Ilves (football)

Ilves
Full name	Tampereen Ilves
Nickname(s)	Ipa
Founded	1931; 93 years ago
Ground	Tammela Stadion, Tampere
Capacity	8,000
Chairman	Ari Ruuth
Manager	Joonas Rantanen
League	Veikkausliiga
2024	Veikkausliiga, 2nd of 12
Website	ilvesedustus.fi
Home colours	Away colours

Tampereen Ilves (pronounced [ˈilʋes]; Finnish for "Lynx"; Swedish: Ilves Tammerfors), commonly referred to as Ilves, is a Finnish professional football club based in Tampere. They currently play in the Veikkausliiga, the highest level of professional football in Finland.

History

They were formed in 1975 as a merger between Ilves-Kissat Tampere and Tampellan Palloilijat, and joined the Premier Division in 1979.^[2]

Ilves won the Finnish League championship in 1983 and the Finnish Cup on four occasions in 1979, 1990, and 2019 and 2023.

In the late 1990s, Ilves suffered financial trouble and its professional team was reformed into Tampere United before the 1999 season. The initial plan was to join Ilves with TPV, but TPV decided to continue as its own team. As a result, Tampere United inherited Ilves' place in the second highest division, and Ilves dissolved their men's team. Thus the club did not have a men's team from 1999 to 2007.^[3]

Their home ground is Tammelan Stadion. Between 2020 and 2023, they played at Tampere Stadium, while waiting for the new Tammelan stadion to be built.^[1]

Honours

Mestaruussarja/Veikkausliiga
- Champions: 1983
Finnish Cup
- Winners: 1979, 1990, 2019, 2023

Season to season

Season to Season

Season	Level	Division	Section	Administration	Position	Movements
1932-38 Tampere District Leagues
1939-42 No men's team.
1945-46	Tier 3	SPL Maakuntasarja (Third Division)	Group Häme	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd
1946-47	Tier 3	SPL Maakuntasarja (Third Division)	Group Tampere	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	3rd
1948-74 Tampere District Leagues
1975	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	3rd	Received league position from Ilves-Kissat
1976	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th
1977	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
1978	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Promoted
1979	Tier 1	Mestaruussarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	10th	Relegation Group 1st
1980	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	6th	Championship Group 6th
1981	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	7th	Championship Group 5th
1982	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th	Championship Group 7th
1983	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd	Championship Group 1st - Champions
1984	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th	Championship Playoffs 3rd
1985	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th	Championship Playoffs 2nd
1986	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	6th
1987	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th
1988	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th	Relegation Group 3rd
1989	Tier 1	SM-Sarja (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	6th	Championship Group 6th
1990	Tier 1	Futisliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	9th
1991	Tier 1	Futisliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	6th
1992	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th
1993	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	12th	Relegation Group 6th
1994	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	12th
1995	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	7th
1996	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	10th	Relegation Group 4th - Relegated
1997	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th	Relegation Group North 2nd
1998	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd	Relegation Group 5th, Promotion Playoff. First team continued as TamU
1999-2007 No men's team.
2008	Tier 3	Kakkonen (Second Division)	Group B	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th	Received league spot from KooVee
2009	Tier 3	Kakkonen (Second Division)	Group B	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	3rd
2010	Tier 3	Kakkonen (Second Division)	Group B	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Promotion Group 3rd
2011	Tier 3	Kakkonen (Second Division)	Group B	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd	Promotion Playoff
2012	Tier 3	Kakkonen (Second Division)	Group West	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Promotion Playoff - Promoted
2013	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th
2014	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	3rd	Promoted
2015	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th
2016	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
2017	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	3rd
2018	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
2019	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th
2020	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
2021	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
2022	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	9th
2023	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th
2024	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd

28 season in Veikkausliiga
13 seasons in Ykkönen
8 seasons in Kakkonen

^[4]

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
1980–81	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Feyenoord	1–3	2–4	3–7
1984–85	European Cup	1R	Juventus	0–4	1–2	1–6
1986–87	UEFA Cup	1R	Rangers	0–4	2–0	2–4
1991–92	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Glenavon	2–3	2–1	4–4
1991–92	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	2R	Roma	1–1	2–5	3–6
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	1QR	PFC Slavia Sofia	0–1	1–2	1–3
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Shamrock Rovers	2–2 (11–12 p)
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	2QR	Austria Wien	2–1	3–4 (a.e.t.)	5–5 (5–4 p)
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	3QR	Djurgården	1–1	1–3	2–4
2025–26	UEFA Conference League	2QR

