Juhani Ojala (; born 19 June 1989) is a Finnish professional

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 ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

club

Gnistan IF Gnistan (''Kipinä'' in Finnish; ''The Spark'' in English), commonly known as Gnistan, is a Finnish football club from the city of Helsinki, founded in 1924. The club is currently playing in the Veikkausliiga, the first tier of the Finnish le ...

. Ojala was born in

Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

where he played for the local youth team before moving to HJK's organisation. Ojala made his international debut for Finland in November 2011, at the age of 22.

Club career

HJK Helsinki

During the 2009 season, Ojala represented mostly

Klubi-04 Klubi 04 is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. It is the reserve team of HJK Helsinki for whom a number of the players are also registered. History Klubi 04 was founded in 2004 when HJK bought FC Jokerit. Initially Klubi 04 played in K ...

, HJK's reserve squad. In the beginning of the 2010 season, however, he was selected to HJK's first eleven, due to various injuries in the squad. His performances were outstanding, and he quickly established himself as one of the key players in HJK's victorious 2010 campaign, playing in all games. Ojala became one of the best and most talented players in the

, and his performances provoked widespread international interest. At the end of the

2010 Veikkausliiga The 2010 Veikkausliiga was the 80th season of top-tier football in Finland. It began on 16 April 2010 and ended on 23 October 2010. Teams RoPS finished at the bottom of the 2009 season and were relegated to Ykkönen. Their place was taken by Ykk ...

season, he was officially selected as the defender of the year.

Young Boys

On 9 April 2011 Ojala signed a contract extension with HJK, the new contract running until 2014. But in July, HJK announced that Ojala would

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

to Swiss team

BSC Young Boys Berner Sport Club Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation, ) is a Swiss professional sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 17 Swiss league championships and eight Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss footbal ...

on 13 August, for a transfer fee of €600,000. He gained notoriety in England during Young Boys'

2012–13 UEFA Europa League group stage 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

match against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

at the

Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Stadium () is a football stadium in Bern, Switzerland. The second largest all-seater football stadium in Switzerland, it is the home ground of BSC Young Boys. It was also one of the venues for UEFA Euro 2008. History The present-da ...

. In an eventful match, which ended 5–3 to the ''Reds'', Ojala opened the score with an own goal, putting the ball past

Marco Wölfli Marco Wölfli (born 22 August 1982) is a Swiss former professional football goalkeeper who played for Young Boys in the Swiss Super League. Club career Wölfli made his league debut for Young Boys during their 1999–2000 Nationalliga B campa ...

, his own goalkeeper. He later made amends by scoring a header to bring Young Boys level at 2–2 just after half time.

Terek Grozny

After a year and a half in Switzerland on 12 February 2013 it was announced that Ojala would transfer to Russian Premier League team Terek Grozny, for a fee of €500,000.

Loan to HJK Helsinki

On 29 July 2015, Ojala rejoined HJK on loan for the remainder of the

2015 Veikkausliiga The 2015 Veikkausliiga was the 85th season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK Helsinki were the defending champions. The season was won by SJK, ending HJK's record streak of six straight titles. Teams TPS were relegated to Ykkönen after finis ...

season. He had a trial with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

at the end of the season, but was not signed.

SJK

On 1 September 2016, Ojala signed with SJK. He made his debut for SJK on 9 September 2016 playing full 90 minutes in a match against

Inter Turku Football Club International Turku, commonly referred to as Inter Turku () and colloquially known as Inter, is a Finnish professional football club based in Turku that competes in the Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish Football. Founded i ...

Vejle

On 26 August 2019,

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...

club

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

confirmed, that they had signed Ojala. He reached promotion to the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

during his first season at the club, and personally finished with 22 appearances in which he scored two goals. On 14 September 2020, his debut in the Superliga, he scored in a 4–2 loss to rivals AGF.

Motherwell

On 29 July 2021,

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

announced the signing of Ojala on a two-year contract. Ojala left Motherwell by mutual consent on 1 September 2022, having played 24 times for the club.

Doxa Katokopias

On 11 January 2023, Doxa Katokopias announced the signing of Ojala.

International career

In November 2010, after representing Finland on youth levels, Ojala was called up to the national team squad to face

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

. He made his national team debut on 15 November 2011 in a friendly match against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

when

Mixu Paatelainen Mika-Matti Petteri "Mixu" Paatelainen (born 3 February 1967) is a Finnish former professional football player and manager who is currently serving as the sporting director of Scottish club The Spartans. He scored 18 goals in 70 appearances for ...

used him as a substitute. He gained his first

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

qualification appearance 12 October 2012 in

Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium (; ), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer ...

in a match against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. During autumn of 2012 he established himself as a regular in the national team. He made his first goal for Finland on 9 January 2017 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium Tahnoun Bin Mohamed Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is one of the home grounds of Al Ain Club. The stadium holds approximately 15,000 people and was opene ...

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. Ojala was called up for the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

pre-tournament friendly match against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on 29 May 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

Notes

International goals

:''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.''

Honours

HJK *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Vejle *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2012 Baltic Cup The 2012 Baltic Cup was a football competition which was held on 1–3 June 2012 in Estonia. Format For the first time, Finland took part in the competition. As a result of this, the round-robin format was changed to knock-out tournament, as ...

Runner-up *

2014 Baltic Cup The 2014 Baltic Cup was a football competition, held between 29 and 31 May 2014, hosted by Latvia. Format For the second time in a row Finland joined Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, thus the knock-out tournament format established in the previo ...

Bronze Individual *

defender of the year:

References

External links

Motherwell FC official profile

Juhani Ojala
– SPL competition record * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ojala, Juhani 1989 births Living people Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finland men's international footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Footballers from Vantaa Men's association football defenders Klubi 04 players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players FC Akhmat Grozny players BSC Young Boys players BK Häcken players Vejle Boldklub players Veikkausliiga players Swiss Super League players Russian Premier League players Allsvenskan players Danish 1st Division players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Motherwell F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Doxa Katokopias FC players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus FC Honka players IF Gnistan players