Taavi Aulis Rytkönen (5 January 1929 – 16 April 2014) was a Finnish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He became the country's first

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

player when he signed for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club () is a French professional association football, football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France, French football. Toulouse plays it ...

in 1952. In total Rytkönen spent eight seasons (1952–1960) in France, winning the French Cup in 1957. A forward, he started his career in Finland with

KuPS Kuopio Kuopion Palloseura, commonly referred to as KuPS, is a Finnish professional football club based in Kuopio. KuPS competes in Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. The team plays its home matches at Kuopio Football Stadium. KuPS ha ...

in 1945, and after returning from France he worked as player-coach of

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...

1960–1966 and as coach 1967–1971. Rytkönen earned 37 caps for the Finnish national team, scoring seven goals. He played for Finland at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. He also worked as national coach from 1975 to 1978. He was chosen Finland's Player of the Year in 1949, 1950, and 1952.Finland - Player of the Year Awards
/ref> Aulis rytkosen katu kuopio

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rytkonen, Aulis 1929 births 2014 deaths People from Karttula Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's footballers in France Finnish expatriate sportspeople in France Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finnish football managers Finnish men's footballers Finland men's international footballers Finland national football team managers Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi managers Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Kuopion Palloseura players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Olympic footballers for Finland Toulouse FC players Footballers from North Savo 20th-century Finnish sportsmen Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (women) managers Finnish Football Hall of Fame inductees