Roni Porokara (born 12 December 1983) is a Finnish former international

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 ...

Club career

FC Hämeenlinna

On 15 May 2003, at age 19, Roni Porokara made his league debut in a match between

FC Hämeenlinna FC Hämeenlinna is a Finnish football club, based in Hämeenlinna. It currently plays in the Finnish third Division (''Kakkonen''). The club's manager is Tomi Uusitorppa, and it plays its home matches at Kauriala. The team was formed in 1991. ...

and

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the ninth most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 time ...

. During his two-year spell with

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of ...

, he made 46 league appearances and scored 6 goals.

FC Honka

He joined FC Honka in 2005, and played there until the end of 2007, making 76 league appearances and scoring 24 goals.

Örebro SK

In 2008, Porokara moved to the Swedish Premier Division side

Örebro SK Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...

staying there until the end of 2010, making 84 league appearances and scoring 11 goals. At the end of the 2009 Allsvenskan season, after playing for a year in

, Porokara entered into negotiations with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i clubs,

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Footbal ...

and

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. Porokara attracted interest from

due to his eligibility to receive Israeli citizenship under the

law of return The Law of Return ( he, חֹוק הַשְׁבוּת, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Isr ...

. He was set to transfer to Maccabi Haifa in January 2010, for $700,000, but the deal fell through. In August 2010, Porokara attracted interest from number of clubs in Europe.

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

from the Premier League was the big name out of this clubs along with

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and '' comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was ...

from

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

, and a few clubs from Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland. After Örebro finished third in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Porokara announced that he would not renew his contract with the Swedes.

Beerschot AC

On 3 December 2010 he signed with

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen, or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the second-tier First Division B after relegating from the top tier in the 2021–22 season. In 201 ...

,Porokara signs with Beerschot
where he stayed until the summer of 2012, before moving to

Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל עירוני קרית שמונה) known as Ironi Kiryat Shmona is an Israeli football club based in Kiryat Shmona. The club is a current member of the Israeli Pr ...

in Israel.

Back to FC Honka

Porokara returned to FC Honka in 2015 after the team was relegated to

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kakkonen ( Finnish for 'Number Tw ...

due to financial problems. After appearing five times and scoring once, Porokara was forced to retire from active football because of a hip problem.

International career

On 13 April 2005, Porokara made his only appearance for the Finnish under-21 side in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against their Estonian counterparts. His full national team debut came a year later on 25 May 2006 in a friendly against Sweden. Porokara was a late substitute and only got a minute on the pitch. On 8 November 2010, Porokara scored the winning goal against Belgium in friendly game.

International goals

''Updated 12 December 2009''

Honours

Club

FC Honka

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' ( Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also p ...

: 2005

Individual

BV Cup BV, B.V., Bv, bV, or bv may refer to: In arts and entertainment * Backing vocal, in music, a vocal harmony with the lead vocalist provided by one or more backing vocalists * Busoni-Verzeichnis, a catalogue of compositions by Ferruccio Busoni Compa ...

Player of the Tournament: 2006 *

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...

All-Star Team: 2006

Statistics

References

External links

Profile on Finnish national team website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porokara, Roni 1983 births Living people Footballers from Helsinki Finnish footballers Finnish expatriate footballers Finland international footballers Finland under-21 international footballers Finnish Jews Jewish footballers Veikkausliiga players Allsvenskan players Belgian First Division A players Israeli Premier League players FinnPa players FC Jokerit players AC Allianssi players FC Hämeenlinna players FC Honka players Örebro SK players Beerschot A.C. players Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. players Klubi 04 players Association football wingers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Israel Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Israel

Club career

FC Hämeenlinna

FC Honka

Örebro SK

Beerschot AC

Back to FC Honka

International career

International goals

Honours

Club

FC Honka

Individual

Statistics

See also

References

External links