RoPS
Full nameRovaniemen Palloseura
Founded1950 (1950)
GroundKeskuskenttä,
Rovaniemi
Capacity4,000
ChairmanMatti Poikajärvi
ManagerVille Ulanen
LeagueKakkonen
2021Decrease Ykkönen, 2nd
WebsiteClub website

Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. In 2019 RoPS participated in the Finnish Premier Division, (Veikkausliiga) marking their 32nd season in the top flight (previously called "Veikkausliiga") since 1981. The club plays home games at the Rovaniemen Keskuskenttä in the Arctic Circle of Lapland. The closest affiliated team is RoPS/2 from Kakkonen who participates in the third tier of Finnish football.

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

Season Level Pos Pld W D L For Against Points Finnish Cup League Cup Top goalscorer
19911st73314811635150-
199273312615534942-
199372911513323538Runners-up-
19945261088323238
19959268810293032Ninth Round
199682711610352939Quarter-finalRunners-up
19976279612313033Semi-final
19988276147273132
199982971012314631Seventh Round
200093310617355036
200112335919255624Sixth Round-
20022nd422949411031Quarter-final-Finland Niclas Grönholm  – 11
20032261475402749Sixth Round-
20041st12267415284525Quarter-final
200513263815185017
20062nd7261088403538-
20072261673442355-
20081st10268612313730Sixth RoundQuarter-finals
200914264418216616Sixth RoundGroup stageNigeria Echiabhi Okodugha  – 5
20102nd1261592611754Fourth round-Zambia Nchimunya Mweetwa  – 13
20111st12335820397823Fifth RoundGroup stageMexico José Manuel Rivera  – 10
20122nd1271854532059Fifth Round-Finland Aleksandr Kokko  – 15
20131st113381015253634WinnersQuarter-finalsFinland Aleksandr Kokko  – 6
201493311517374138Sixth RoundGroup stageFinland Aleksandr Kokko  – 9
20152331788442959Sixth RoundRunners-upFinland Aleksandr Kokko  – 17
201663313119433350Sixth RoundGroup stageFinland Robert Taylor  – 11
201773312615435142Quarter-final Play-offs-Nigeria Emeka Friday Eze  – 7
20182331887422562Sixth Round-Finland Lassi Lappalainen  – 8
201910278613233530Quarterfinal-Finland Youness Rahimi  – 5
202012
20212nd2

European history

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 Tripoli 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
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. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Finland FIN Miikka Mujunen
2 DF Finland FIN Simo Majander
6 MF Netherlands NED Nino Roffelsen
7 FW Finland FIN Veka Pyyny
8 MF Finland FIN Vili Saarikoski
12 GK Finland FIN Mikko Rantala
15 DF Finland FIN Miska Ylitolva
16 FW Finland FIN Kirill Bullat
19 DF Finland FIN Joona Lahdenmäki
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 FW Finland FIN Simo Roiha
21 MF Finland FIN Elmeri Hirvonen
22 DF Portugal POR Rodrigo Antunes
23 DF Finland FIN Sampo Ala-Iso
26 DF Finland FIN Eerik Kantola
28 FW Finland FIN Jarkko Luiro
33 MF Ghana GHA Geoffrey Acheampong
34 FW Serbia SRB Srđan Vujaklija

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 18 February 2020.

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 Physiotherapist
Scotland David Coull Kit Manager
Finland Essi Jokelainen Masseur
Finland Olavi Tammimies Team Manager

Boardroom

As of 18 February 2020[3]

Name Role
Finland Risto Niva Chairman, Managing director
Finland Pekka Konstenius Vice chairman
Finland Jari Ilola Director of Football

Rovaniemi Football Academy

Rovaniemi Football Academy (RFA)[4] 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[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
11 GK Finland FIN Lauri-Eemil Vetri
24 MF Finland FIN Kirill Bullat
30 GK Finland FIN Tino Korhonen
35 GK Finland FIN Pauli Tuisku
36 MF Finland FIN Vertti Hänninen
37 DF Finland FIN Joona Lahdenmäki
36 MF Finland FIN Jonne Länsipää
39 DF Finland FIN Akseli Kantola
40 MF Finland FIN Ville Ojala
40 FW Finland FIN Santeri Matilainen
41 MF Finland FIN Jonne Koistinen
42 MF Finland FIN Riku-Veli Niska
No. Pos. Nation Player
43 FW Finland FIN Joona Kähkönen
44 DF Finland FIN Tuomas Leppäkangas
46 FW Finland FIN Adam Mekki
47 FW Finland FIN Janne Ojaniemi
49 MF Egypt EGY Karam Hadhoud
50 DF Finland FIN Severi Salmirinne
52 DF Finland FIN Miska Ylitolva
53 MF Finland FIN Roni Pietsalo
54 FW Finland FIN Antti Salmi
56 DF Finland FIN Luka Kuittinen
57 DF Finland FIN Sampo Ala-Iso

Managers

References

  1. Susanna Kemppainen. "RoPS:lla yli 30 epäiltyä sopupeliä | Pohjois-Suomi". Kaleva.fi. Archived from the original on 2012-09-10. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  2. Uusi Suomi. "Oikeus: Sopupeleistä 150 000 euroa – 2 vuotta vankeutta — Uusi Suomi". Uusisuomi.fi. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  3. "Yhteystiedot" (in Finnish). RoPS. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  4. "RoPS/2 on jatkossa Rovaniemi Football Academy". rops.fi. RoPS. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  5. "Kokoonpano: Rovaniemi Football Academy 2020". rops.fi. RoPS. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
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