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| Full name | AC Oulu | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 | ||
| Ground | Raatti Stadium, Oulu | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| Chairman | Tomi Kaismo | ||
| Manager | Tuomas Silvennoinen | ||
| League | Veikkausliiga | ||
| 2023 | Veikkausliiga, 7th of 12 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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AC Oulu (ACO) is a Finnish professional football club based in Oulu, currently playing in Finland's premier division, Veikkausliiga. Formed in 2002, the club have played five seasons in Finland's highest football league Veikkausliiga and 16 seasons in the second highest league Ykkönen. They currently play their home games at Raatti Stadium, and the club colours are navy blue, and white.
History
Early years; 2002–2010 and the first promotions
AC Oulu was founded in 2002 as a joint initiative of the OLS, OPS, OTP and Tervarit clubs with the aim of bringing top level football back to Oulu. FC Oulu played in the Veikkausliiga in the early '90s as the most recent team from Oulu to play top-tier Finnish football.
After four seasons in the Ykkönen, AC Oulu reached the Finlands premier division Veikkausliiga in 2007. However, they were relegated back to the Ykkönen at the end of their first season in the top division. After two seasons in the second tier AC Oulu won promotion again to the Veikkausliiga at the end of the 2009 season after finishing top of the Ykkönen.
Having finished 11th in 2010 season the club were initially going to continue in the Veikkausliiga for the 2011 season. However, they were denied a league licence for financial reasons and therefore dropped down to the Ykkönen.
"Eternal Ykkönen"; 2011–2020
Since the relegation for financial reasons in 2010, AC Oulu played in Ykkönen for ten years, where it was considered as a candidate to promote for a long time. During 2009–2014, the former Finland national team winger Mika Nurmela played for the club, and simultaneously worked as a sporting director in AC Oulu. During 2016–2018, the former national team defender Markus Heikkinen played for the club as a player-coach. Since 2017, he has also been working as a sporting director for the club. In 2018, Tomi Kaismo and his investment company OTC-Sijoitus Oy, became the biggest shareholder of the club.[1] The club managed to create stability to their economy during those years, and finally won Ykkönen in the 2020 season, gaining a promotion back to Veikkausliiga for the 2021 season, previous time being in 2010.[2]
Veikkausliiga; 2021–present
In the 2021 Veikkausliiga season, after the run of poor results, the head coach Jyrki Ahola was sacked in September and replaced by Portuguese Ricardo Duarte.[3][4] AC Oulu finished 11th in the league, and successfully defended its place in the relegation play-offs against RoPS.[5]
In the 2022 season, the club finished in the 7th place, after having narrowly missed the top-6 championship group in the league. AC Oulu established its place in the league, after having mostly played in the second-tier Ykkönen since its foundation in 2002.
In the early 2023, AC Oulu reached to the final of the pre-season Finnish League Cup tournament, after winning Inter Turku on penalties in the semi-final. They eventually fell short to HJK 2–1 in the final.[6] Before the league season started, the club sold its own local protégé Miika Koskela to Norwegian club Tromsø IL, and in the summer transfer window Otso Liimatta was sold to Portuguese Primeira Liga club FC Famalicão.
In August 2023, the head coach Duarte announced that he will leave the club after the season, and his option will not be exercised.[7] Only a couple of weeks later, the club announced that Duarte was sacked with an immediate effect, following the loss in the 2023 Finnish Cup semi-final against Ilves, and the miserable results in the league.[8] However, in the end of the season, the club renewed its position in 7th place in the league, having narrowly missed the top-6 again.[9]
Stadium
- Castrén Stadium, Oulu: 2002 – 2010
- Raatti Stadium, Oulu: 2011 – present
Raatti Stadium in 2017
Honours
- Finnish League Cup
- Runners-up: 2023
- Ykkönen
Statistics
Divisional History
- 5 seasons in first-tier Veikkausliiga
- 16 seasons in second-tier Ykkönen
AC Oulu–OPS in Raatti, 19.7.2017
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Current squad
- As of 11 December 2023[12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Youth and reserve teams
- AC Oulu/OLS, the reserve team in Kakkonen, promoted to Ykkönen for 2024 season
- AC Oulu/OLS U17
- OsPa, in Kolmonen
In the summer 2020, AC Oulu and one of its founding member clubs Oulun Luistinseura (OLS) signed a new co-operation deal, by which AC Oulu acquired the U-17 team and OLS first team under its command.[13][14]
In the end of the 2023 season, the club's U17 team won the silver medal in the league of their age group.[15] In addition, the club's reserve team OLS gained a promotion from Kakkonen to new Ykkönen.[16]
