Toni Koskela (born 16 February 1983) is a Finnish football manager and former player. He most recently managed Cypriot First Division club AEL Limassol. After a short professional career, he has managed three Finnish teams, including HJK. He had to retire from his footballing career in 2009, aged 26, due to numerous knee injuries.

Playing career

After starting his career in Finland, Koskela was snapped up by Championship side Cardiff City but he failed to impress at the club making just three appearances in all competitions, including an FA Cup game against Arsenal. In November 2005 he was close of signing a contract with Bristol City but Cardiff did not want to let him go, so the transfer failed. Eventually he was released by the club and quickly transferred to Greek club Ilisiakos. He has also played for FC Jokerit, FC Hämeenlinna, FC KooTeePee and JJK Jyväskylä in the Finnish Veikkausliiga, and Norwegian club Molde FK.

International career

A former Finnish youth international, Koskela also represented Finland under-21 youth national team in 2004. In April 2005, Koskela and Njazi Kuqi were both temporarily suspended from the international duties by the Finnish FA, due to leaving the U21 team's hotel in Prague without permission from the head coach Markku Kanerva.

Managerial career

Koskela started coaching in youth teams of PK-35 and HJK. In 2013, he started as an assistant coach of HJK first team, and since 2015 managed the club's reserve team Klubi 04 in third-tier Kakkonen. Koskela led Klubi 04 to win the Kakkonen Southern Group, but the team eventually lost in the promotion play-offs to GrIFK. At the end of the 2017 season, Koskela led Klubi 04 to win a promotion to second-tier Ykkönen.

RoPS

Koskela was named the head coach of Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) ahead of the 2018 Veikkausliiga season. In his first year as a head coach in the Finnish premier division, Koskela led RoPS to win a silver medal with one of the smallest budget in the league. At the end of the season, he was awarded the Coach of the Year.

HJK Helsinki

In May 2019, he was named the new manager of HJK Helsinki following the sacking of Mika Lehkosuo. He stated that it was good to "return back home" to HJK, after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal. HJK reportedly paid RoPS a fee of €150,000 for Koskela's contract. During his first three full seasons as the head coach of HJK, Koskela led the club to three straight Veikkausliiga titles in 2020, 2021 and 2023. In addition, he managed the club to two visits in the group stages of European competitions, qualifying for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League and for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League. He was named the Manager of the Year in the 2022 Veikkausliiga season, for the second time in his career. HJK parted ways with Koskela on 13 July 2023, after a 1–0 win over Larne FC in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, following a relatively poor run of overall form in domestic results.

AEL Limassol

On 15 October 2023, Koskela was named the manager of AEL Limassol in Cypriot First Division. After winning two of his three first games in charge, he received a massive amount of positive support from the fans on social media. On 22 January 2024, the club announced the termination of Koskela's contract on mutual agreement. Later Koskela revealed in Finnish media, that prior to his departure, the club had big financial problems to pay salaries for the players and the staff.

Personal life

His mother is a former basketball and handball player Kristiina Koskela, and his maternal grandfather was the former referee Fjalar Åsten, who refereed in football, bandy, handball and rinkball.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Managerial honours

HJK RoPS Individual