixing allegations and scandal

Throughout the 2000s, RoPS became infamous for suspected involvement in match fixing.

In spring 2011 the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation started a large investigation into match fixing. On February 25 Singaporean businessman Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted match fixer, was arrested after entering Finland with a fake passport. The National Bureau of Investigation suspected that over 30 games between 2008 and 2011, mostly from the Finnish premier league, had been fixed or manipulated.[1]

On July 19, 2011, the Rovaniemi Court of Appeal convicted Perumal and nine RoPS players of match-fixing. Altogether 24 games had been manipulated, and the intended score had been achieved in 11 of them. Perumal was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to return 150,000 euros deemed to be match-fixing profits. The bribes ranged from 500 euros offered to one player to a total of 80,000 euros offered to eight players. The highest total of bribes for one individual was slightly over 40,000 euros. The players received suspended sentences. The sentenced players were six Zambian and two Georgian players: Godfrey Chibanga, Chileshe Chibwe, Francis Kombe, Stephen Kunda, Christopher Musonda, Chanda Mwaba, Nchimunya Mweetwa, Pavle Khorguashvili, and Valter Khorguashvili.[2]

Domestic history

More information Season to season of RoPS, Season ...
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European history

More information Season, Competition ...
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1987–88 Cup Winners' Cup 1R Northern Ireland Glentoran 0–0 1–1 1–1(a)
2R Albania Vllaznia 1–0 1–0 2–0
QF France Marseille 0–1 0–3 0–4
1989–90 UEFA Cup 1R Poland GKS Katowice 1–1 1–0 2–1
2R France Auxerre 0–5 0–3 0–8
1990–91 UEFA Cup 1R East Germany 1. FC Magdeburg 0–1 0–0 0–1
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 2Q Greece Asteras Tripolis 1–1 2–4 3–5
2016–17 UEFA Europa League 1Q Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 1–1 2–0 3–1
2Q Croatia Lokomotiva 1–1 0–3 1–4
2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1Q Scotland Aberdeen 1–2 1–2 2–4
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Notes
  • 1R: First round
  • 2R: Second round
  • 1Q: First qualifying round
  • QF: Quarter-finals

Honours

Current squad

As of 1 January 2022

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...
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Management and boardroom

Management

As of 18 February 2020.

More information Name, Role ...
Name Role
Finland Vesa Tauriainen Head Coach
Finland Mika Pulkkinen Coach
Finland Jari Alamäki Fitness Coach
Finland Ossi Koskela Goalkeeping Coach
Finland Tuomas Könönen Physiotherapist
Finland Vilma Poutiainen
Scotland David Coull Kit Manager
Finland Essi Jokelainen Masseur
Finland Olavi Tammimies Team Manager
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Boardroom

As of 18 February 2020[4]

More information Name, Role ...
Name Role
Finland Risto Niva Chairman, Managing director
Finland Pekka Konstenius Vice chairman
Finland Jari Ilola Director of Football
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Rovaniemi Football Academy

Rovaniemi Football Academy (RFA)[5] is the reserve team of RoPS. The team plays in Kakkonen in 2020 season. It is coached by Aleksi Tanner.

As of 14 September 2020[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...
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Managers

References

External links

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