Sami_Ristilä
Sami Ristilä
Finnish footballer and manager (born 1974)
Sami Ristilä (born 15 August 1974) is a Finnish football manager and former player.
|
Ristilä in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sami Ristilä | ||
| Date of birth | (1974-08-15) 15 August 1974 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Valkeakoski, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1996 | Haka | 87 | (14) |
| 1995–1996 | Neukirchen | 15 | (3) |
| 1996–1999 | Zwolle | 79 | (17) |
| 1999–2000 | Jokerit | 46 | (9) |
| 2001 | MyPa | 29 | (6) |
| 2002–2004 | Haka | 70 | (25) |
| 2005–2008 | Drogheda United | 54 | (8) |
| 2009 | Haka | 16 | (2) |
| Total | 396 | (84) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992 | Finland U21 | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009–2012 | Haka[1] | ||
| 2013–2016 | KTP | ||
| 2016 | Shamrock Rovers (sporting director) | ||
| 2018 | Lahti (assistant) | ||
| 2018–2019 | Lahti | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ristilä was born in Valkeakoski. Before he joined Drogheda Ristilä played for MyPa, SC Neukirchen, FC Zwolle and FC Haka. He played an important role in the Drogheda midfield and sometimes played up front. He has represented the Finland national side on two occasions. He played three seasons with Zwolle in the Dutch Eerste divisie.[2] In December 2008 he returned to FC Haka and signed a contract to 30 December 2011.
He has played 247 games in the Veikkausliiga.
The longest spell of his career as a manager was 2013–2016 with Finnish club KTP. After 2015 season KTP got relegated from Veikkausliiga. Poor results continued the next year and Ristilä was replaced by his assistant coach in middle of the season on 30 June 2016.
On 31 August 2016, he joined the coaching staff of Shamrock Rovers under head coach Stephen Bradley, who he formerly played together with at Drogheda United.[3] Sami would work with the development of the Shamrock Rovers Academy on a deal until the end of 2016.
In 2017, he returned to Finland and at the end of the year, he was appointed assistant coach to Toni Korkeakunnas at FC Lahti for the 2018 season with an option for one further year.[4] He was also going to be responsible for the youth development from the U19s to the first team. On 8 October 2018, he was appointed head coach of Lahti, signing a deal until the end of 2020 with an option for one further year.[5] The club announced in October 2019, that Ristilä would leave his position at the end of the year.[6]
Haka
- Veikkausliiga (1): 2004
Drogheda United
- FAI Cup (1): 2005
- Setanta Sports Cup (2): 2006, 2007
- League of Ireland (1): 2007
Individual
- Veikkausliiga Coach of the Month: October 2010[7]August 2011,[8]
- Vuorinen, Juha (2007). Pelimiehet (Complete record of Finnish league football). The Sports Museum Foundation of Finland. p. 288. ISBN 978-952-99075-9-5.
- Guardian Football
- "Valkeakosken Sanomat". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
- "Sami Ristilä" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
- "Sami Ristilä appointment". Shamrock Rovers. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
- Sami Ristilä FC Lahden valmennustiimiin, fclahti.fi, 18 October 2017
- Sami Ristilä FC Lahden uudeksi päävalmentajaksi, yle.fi, 8 October 2018
- Päävalmentaja Sami Ristilä ei jatka FC Lahdessa, fclahti.fi, 10 October 2019
- KuPSin Dudu Veikkausliigan lokakuun pelaaja (in Finnish)
- Sampsa Timoskasta Veikkausliigan elokuun pelaaja Archived 11 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)