Tommi Pikkarainen (born 6 December 1969) is a Finnish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player, 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 ...

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) in

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 ...

Playing career

As a player, Pikkarainen 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 ...

for

KPV The KPV heavy machine gun (, an initialism for ) is a Soviet designed 14.5×114mm-caliber heavy machine gun, which first entered service as an infantry weapon in 1949. In the 1960s, the infantry version was taken out of production because it was ...

and Porin Pallo-Toverit in

, and for KPV and

Pallo-Iirot Pallo-Iirot (abbreviated P-Iirot) is a football club from Rauma, Finland, Rauma in Finland. The club was formed in 1930 and their home ground is at the Äijänsuon stadion. The men's first team currently plays in the Kakkonen. The Chairman of ...

in second-tier

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 ...

. He also played for

Husqvarna FF Husqvarna FF is a football club in Huskvarna, Sweden. The team is sponsored by the Husqvarna AB. History Husqvarna FF was founded on 3 February 1987 following the merger of the men's association football sections of Husqvarna IF and Huskvarna S ...

in Swedish second division. His professional playing career was limited due to knee injury when aged 24. Later he played also for Sporting Kristina and

VG-62 VG-62 is a sports club based in Naantali, Finland. It was founded in 1962 and the name is an abbreviation of Naantali's old Latin name, "''Vallis gratiae''". VG-62 is particularly well known for their exemplary youth operations, for which the club ...

in lower divisions in the

Finnish football league system The Finnish football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Finland. The levels two to nine are managed by the Finnish FA. System As of 2025 Cup competitions Clubs at all levels are eligible for the Finni ...

and also coached for the clubs.

Coaching career

Pikkarainen has coached Pargas IF, SalPa, and

(VPS) and

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) in Finnish Veikkausliiga, and Riteriai in Lithuanian

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...

in 2020. He has also worked previously as an assistant coach for

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 ...

and Jaro, and as a U19 youth coach for TPS between 2012 and 2015. Since March 2022, he served as a sporting director of

FC Jazz Football Club Jazz, commonly known as just Jazz, is a Finnish Association football, football club based in Pori, which plays in the Finnish third tier, Ykkönen. The club was founded in 1934 as Porin Pallo-Toverit. PPT changed its name to FC Jazz ...

, having previously played for the club when it was named Porin Pallo-Toverit in 1991. On 13 February 2024, it was announced that Pikkarainen will leave the club in the end of March as his two-year deal expires. Later he stated that the reason for leaving was the inequality and negligence in the city of

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

between different sports. On 21 October 2024,

club VPS announced the appointment of Pikkarainen as the club's new sporting director after the departure of

Petri Vuorinen Petri Vuorinen (born 31 August 1972) is a Finnish football manager and a former player. He is currently working as the sporting director of Veikkausliiga club HJK Helsinki. Early and personal life Vuorinen was born in Sweden to Finnish parents ...

, starting after the ongoing season. Pikkarainen would make a return to the club after having served as VPS head coach in Veikkausliiga in 2010–2011.

Personal life

His son Juhani Pikkarainen is a professional footballer and Finland international.Isä ja poika vastakkain torstaina alkavassa liigakarsinnassa – KPV:n Juhani Pikkarainen ja TPS:n Tommi Pikkarainen eivät asiasta keskustele

Keskipohjanmaa ''Keskipohjanmaa'' is a morning broadsheet newspaper published in Kokkola, Finland. History and profile ''Keskipohjanmaa'' was first published on 5 December 1917. Its headquarters is in Kokkola. The paper has also regional offices in Haapajärvi, ...

, 24 October 2019

Coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pikkarainen, Tommi 1969 births Living people Finnish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Veikkausliiga players Finnish football managers Salon Palloilijat managers FC Jazz players Husqvarna FF players Turun Palloseura managers Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finnish expatriate football managers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Expatriate football managers in Lithuania Sportspeople from Kokkola Footballers from Central Ostrobothnia Veikkausliiga managers Finnish sporting directors Pallo-Iirot players Kokkolan Palloveikot players Ykkönen players VG-62 players Sporting Kristina players Vaasan Palloseura non-playing staff Turun Palloseura non-playing staff FC Inter Turku non-playing staff FK Riteriai managers A Lyga managers 20th-century Finnish sportsmen