Mikkelin Palloilijat

Mikkelin Palloilijat
Full nameMikkelin Palloilijat
NicknameSiniset (The Blues)
Founded1929; 97 years ago (1929)
GroundMikkelin Urheilupuisto, Mikkeli, Finland
Capacity7,000
ChairmanKeijo Pylkkänen
ManagerOzeias Graciano
LeagueYkkösliiga
2026Ykkösliiga, 7th of 10
Websitehttps://mikkelinpalloilijat.fi/

Mikkelin Palloilijat (or MP) is a Finnish professional football club, based in Mikkeli, that competes in the Ykkösliiga, the second tier in the Finnish football league system. The club was founded in 1929 and also included volleyball, bandy and ice hockey divisions.

History

In 1998, MP merged with Mikkelin Kissat to form FC Mikkeli. Due to financial difficulties, this union was dissolved in 2001 and the two clubs returned to manage individually. It played in the Finnish First Division (Ykkönen) from 2004 to 2006 but was relegated to Kakkonen at the end of the season. The club gained promotion to Ykkönen by winning the Group A of Kakkonen 2009 but was immediately relegated back to Kakkonen in 2010. The club's manager is Juha Pasoja, and it plays its home matches at Mikkelin Urheilupuisto. In 2015, they got promoted to the Ykkönen again.

Ice hockey departments of MP and local rivals MiPK merged in 1970, creating new club Jukurit. Jukurit has since then been quite successful in Finnish amateur levels of ice hockey. However, the only medal in the Finnish championship is still won by MP, a bronze in A-juniors in the year 1961.

Bandy department of MP was disbanded in 1977. After that the colours of Mikkeli on bandy fields have been represented by Mikkelin Kampparit. Kampparit was formed in 1972.

MP was a pioneer of women's football in Finland, forming one of the first ladies team. The spot in Kansallinen Liiga was moved from MP to Porrassalmen Urheilijat-62 in 1992.

Season to season

Current squad

As of 26 July 2026

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  CAN Shafique Wilson
2 DF  FIN Salomon Särkkä
4 DF  FIN Ville Laiho
5 FW  FIN Aapo Karttunen
6 DF  FIN Tyson Afshari
7 DF  JPN Aoi Chishima
8 MF  FIN Miko Koivuniemi (on loan from Ilves)
9 FW  SYR Mohamad Ahmad Al-Sheikh
10 FW  FIN Eero Ylönen
11 MF  FIN Oliver Häyhänen
12 FW  FIN Onni Kimari
13 FW  FIN Veikko Karttunen
14 MF  FIN Mico Snellman
15 FW  FIN Santeri Stenius
16 FW  NGR Samson Obioha
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF  FIN Santu Seppänen
18 DF  FIN Nuutti Krivetz
19 MF  FIN Veikko Janhunen
21 MF  FIN Kasper Sundberg
22 GK  FIN Jonne Uronen
24 MF  CAN Rohun Kawale
28 FW  FIN Akseli Tervaniemi
31 FW  FIN Paavo Haapalainen
33 GK  FIN Timi Heikkinen
42 DF  FIN Arop Ring
44 MF  FIN Niila Forsell
45 FW  COD Serge Atakayi
87 MF  FIN Milot Kastrati
97 DF  FIN Aaron Traore
99 FW  FIN Peetu Kerminen

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 21 February 2020
Name Role
Senegal Issa Thiaw Head coach
Finland Jorma Naakka Coach
Brazil Ozeias Graciano Coach
Finland Janne Loukiainen Coach
Finland Mika Korpela Team manager
Finland Aki Lampinen Kit manager
Finland Hannu Paajanen Doctor
Finland Ilari Kuitunen Doctor
Finland Timo Kyttä Physiotherapist
Finland Janne Lindberg Coaching coordinator
Finland Ilkka Mäkelä Club president

Notable former players

References

  1. ↑ "MP squad" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "Joukkue" (in Finnish). Mikkelin Palloilijat. Retrieved 21 February 2020.