Markus Heikkinen (born 13 October 1978), nicknamed Mako, is a Finnish former 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 played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He is currently working as a

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

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 ...

side AC Oulu. He previously played for

Oulun Palloseura Oulun Palloseura or OPS is a Finnish multi-sports club based in Oulu. The club has sections in football, bandy and bowling. The club was founded in 1927. Football The football team has won the Finnish championship twice (1979, 1980) and as a c ...

(OPS),

Turun Palloseura Turun Palloseura, commonly known as TPS, is a professional association football, football club based in Turku, Finland. Since 2024, the men's team competes in Ykkösliiga, the second highest tier. Nicknamed "''Tepsi''", the club was founded i ...

(TPS), MyPa,

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 ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

and

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

, before returning to his hometown and ending his professional playing career in AC Oulu.

Playing career

Heikkinen started his senior career in OPS, when the club played in

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for 'Number One'; , previously I divisioona) is the third highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga and Ykkösliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. Until ...

in 1996 season. Heikkinen scored five goals, most in his team, but ultimately OPS were relegated back to

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. Until the end of 2023, ''Kakkonen'' was the third-highest level in Finland, but after the creation of new second-t ...

, and Heikkinen left the club. He spent three seasons in

with TPS and MyPa, before joining HJK Helsinki. Whilst at Portsmouth on loan, he contributed two appearances as they won the First Division Championship and promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. During his two years with

, Heikkinen was popular and important player, who usually featured in central midfield, where he had a reputation as a tough tackling and dependable player. Despite repeated attempts by Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood to get the player to sign a new deal, he indicated that he was unsettled at Aberdeen and wanted to move on. An integral part of the Luton side that finished 10th in the 2005–06 Championship season, Heikkinen collected four awards – the Player of the Year trophy, Players' Player of the Season, Internet Player of the Season and the Luton News Player of the Season. On 29 December 2006, in a game for Luton against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

he was feared to have a compound fracture of the fibula, however it was in fact a nasty gash down his leg, after a late challenge by midfielder Fabrice Muamba. He returned to action against Stoke City on 17 February 2007. After his years in England Heikkinen played six seasons for Rapid Wien. He was a key player of the team, making over 170 appearances for the Austrian Bundesliga side. On 10 August 2013, he signed for Norwegian

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

club

. Heikkinen helped Start avoid relegation with solid performances. After years abroad, "Mako" returned to Finland and HJK in December 2013. After two seasons with the Helsinki-based side, on 2 September 2015 it was reported that the 36-year-old Heikkinen had signed a three-year player-coach contract with his hometown team AC Oulu.

International career

Heikkinen made his national team debut on 4 January 2002 against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. He immediately became an important defensive player to his native team. He often played as defensive midfielder. However, he returned to his old position as centre back in 2010, after Hannu Tihinen retired in professional football. He announced his retirement from international football on 26 September 2011.

Later career

During the last years of his playing career, Heikkinen worked also as a sporting director of AC Oulu in second-tier

.AC Oulun urheilutoimenjohtaja Markus Heikkinen myöntää kritiikin olevan ansaittua – "Eihän se mennyt putkeen miltään osin"
Kaleva, 27 October 2024 Since the end of 2018, he has served as the club's sole sporting director, and helped AC Oulu to promote to

after the 2020.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heikkinen, Markus 1978 births Living people People from Katrineholm Finnish men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Finland men's international footballers Turun Palloseura footballers Myllykosken Pallo −47 players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players AC Oulu players Portsmouth F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players SK Rapid Wien players IK Start players Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Eliteserien players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Finnish sports executives and administrators Finnish sporting directors AC Oulu non-playing staff