Current squad

As of 30 October.^[5] 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	FIN	Otso Virtanen
2	DF	FIN	Matias Kivikko Arraño
3	DF	POR	Jorginho
5	DF	FIN	Juhani Pikkarainen
6	MF	FIN	Doni Arifi
7	MF	FIN	Joona Veteli
8	MF	FIN	Maksim Stjopin
9	FW	FIN	Vincent Ulundu
10	FW	FIN	Roope Riski
14	MF	FIN	Anton Popovitch
15	MF	FIN	Lauri Ala-Myllymäki
16	DF	FIN	Tatu Miettunen (captain)
17	MF	FIN	Marius Söderbäck


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	FW	NGA	Adeleke Akinyemi
19	FW	FIN	Oiva Jukkola
22	DF	FIN	Aapo Mäenpää
23	MF	FIN	Noel Hasa
24	MF	FRA	Abdoulaye Kanté
25	MF	FIN	Arttu Tulehmo
26	DF	FIN	Tomas Sovelius
27	DF	FIN	Jere Riissanen
28	MF	FIN	Topi Ala
31	FW	FIN	Danila Bulgakov
32	GK	FIN	Lucas Väyrynen
42	DF	FIN	Felipe Aspegren
—	DF	FIN	Teemu Hytönen

On loan

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
12	GK	FIN	Johannes Viitala (at IFK Mariehamn until 31 December 2024)

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 3 November 2023.^[5]

Name	Role
Joonas Rantanen	Head coach
Joni Lehtonen	Coach
Pasi Tuutti	Coach
Guillem Santesmases	Assistant coach/Reserve team coach
Marko Pirilä	Goalkeeping coach
Heli Rekimies	Fitness coach / Physiotherapist
Ville Niemelä	Kit manager / Team manager
Jonne Väisänen	Doctor

Scouting

As of 28 August 2024^[6]

Name	Role
Jyrki Ahola	Scout
Henri Määttä	Scout
Simon Garnier	Scout

Boardroom

As of 31 July 2020^[7]

Name	Role
Pentti Kuusela	Chairman
Tomi Erola	CEO
Toni Hevonkorpi	Development Director / Vice CEO
Miika Takkula	Sporting director

Ilves/2

Ilves/2 is the reserve team of Ilves. The team plays in Kakkonen in 2024 season. It is coached by Guillem Santesmases.^[8]

Managers

Raimo Vasama (1975)
Martti Halme (1976–1977)
Pertti Mäkipää (1978–1981)
Jussi Ristimäki (1982–1984)
Turo Flink (1985–1986)
Harri Holli (1987–1989)
Jussi Ristimäki (1990)
Ian Crawford (1991–1992)
Matti Paatelainen (1993)
Markku Wacklin (1993–1994)
Esa Kuusisto (1995–1996)
Arto Uimonen (1997)
Ari Hjelm (1997)
Kari Nikkilä (1998)
Janne Salovaara / Jarmo Virtanen (2001)
Veijo Visuri (2008–2009)
Valeri Popovitch (2010–11)
Mika Malinen (2012–2014)
Keith Armstrong (2015)
Jarkko Wiss (2016–2021)
Toni Kallio (2021–2023)
Joni Lehtonen (2023)
Joonas Rantanen (2023–present)

References

^ ^a ^b "Tampereen Ilves". Soccerway. Perform. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
^ Heikki Pietarinen (13 December 2018). "Finland - List of League First Level Tables". RSSSF. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
^ "Seura". ilvesedustus.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
^ "Football Archive - Index of SPL Finnish League Suomen Cup Seasons". Football Archive. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Joukkue - Ilves jalkapalloedustus". Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
^ Ilveksen urheilujohdon toimintaa tukeva scouting-tiimi vahvistui Henri Määtällä, ilvesfootball.com, 28 August 2024
^ "Yhteystiedot" (in Finnish). Ilves. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
^ ILVES/2 SAA UUDEN PÄÄVALMENTAJAN – TERVETULOA ILVEKSEEN, GUILLEM SANTESMASES!, Ilves

External links

Official website (in Finnish)

[Tampereen_Ilves-1] "Tampereen Ilves". Soccerway. Perform. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

[2] Heikki Pietarinen (13 December 2018). "Finland - List of League First Level Tables". RSSSF. Retrieved 3 June 2019.

[3] "Seura". ilvesedustus.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.

[4] "Football Archive - Index of SPL Finnish League Suomen Cup Seasons". Football Archive. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2023.

[Joukkue_-_Ilves_jalkapalloedustus-5] "Joukkue - Ilves jalkapalloedustus". Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2016.

[6] Ilveksen urheilujohdon toimintaa tukeva scouting-tiimi vahvistui Henri Määtällä, ilvesfootball.com, 28 August 2024

[7] "Yhteystiedot" (in Finnish). Ilves. Retrieved 31 July 2020.

[8] ILVES/2 SAA UUDEN PÄÄVALMENTAJAN – TERVETULOA ILVEKSEEN, GUILLEM SANTESMASES!, Ilves

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v t e Top-division football seasons in Finland
Mestaruussarja	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Veikkausliiga	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Football in Finland