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Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in
Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...
, Finland. In 2019 RoPS participated in the Finnish Premier Division, (''
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 ...
'') marking their 32nd season in the top flight (previously called "Veikkausliiga") since 1981. The club plays home games at the Rovaniemen Keskuskenttä in the Arctic Circle of Lapland. The closest affiliated team is RoPS/2 from Kakkonen who participates in the third tier of Finnish football.


History

RoPS have won the
Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...
on two occasions, in 1986 and 2013, and were runners-up in 1962. They placed third in the Finnish Premier Division in 1988 and 1989, before finishing as runner-up in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
, losing out on the title by 1 point to eventual champions SJK. The club's most notable international achievement was reaching the quarter-finals of the
European Cup-Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourna ...
in 1987–88 against Marseille.


Match fixing allegations and scandal

Throughout the 2000s, RoPS became infamous for suspected involvement in
match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...
. In spring 2011 the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation started a large investigation into match fixing. On February 25 Singaporean businessman
Wilson Raj Perumal Wilson Raj Perumal (born 31 July 1965) is a convicted Singaporean match-fixer. Perumal is accused on several match fixing scandals, including Asiagate in 2007–2009 and the 2008–2011 Finnish match-fixing scandal. He was first jailed for ma ...
, a convicted match fixer, was arrested after entering Finland with a fake passport. The National Bureau of Investigation suspected that over 30 games between 2008 and 2011, mostly from the Finnish premier league, had been fixed or manipulated. On July 19, 2011, the Rovaniemi Court of Appeal convicted Perumal and nine RoPS players of match-fixing. Altogether 24 games had been manipulated, and the intended score had been achieved in 11 of them. Perumal was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to return 150,000 euros deemed to be match-fixing profits. The bribes ranged from 500 euros offered to one player to a total of 80,000 euros offered to eight players. The highest total of bribes for one individual was slightly over 40,000 euros. The players received suspended sentences. The sentenced players were six Zambian and two Georgian players: Godfrey Chibanga,
Chileshe Chibwe Jackson "Jack" Chileshe Chibwe (born 14 October 1983) is a retired Zambian football midfielder. A versatile forward, Chibwe can play either as a winger or attacking midfielder / second striker. Despite his short stature, Chibwe is known to be a ...
,
Francis Kombe Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural M ...
,
Stephen Kunda Stephen Kunda (born August 17, 1984) is a Zambian football central defender who is currently a free agent. He played for Power Dynamos F.C. in his home country before moving to Finland. Kunda can also play as a defensive midfielder. Kunda had a c ...
,
Christopher Musonda Christopher Musonda (born January 24, 1986) is a retired Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is ...
,
Chanda Mwaba Chanda Mwaba (born October 2, 1988) is a Zambian football midfielder who is currently a free agent. Mwaba was one of the Zambians who came to RoPS in 2007,aged just 18, joining RoPS with Nchimunya Mweetwa, Stephen Kunda, Chileshe Chibwe and Zed ...
,
Nchimunya Mweetwa Nchimunya Mweetwa (born March 22, 1984) is a Zambian football striker for Nico United. Career Mweetwa began his career whilst still at high school, with his Choma based school being a feeder club for local second division club Kabibya United. ...
,
Pavle Khorguashvili Pavle (Macedonian and sr-cyr, Павле; ka, პავლე) is a Serbian, Macedonian, Croatian and Georgian male given name corresponding to English Paul; the name is of biblical origin (cf. Saint Paul). People known mononymously as Pavle inc ...
, and Valter Khorguashvili.


Domestic history


European history

;Notes * 1R: First round * 2R: Second round * 1Q: First qualifying round * QF: Quarter-finals


Honours

*
Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...
::Champions (2):
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...
,
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
*
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 ...
::Champions (2):
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 ...
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2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...


Current squad


Management and boardroom


Management

''As of 18 February 2020.''


Boardroom

''As of 18 February 2020''


Rovaniemi Football Academy

Rovaniemi Football Academy (RFA) is the reserve team of RoPS. The team plays in Kakkonen in 2020 season. It is coached by Aleksi Tanner.


Managers

* Jerzy Masztaler (1990–91) * Graham Williams (1991) * Olavi Tammimies (1992) * Keith Armstrong (1993–94) * Timo Salmi (1995) * Graham Williams (1995) * Ari Matinlassi (1995) * Ari Rantamaa (1996–97) *
Kari Virtanen Kari Virtanen (born 15 September 1958) is a Finnish football manager and former player. He is currently coach of Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku. Club career As a player Virtanen spent his career in Finland and Sweden, representing Piikkiön Pa ...
(1997–99) * Olavi Tammimies (2000) * Mauri Holappa (2001) * Tomi Molin (2002) * György Hamori (Jan 1, 2003 – June 23, 2004) * Mika Lumijärvi (June 23, 2004 – June 30, 2005) * Matti Vikman ''(interim)'' (June 30, 2005 – Dec 31, 2005) *
Jukka Ikäläinen Jukka Ikäläinen (born 14 May 1957 in Söderhamn, Sweden) is a retired football midfielder. During his club career, Ikäläinen played for Kemin Into, Örgryte IS, GIF Sundsvall, Kiruna FF and Kemin Palloseura The Palloseura Kemi Kings i ...
(2006) *
Tom Saintfiet Tom Saintfiet (born 29 March 1973) is a Belgian football coach and former player. He was appointed as manager of the Gambian national team in July 2018. Coaching career Saintfiet has coached in several countries, including Belgium, Qatar, Ger ...
(Jan 1, 2008 – April 7, 2008) *
Valeri Bondarenko Valeri Bondarenko (born 22 April 1953) is an Estonian football coach and a former player. Playing career 1971–1979 he played for FC Norma Tallinn. Coaching career 1993–1994 he was the assistant coach of the Estonia national football team. ...
(April 14, 2008 – May 27, 2009) * Mika Lumijärvi (May 27, 2009 – Oct 6, 2009) *
Zeddy Saileti Zeddy Saileti (born 1969) is a former Zambian football striker and football coach, currently the manager of Nkana Football Club in Kitwe. As a good goalscorer, he formed part of the Zambia squad that reached the final of the 1994 African Nation ...
(Oct 6, 2009 – Dec 31, 2009) * John Allen (Jan 1, 2010 – Aug 9, 2011) *
Matti Hiukka Matti Hiukka (born 5 May 1975Matti Hiukka
Veikkausliiga. Retrieved 16 August 2014.) is a
(Aug 9, 2011 – Dec 31, 2011) *
Kari Virtanen Kari Virtanen (born 15 September 1958) is a Finnish football manager and former player. He is currently coach of Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku. Club career As a player Virtanen spent his career in Finland and Sweden, representing Piikkiön Pa ...
(Jan 1, 2012 – Oct 13) *
Juha Malinen Juha is a masculine given name of Finnish origin derived from Johannes (or John in English language contexts). Notable people with the name include: * Juha Alén * Juha Gustafsson * Juha Hakola * Juha Harju * Juha Haukkala * Juha Hautamäki * ...
(Nov, 2013 – Oct, 2017) *
Toni Koskela Toni Koskela (born 16 February 1983) is a Finnish football coach and a former player. He is currently managing HJK where he followed Mika Lehkosuo. Before that he was head coach of RoPS and before that the Under-19 team of HJK. He had to retir ...
(Oct, 2017 – May 22, 2019) * Pasi Tuutti (May 22, 2019– )


References


External links


Official website
{{Veikkausliiga Football clubs in Finland Association football clubs established in 1950 Rovaniemi 1950 establishments in Finland