View source for Kari Ukkonen

{{short description|Finnish footballer and manager (born 1961)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name= Kari Ukkonen
| fullname = Kari Ukkonen
| image =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1961|02|19}}
| birth_place = [[Kuopio]], [[Finland]]
| height = {{height|m=1.82|precision=0}}
| currentclub =
| clubnumber =
| position = [[Defender (association football)|Defender]]
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 1979–1982
| years2 = 1982–1986
| years3 = 1986–1987
| years4 = 1987–1991
| years5 = 1991–1993
| years6 = 1993–1996
| clubs1 = [[Kuopion Palloseura|KuPS]]
| clubs2 = [[Cercle Brugge K.S.V.|Cercle Brugge]]
| clubs3 = [[K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen|Lokeren]]
| clubs4 = [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]]
| clubs5 = [[Royal Antwerp F.C.|Royal Antwerp]]
| clubs6 = [[LB Châteauroux|Châteauroux]]
| caps1 = 91
| caps2 = 107
| caps3 = 32
| caps4 = 38
| caps5 = 39
| caps6 = 52
| goals1 = 13
| goals2 = 16
| goals3 = 8
| goals4 = 3
| goals5 = 1
| goals6 = 1
| nationalyears1 = 1983–1996
| nationalteam1 = [[Finland national football team|Finland]]
| nationalcaps1 = 59
| nationalgoals1 = 4
| manageryears1 =
| manageryears2 = 2004–2006
| managerclubs1 = [[Finland national football team|Finland]] (youth coach)
| managerclubs2 = [[Turun Palloseura|TPS]]
}}
'''Kari Ukkonen''' (born 19 February 1961) is a [[Finland|Finnish]] former football manager and former [[football (soccer)|football]] player. As a player, Ukkonen was fielded as [[defender (football)|defender]] as well as [[midfielder (soccer)|midfielder]].

He was inducted to the [[Finnish Football Hall of Fame]] in 2022.

==Club career==
Ukkonen started playing football in his hometown club [[Kuopion Palloseura]] (KuPS) in top-tier [[Mestaruussarja]] in 1979.
In 1982, Ukkonen moved from Finland to [[Belgium]], when he was bought by [[Cercle Brugge K.S.V.|Cercle Brugge]]. Ukkonen made his Belgian début on 13 November, when Cercle defeated [[K.S.V. Waregem|SV Waregem]] with 2–1. Ukkonen would go on to win the [[Belgian Cup]] with Cercle in 1985. Ukkonen would spend most of his career in Belgium, also playing for other [[Belgian League|First division]] teams as [[K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen|Lokeren]], [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]] and [[Royal Antwerp F.C.|Royal Antwerp]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kasila |first=Markku |title=Pelimiehet |last2=Vuorinen |first2=Juha |publisher=Suomen Urheilumuseosäätiö |isbn=978-952-99075-9-5 |page=354}}</ref> Ukkonen ended his playing career with [[France|French]] side [[LB Châteauroux]].

==International career==
Ukkonen represented Finland at the [[1980 Summer Olympics]] in [[Moscow]]. Three years later, he earned his first cap for [[Finland national football team|Finland]] in a 1–1 draw against Poland. The same year, Ukkonen was voted [[Finnish Footballer of the Year]] by sports journalists and the [[Football Association of Finland]]. He made 59 appearances for the Finland national team, scoring four goals.

==Coaching career==
He stayed in football as [[coach (sport)|manager]]. First he was coach of Finland's national youth team. He was [[head coach]] of Finland at the [[2001 FIFA World Youth Championship|2001 World Youth Championship]] in [[Argentina]].

His next job was the manager of [[Turun Palloseura]] (TPS) in 2004–2006.

