Roni Hudd (born 20 January 2005) 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 an

attacking 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. ...

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

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 ...

and the Finland under-21 national team.

Club career

VPS

Hudd started playing football in his hometown club

Vaasan Palloseura Vaasan Palloseura, commonly referred to as VPS, is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (''Veikkausliiga''). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matc ...

(VPS) youth sector in

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),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 ...

, the second tier in Finland. In 2020, Hudd also made his senior debut with VPS reserve team in the fourth-tier league

Kolmonen Kolmonen or III divisioona is the fifth level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 108 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mi ...

. After the season, Hudd signed a professional contract with the club. Hudd scored his first goal in his debut in the premier division

on 18 June 2022, in a 5–1 away victory against

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

. On 25 April 2023, Hudd extended his contract with VPS until the end of 2024. In the end of the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

season, Hudd won the bronze medal with VPS, as the club finished in 3rd place in the league. Early in the 2024 pre-season, Hudd suffered an injury which kept him out of the line-up until July.

HJK

On 27 August 2024,

announced the signing of Hudd on a deal until the end of the 2026 season with a one-year option, for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Hudd is a regular in the youth national teams of Finland. In September 2021, Hudd was named in the Finland U17 squad for the 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification tournament, against

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north a ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, scoring one goal and providing an assist in three games. Finland finished 2nd in the group and advanced to the

Elite round In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

. Hudd was part of the Finland U18 squad winning the friendly tournament Baltic Cup in June 2023, scoring one goal in three games. On 24 August 2023, Hudd got his first call-up to Finland under-21 national team, for a friendly match against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. On 7 September 2023, he debuted in that game as a substitute, and scored a goal, as Finland were defeated 2–3 by Iceland. In October 2023, Hudd was the captain of the Finland U19 squad in the

2024 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification The 2024 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification was a men's under-19 national football team competition that determined the seven teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Northern Ireland in the 2024 UEFA European Under-19 Champi ...

tournament, and played in all three games, against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

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 ...

Personal life

Hudd comes from a sporting family: his older sister Emma plays

pesäpallo Pesäpallo (; ; , colloquially known in Finnish as pesis and also referred to as Finnish baseball) is a fast-moving bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other ...

, ''Finnish baseball'', for Lapuan Virkiä. His father Nicklas is an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach in

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 ...

, and his mother played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

at youth national team level and in national level in Finland. In January 2023, Hudd's profile in Transfermarkt was momentarily among the most popular profiles in the website.Suomalainen Roni, 17, nousi Transfermarktin katsotuimpien joukkoon jopa Ronaldon ohi – agentti paljastaa neuvottelut jättisiirrosta

MTV Oy MTV Osakeyhtiö, Oy (formerly Oy Mainos-TV-Reklam Ab) is a Finnish media company owned by Telia Company through TV4 Media (formerly known as Bonnier Broadcasting). The company owns the largest commercial television channel in Finland, MTV3. On ...

, Ville-Veikko Valta, 11 January 2023

Career statistics

Honours

Vaasan Palloseura *

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 ...

: 2021 *

3rd place

References

External links

* *
Roni Hudd
stats at Finnish FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudd, Roni Living people 2005 births Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Kolmonen players Ykkönen players Veikkausliiga players Vaasan Palloseura players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Klubi 04 players Ykkösliiga players