Markus Heikkinen
Heikkinen with Rapid Wien in 2012
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-10-13) 13 October 1978
Place of birth Katrineholm, Sweden
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 AC Oulu (sporting director)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1997 OPS 24 (5)
1997–1998 TPS 22 (0)
1998–2001 MyPa 43 (1)
2001–2003 HJK 85 (1)
2003 → Portsmouth (loan) 2 (0)
2003–2005 Aberdeen 68 (2)
2005–2007 Luton 77 (3)
2007–2013 Rapid Wien 173 (4)
2013 Start 10 (2)
2014–2015 HJK 40 (0)
2016–2018 AC Oulu 57 (0)
International career
Finland U18 2 (0)
Finland U21 3 (0)
2002–2011 Finland 61 (0)
Managerial career
2017– AC Oulu (sporting director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Heikkinen with Rapid Wien in 2013

Markus Heikkinen (born 13 October 1978), nicknamed Mako, is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a centre back or defensive midfielder. He is currently working as a sporting director of Veikkausliiga side AC Oulu.[1]

He previously played for Oulun Palloseura (OPS), Turun Palloseura (TPS), MyPa, HJK Helsinki, Portsmouth, Aberdeen, Luton Town, Rapid Wien and Start, before returning to his hometown and ending his professional playing career in AC Oulu.

Club career

Heikkinen started his senior career in OPS, when the club played in Ykkönen in 1996 season. Heikkinen scored five goals, most in his team, but ultimately OPS were relegated back to Kakkonen, and Heikkinen left the club.[2] He spent three seasons in Veikkausliiga with TPS and MyPa, before joining HJK Helsinki.

Whilst at Portsmouth on loan, he contributed two appearances as they won the First Division Championship and promotion to the Premier League.[3]

During his two years with Aberdeen, Heikkinen was popular and important player, who usually featured in central midfield, where he had a reputation as a tough tackling and dependable player. Despite repeated attempts by Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood to get the player to sign a new deal, he indicated that he was unsettled at Aberdeen and wanted to move on.

An integral part of the Luton side that finished 10th in the 2005–06 Championship season, Heikkinen collected four awards – the Player of the Year trophy, Players' Player of the Season, Internet Player of the Season and the Luton News Player of the Season.[4]

On 29 December 2006, in a game for Luton against Birmingham City he was feared to have a compound fracture of the fibula, however it was in fact a nasty gash down his leg, after a late challenge by midfielder Fabrice Muamba.[5][6] He returned to action against Stoke City on 17 February 2007.

After his years in England Heikkinen played six seasons for Rapid Wien. He was a key player of the team, making over 170 appearances for the Austrian Bundesliga side.

On 10 August 2013, he signed for Norwegian Tippeligaen club Start.[7] Heikkinen helped Start avoid relegation with solid performances.

After years abroad, "Mako" returned to Finland and HJK in December 2013. After two seasons with the Helsinki-based side, on 2 September 2015 it was reported that the 36-year-old Heikkinen had signed a three-year player-coach contract with his hometown team AC Oulu.[8]

International career

Heikkinen made his national team debut on 4 January 2002 against Bahrain. He immediately became an important defensive player to his native team. He often played as defensive midfielder. However, he returned to his old position as centre back in 2010, after Hannu Tihinen retired in professional football. He announced his retirement from international football on 26 September 2011.[9]

Career statistics

Club

As of 12 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Other Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
OPS 1996 Ykkönen 24500——245
TPS 1997 Veikkausliiga 22000—4[lower-alpha 2]0260
MyPa 1998 Veikkausliiga 14000——140
1999 29100——291
Total 431000000431
HJK 2000 Veikkausliiga 32010—4[lower-alpha 3]0370
2001 33100—4[lower-alpha 3]0371
2002 20000—2[lower-alpha 3]0220
Total 8511000100961
Portsmouth (loan) 2002–03 First Division 200000—20
Aberdeen 2003–04 Scottish Premiership 3800000—380
2004–05 3020000—302
Total 682000000682
Luton 2005–06 Championship 4021000—412
2006–07 3710000—371
Total 773100000783
Rapid Wien 2007–08 Austrian Bundesliga 28100—8[lower-alpha 4]062
2008–09 32020—2[lower-alpha 5]0360
2009–10 28121—10[lower-alpha 3]0402
2010–11 30200—9[lower-alpha 3]0392
2011–12 29100——291
2012–13 26010—9[lower-alpha 3]0351
Total 173451003802175
Start 2013 Tippeligaen 10200——102
HJK 2014 Veikkausliiga 210402[lower-alpha 6]011[lower-alpha 7]0370
2015 190003[lower-alpha 6]06[lower-alpha 7]0370
Total 4004050170680
AC Oulu 2016 Ykkönen 18010——190
2017 18020——200
2018 21040——250
Total 570700000640
Career total 601191815069069320

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[10]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Finland 200240
200370
200420
200570
200660
200770
200880
200990
201070
201140
Total610

References

  1. ↑ https://acoulu.fi/yhteystiedot
  2. ↑ OPS:N HISTORIA, ops.fi, Retrieved 12 January 2024
  3. ↑ "Games played by Markus Heikkinen in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  4. ↑ Loyal Luton Supporters Club – Luton Town FC – Player of the Year Archived 8 September 2012 at archive.today
  5. ↑ HEIKKINEN BLOW FOR HATTERS | Luton Town | News | News | News Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ HEIKKINEN UPDATE | Luton Town | News | News | News Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Finsk rutine skal hjelpe Start Archived 15 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)
  8. ↑ Markus "Mako" Heikkinen palaa Ouluun (in Finnish)
  9. ↑ Heikkinen retires from international duties Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
  10. ↑ Markus Heikkinen at National-Football-Teams.com
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