Rovaniemen Palloseura

History

RoPS have won the Finnish Cup on two occasions, in 1986 and 2013, and were runners-up in 1962. They placed third in the Finnish Premier Division in 1988 and 1989, before finishing as runner-up in 2015, losing out on the title by 1 point to eventual champions SJK. The club's most notable international achievement was reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup-Winners' Cup in 1987–88 against Marseille.

Match fixing allegations and scandal

Throughout the 2000s, RoPS became infamous for suspected involvement in match fixing.

In spring 2011 the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation started a large investigation into match fixing. On February 25 Singaporean businessman Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted match fixer, was arrested after entering Finland with a fake passport. The National Bureau of Investigation suspected that over 30 games between 2008 and 2011, mostly from the Finnish premier league, had been fixed or manipulated.

On July 19, 2011, the Rovaniemi Court of Appeal convicted Perumal and nine RoPS players of match-fixing. Altogether 24 games had been manipulated, and the intended score had been achieved in 11 of them. Perumal was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to return 150,000 euros deemed to be match-fixing profits. The bribes ranged from 500 euros offered to one player to a total of 80,000 euros offered to eight players. The highest total of bribes for one individual was slightly over 40,000 euros. The players received suspended sentences. The sentenced players were six Zambian and two Georgian players: Godfrey Chibanga, Chileshe Chibwe, Francis Kombe, Stephen Kunda, Christopher Musonda, Chanda Mwaba, Nchimunya Mweetwa, Pavle Khorguashvili, and Valter Khorguashvili.

Domestic history

|Season to season of RoPS

• 32 seasons in Veikkausliiga
• 16 seasons in Ykkösliiga
• 19 seasons in Ykkönen
• 3 seasons in 4th Tier

European history

;Notes

• 1R: First round
• 2R: Second round
• 1Q: First qualifying round
• QF: Quarter-finals

Honours

• Finnish Cup
  • Champions (2): 1986, 2013
• Ykkönen
  • Champions (2): 2010, 2012

Current squad

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 18 February 2020.

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Boardroom

As of 18 February 2020

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Rovaniemi Football Academy

Rovaniemi Football Academy (RFA) is the reserve team of RoPS. The team plays in Kakkonen in 2020 season. It is coached by Aleksi Tanner.

Managers

• Poland Jerzy Masztaler (1990–91)
• Wales Graham Williams (1991)
• Finland Olavi Tammimies (1992)
• England Keith Armstrong (1993–94)
• Finland Timo Salmi (1995)
• Wales Graham Williams (1995)
• Finland Ari Matinlassi (1995)
• Finland Ari Rantamaa (1996–97)
• Finland Kari Virtanen (1997–99)
• Finland Olavi Tammimies (2000)
• Finland Mauri Holappa (2001)
• Finland Tomi Molin (2002)
• Hungary György Hamori (Jan 1, 2003 – June 23, 2004)
• Finland Mika Lumijärvi (June 23, 2004 – June 30, 2005)
• Finland Matti Vikman (interim) (June 30, 2005 – Dec 31, 2005)
• Finland Jukka Ikäläinen (2006)
• Belgium Tom Saintfiet (Jan 1, 2008 – April 7, 2008)
• Estonia Valeri Bondarenko (April 14, 2008 – May 27, 2009)
• Finland Mika Lumijärvi (May 27, 2009 – Oct 6, 2009)
• Zambia Zeddy Saileti (Oct 6, 2009 – Dec 31, 2009)
• Wales John Allen (Jan 1, 2010 – Aug 9, 2011)
• Finland Matti Hiukka (Aug 9, 2011 – Dec 31, 2011)
• Finland Kari Virtanen (Jan 1, 2012 – Oct 13)
• Finland Juha Malinen (Nov, 2013 – Oct, 2017)
• Finland Toni Koskela (Oct, 2017 – May 22, 2019)
• Finland Pasi Tuutti (May 22, 2019 – Dec 31, 2019)
• Finland Vesa Tauriainen (Jan 1, 2020 – Sep 15, 2020)
• Finland Mikko Mannila (Sep 16, 2020 – Dec 31, 2021)
• Finland Aleksi Tanner (Jan 1, 2022 – Dec 31, 2022)
• Finland Ville Ulanen (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2023)
• Finland Jari Alamäki (Jan 1, 2024 – )

References

References

1. Susanna Kemppainen. "RoPS:lla yli 30 epäiltyä sopupeliä | Pohjois-Suomi". Kaleva.fi.
2. Uusi Suomi. "Oikeus: Sopupeleistä 150 000 euroa – 2 vuotta vankeutta — Uusi Suomi". Uusisuomi.fi.
3. "Home".
4. "Yhteystiedot". RoPS.
5. "RoPS/2 on jatkossa Rovaniemi Football Academy". RoPS.
6. "Kokoonpano: Rovaniemi Football Academy 2020". RoPS.