On 13 November 2023, the club announced that they had signed a co-operation deal with one of their associate clubs Oulunsalon Pallo (OsPa), and acquired the control and the management of the OsPa first team in Kolmonen, as AC Oulu's second reserve team for youth players.[17]
After the 2023 season, Olli-Pekka Piisilä, the head coach of the AC Oulu/OLS U17 team, was awarded The Best Coach of the Boys' Team by the Football Association of Finland.[18]
AC Oulu/OLS reserve team
Current squad
- As of 19 December 2023[12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Management and boardroom
Management
As of 18 November 2023[19][20][21]
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Boardroom
As of 23 November 2023[22]
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Managers and captains
Managers
Ari Härkönen (2003–2004)
Steven Polack (2005)- Harri Kampman (2006–2007)
- Juha Malinen (2008–2012)
- Rauno Ojanen (2013–2017)
- Mika Lähderinne (2018–2019)
- Rauno Ojanen (2019)
- Jyrki Ahola (1 January 2020 – 25 September 2021)
- Teemu Tavikainen (interim, 26 September 2021 – 5 October 2021)
Ricardo Duarte (6 October 2021 – 24 August 2023)- Rauno Ojanen/Jussi-Pekka Savolainen (interim, 2023)
- Tuomas Silvennoinen (1 January 2024 – present)
Captains
- Aki Karppanen (2003)
- Jani Sipilä (2004)
- Mike Peltola (2005–2006)
- Janne Hietanen (2007)
- Antti Pehkonen 2008–2010
Dominic Yobe (2010)- Jani Kauppila (2011–2012)
- Lassi Nurmos (2013)
- Pekka Räsänen (2014)
- Tuure Siira (2015)
- Lassi Nurmos (2016)
David Ramadingaye (2017)- Lassi Nurmos (2018—2021)
Rafinha (2022)- Rasmus Karjalainen (2023)
Top goalscorers
| Season | Player | G | League |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Jeferson Pires |
12 | Ykkönen |
| 2004 | Jeferson Pires |
10 | |
| 2005 | Jeferson Pires |
5 | |
| Jukka Puurunen | |||
| / Rafinha | |||
| 2006 |  Dragan Pejic |
15 | |
| 2007 | Janne Hietanen |
5 | Veikkausliiga |
| 2008 | Donewell Yobe |
8 | Ykkönen |
| 2009 | Donewell Yobe |
14 | |
| 2010 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Frank Jonke |
8 | Veikkausliiga |
| 2011 | Randy Edwini-Bonsu |
16 | Ykkönen |
| 2012 | Joonas Sohlo |
9 | |
| 2013 | Joonas Sohlo |
7 | |
| 2014 | / Dritan Stafsula |
11 | |
| 2015 |  Kemo Darboe |
6 | |
| 2016 |  / Aristote M'Boma |
18 | |
| 2017 | Saša Jovović |
8 | |
 Alvarado Morín | |||
| 2018 | Alvarado Morín |
17 | |
| 2019 | Juho Mäkelä |
11 | |
| 2020 | Aapo Heikkilä |
9 | |
| 2021 |  Dennis Salanović |
4 | Veikkausliiga |
 Lucky Opara | |||
| 2022 |  Michael López |
10 | |
| 2023 | Ashley Coffey |
13 |
References
- ↑ AC Oulun pääomistaja Tomi Kaismo kertoo nyt, miten hän suhtautuu seuran jättitappioihin – "Aion olla pitkään mukana", Kaleva, Kai Nevala, 4 April 2023
- ↑ AC Oulun korpivaellus kesti tolkuttoman kauan, mutta nyt se on ohi – tähtipuolustaja avoimena: ”Tämä on ollut unelma koko ajan”, Ilta-Sanomat, Jarmo Korhonen, 3 May 2021
- ↑ Jyrki Aholalle lyötiin eteen lohduton valinta: eroa tai tulee kenkää – tyly ”jäähyväislahja” kertoo tilanteesta kaiken, Ilta-Sanomat, Janne Oivio, 29 September 2021
- ↑ Professori Duarte aloittaa nyt urakkansa Oulussa, eikä tilanne voisi olla pahempi: ”Mitään taikatemppuja ei ole”, Ilta-Sanomat, Janne Oivio, 15 October 2021
- ↑ AC Oulu säilytti sarjapaikkansa – RoPS-hyökkääjä ei sulattanut joukkuekaverin ulosajoa: "Se oli tuomarivirhe", Yle, Hinni Hirvonen, 7 November 2021
- ↑ Sami Hyypiä Trophy jaossa lauantaina – Liigacup 2023 huipentuu finaaliin, Veikkausliiga, 31 March 2023
- ↑ AC Oulun päävalmentaja Ricardo Duarte jättää seuran kauden jälkeen, Veikkausliiga, 17 August 2023
- ↑ AC Oulu teki uuden päätöksen – Ricardo Duarte jättää seuran jo nyt, suomifutis.com, 25 August 2023
- ↑ AC Oulun karmea sulaminen huipentui runkosarjan päätöskierroksella – HJK:lla ja KuPSilla kiivas mestaruustaisto, Ilta-Sanomat, 3 September 2021
- ↑ "Finland – List of League First Level Tables". RSSSF.
- ↑ "Finland – List of League Second Level Tables". RSSSF.
- 1 2 "Joukkue 2024" (in Finnish). AC Oulu. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ↑ RESERVIJOUKKUE KAKKOSEEN - TOIMISTO, VALMENNUS JA TAUSTAT KASASSA!, acoulu.fi, 22 December 2020
- ↑ Seuraesimerkki Huuhkaja- ja Helmaripolulta: Näin OLS:ssa varmistetaan, että tieto kehittää päivittäistä tekemistä, Finnish FA/Palloliitto, 23 August 2023
- ↑ AC OULU / OLS -JUNIORIT TAISTELEE HOPEAMITALISTA LAUANTAINA, acoulu.fi, 28 September 2023
- ↑ OTTELUENNAKKO: RESERVIJOUKKUEEN ENSIMMÄINEN KARSINTAOTTELU KOHTI YKKÖSLIIGAA PELATAAN TÄNÄÄN, acoulu.fi, 13 October 2023
- ↑ AC OULUN PELAAJAPUTKI PÄIVITTYY, acoulu.fi, 13 November 2023
- ↑ Captain's Ball 2023 – Palkitut osa 1, Finnish FA, 1 December 2023
- ↑ AC Oulun uusi valmennuskolmikko: Rauno Ojanen, Tuomas Silvennoinen ja Mikko Viitsalo, Yle, 8 November 2023
- ↑ Joukkue 2024, edustus, acoulu.fi
- ↑ Joukkue 2024, reservit, acoulu.fi
- ↑ "Yhteystiedot" (in Finnish). AC Oulu. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
External links
- Official website (in Finnish)