Jessica Carola Julin (born 6 December 1978) is a Finnish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who played in either

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

. She is a legend of Finnish football. She spent several seasons in the Swedish

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

representing

Umeå IK Umeå IK () is a women's professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football cl ...

, Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC, AIK and

Stattena IF Stattena IF is a Swedish Association football, football club located in Helsingborg. The club played two seasons in the Allsvenskan in 1927–28 and 1929–30. Background The original club Stattena was one of the two clubs which in 1907 forme ...

. After making her debut for the

Finland women's national football team The Finland women's national football team (, ), also known as nickname The Boreal Owls (), represents Finland in international Women's association football, women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Finland (SPL/FB ...

in 1997, Julin won 118 caps and participated at

UEFA Women's Euro 2005 The 2005 UEFA Women's Championship, also referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2005, was a football tournament for women held from 5 June to 19 June 2005 in Lancashire and Cheshire, England. The UEFA Women's Championship is a regular tournament involvi ...

and

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

Career

A Swedish–speaking Finn, Julin was born on Finland's Independence Day. She grew up in

Jakobstad Jakobstad (; , ) is a town in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Jakobstad is situated in Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Jakobstad is approximately , while the Jako ...

. After moving to Sweden and playing for

in 1998 and 1999, Julin accepted a scholarship to

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

and played varsity soccer from 2000 to 2002. She then returned to Umeå but was

Cup-tied In association football, a player who has appeared for a football club during a knockout cup but subsequently transfers to another club is ineligible to play for the new club in the remainder of that season's cup competition. Such a player is sa ...

for the

2003 UEFA Women's Cup Final The 2003 UEFA Women's Cup Final was a two-legged football match that took place on 9 and 21 June 2003 at T3 Arena, Gammliavallen and Hjørring Stadium between Umeå IK of Sweden and Fortuna Hjørring of Denmark. It was the first final not to featu ...

because she had played for HJK in their 8–0 defeat to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in the quarter-final. Julin featured in both legs of the following year's final and collected a winners' medal. On 27 June 2005, it was announced she was leaving

. In 2005, she moved on to

Martin Pringle Martin Ulf Pringle (born 18 November 1970) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre forward, and the current manager of Varbergs BoIS. As a player, he played from 1991 until his career was cut short by injury in 2002. ...

's Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC to ensure first team football ahead of the 2005 European Championships in England. Finland reached the semi-final with Julin starting all four matches. Julin wound down her career in Sweden with spells at AIK and Stattena.

International career

Julin made her debut for the senior

in March 1997; against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in the

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

. Julin was called up to the

squad. Julin was called up to the

squad. She also played in all four matches Finland hosted at

, including the quarter-final defeat by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She retired from international football after the tournament.

Managerial career

After the 2010 season Julin retired from playing to become the assistant manager of

Jitex BK Jitex BK, more commonly known as just Jitex, is a football club in Mölndal, Sweden, that competes in Elitettan, the second tier of Swedish women's football. The club was founded January 21, 1971 and previously played in the Elitettan, Sweden's s ...

. She had to retire due to injuries. Julin took over as manager of IF Böljan for the 2012 season following two years at Jitex. In 2014 Julin moved to coach

Hovås Billdal IF Hovås Billdal IF is a Sweden, Swedish Association football, football club located in Hovås, Gothenburg. Background Hovås Billdal IF currently plays in Swedish football Division 4, Division 4 Göteborg B which is the sixth tier of Swedish footb ...

and also made a playing comeback with the

Elitettan Elitettan (, ) is the second highest division of Swedish women's football. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest divisi ...

club. After leading the club to a best ever fifth-place finish in the 2015 season, she resigned her position.

References

External links

Jessica Julin
AIK profile

South Carolina profile * * 1978 births Living people Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Finnish women's footballers Finland women's international footballers FIFA Women's Century Club Swedish-speaking Finns South Carolina Gamecocks women's soccer players Footballers from Jakobstad Damallsvenskan players BK Häcken FF players FC United (Jakobstad) players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (women) players Kansallinen Liiga players AIK Fotboll (women) players Umeå IK players Female association football managers Finnish expatriate women's footballers Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Finnish football managers Stattena IF (women) players Finnish Football Hall of Fame inductees {{Finland-footy-midfielder-stub