==Career statistics==
===Club===
{{updated|16 May 2024.}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|Domestic Cups{{efn|Includes [[Suomen Cup]], [[Belgian Cup]], [[Belgian Super Cup]], Belgian Ligabeker and [[Coupe de France]]}}
!colspan="2"|Europe
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="5"|[[Kuopion Palloseura|KuPS]]
|[[1979 Mestaruussarja|1979]]
|[[Mestaruussarja]]
|12||0||||||||||12||0
|-
|[[1980 Mestaruussarja|1980]]
|Mestaruussarja
|26||2||||||2{{efn|Includes [[UEFA Cup]]|name=uc}}||0||28||2
|-
|[[1981 Mestaruussarja|1981]]
|Mestaruussarja
|25||7||||||||||25||7
|-
|[[1982 Mestaruussarja|1982]]
|Mestaruussarja
|28||4||||||||||28||4
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!91!!13!!–!!–!!2!!0!!93!!13
|-
|rowspan="5"|[[Cercle Brugge K.S.V.|Cercle Brugge]]
|[[1982–83 Belgian First Division|1982–83]]
|[[Belgian Pro League|Belgian First Division]]
|21||2||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||21||2
|-
|[[1983–84 Belgian First Division|1983–84]]
|Belgian First Division
|30||1||1||0||colspan="2"|–||31||1
|-
|[[1984–85 Belgian First Division|1984–85]]
|Belgian First Division
|25||3||7||2||colspan="2"|–||32||5
|-
|[[1985–86 Belgian First Division|1985–86]]
|Belgian First Division
|31||10||13||1||2{{efn|Includes [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup]]|name=ucwc}}||0||46||11
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!107!!16!!21!!3!!2!!0!!130!!19
|-
|[[K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen|Lokeren]]
|[[1986–87 Belgian First Division|1986–87]]
|Belgian First Division
|32||8||2||1||colspan="2"|–||34||9
|-
|rowspan="5"|[[RSC Anderlecht]]
|[[1987–88 Belgian First Division|1987–88]]
|Belgian First Division
|14||1||4||0||colspan="2"|–||18||1
|-
|[[1988–89 Belgian First Division|1988–89]]
|Belgian First Division
|15||0||3||0||3{{efn|name=ucwc}}||0||21||0
|-
|[[1989–90 Belgian First Division|1989–90]]
|Belgian First Division
|8||2||2||0||2{{efn|name=ucwc}}||1||12||3
|-
|[[1990–91 Belgian First Division|1990–91]]
|Belgian First Division
|2||0||0||0||0||0||2||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!39!!3!!9!!0!!5!!1!!53!!4
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Royal Antwerp F.C.|Royal Antwerp]]
|[[1991–92 Belgian First Division|1991–92]]
|Belgian First Division
|27||0||5||0||colspan="2"|–||32||0
|-
|[[1992–93 Belgian First Division|1992–93]]
|Belgian First Division
|11||1||1||0||1{{efn|name=ucwc}}||0||13||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!38!!1!!6!!0!!1!!0!!45!!1
|-
|rowspan="4"|[[LB Châteauroux|Châteauroux]]
|[[1993–94 French Division 2|1993–94]]
|[[Ligue 2|Division 2]]
|0||0||1||1||colspan="2"|–||1||1
|-
|[[1994–95 French Division 2|1994–95]]
|Division 2
|37||1||7||1||colspan="2"|–||44||2
|-
|[[1995–96 French Division 2|1995–96]]
|Division 2
|15||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||16||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!52!!1!!9!!2!!–!!–!!61!!3
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!359!!42!!47!!6!!10!!1!!416!!49
|}
{{notelist}}

===International goals===
:''As of match played 9 October 1991. Finland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ukkonen goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Kari Ukkonen
|-
!scope=col|No.
!scope=col|Date
!scope=col|Venue
!scope=col|Opponent
!scope=col|Score
!scope=col|Result
!scope=col|Competition
|-
|align=center|1||17 April 1985||Odra Opole Stadium, [[Opole]], Poland||{{fb|POL}}||align=center|'''1'''–2||align=center|1–2||[[Exhibition game|Friendly]]
|-
|align=center|2||19 October 1988||[[Vetch Field]], [[Swansea]], Wales||{{fb|WAL}}||align=center|'''2'''–2||align=center|2–2||[[1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4|1990 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|-
|align=center|3||23 August 1989||[[:fi:Väinöllänniemen stadion|Väinölänniemen Stadium]], [[Kuopio]], Finland||{{fb|YUG}}||align=center|'''1'''–1||align=center|2–2||Friendly
|-
|align=center|4||9 October 1991||[[Helsinki Olympic Stadium]], [[Helsinki]], Finland||{{fb|GRE}}||align=center|'''1'''–1||align=center|1–1||[[UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying Group 6|UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying]]
|}

==Honours==
*'''[[Belgian Cup]]:'''
**'''Winner (4):''' 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992
**'''Runner-up (1):''' 1986
*'''[[Belgian First Division]]:'''
**'''Winner (1):''' 1990–91
**'''Runner-up (2):''' 1988–89, 1989–90

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://www.cerclemuseum.be Cerclemuseum.be] {{in lang|nl}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110706132844/http://www.antwerpsupporter.be/spelersarchief/spelersfiche.php?id=226 Kari Ukkonen player profile] {{in lang|nl}}
*{{NFT player|pid=14246}}

{{Finnish Football Hall of Fame}}
{{Finnish Footballer of the Year}}
{{Turun Palloseura managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ukkonen, Kari}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Finnish men's footballers]]
[[Category:Finland men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:Finnish football managers]]
[[Category:Footballers from Kuopio]]
[[Category:Olympic footballers for Finland]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players]]
[[Category:K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players]]
[[Category:R.S.C. Anderlecht players]]
[[Category:Royal Antwerp F.C. players]]
[[Category:LB Châteauroux players]]
[[Category:Belgian Pro League players]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in France]]
[[Category:Men's association football utility players]]
[[Category:Turun Palloseura managers]]
[[Category:Mestaruussarja players]]
[[Category:Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium]]
[[Category:Finnish expatriate sportspeople in France]]
[[Category:Ligue 2 players]]
[[Category:20th-century Finnish sportsmen]]
[[Category:Finnish Football Hall of Fame inductees]]