 | |||
| Full name | AC Oulu | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Laivastonsiniset (The Navy Blues) | ||
| Founded | 2002; 23 years ago (2002) | ||
| Ground | Raatti Stadium,Oulu | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| Chairman | Tomi Kaismo | ||
| Manager | Mikko Isokangas | ||
| League | Veikkausliiga | ||
| 2024 | Veikkausliiga, 9th of 12 | ||
| Website | acoulu | ||
 Current season | |||
AC Oulu is a Finnish professionalfootball club based inOulu, currently playing in Finland's premier division,Veikkausliiga. Formed in 2002, the club have played six seasons in Finland's highest football leagueVeikkausliiga and 16 seasons in thesecond highest league. They currently play their home games atRaatti Stadium, and the club colours are navy blue, and white.
AC Oulu was founded in 2002 as a joint initiative of four local clubs,Oulun Luistinseura (OLS),Oulun Palloseura (OPS),Oulun Työväen Palloilijat (OTP) andTervarit, with the aim of bringing top level football back to Oulu.FC Oulu played in theVeikkausliiga in the early '90s as the most recent team from Oulu to play top-tier Finnish football. The club inherited the league license of Tervarit in the second-tierYkkönen for the 2003 season.
After four seasons in Ykkönen, AC Oulu reached the Finland's premier division Veikkausliiga in 2007. However, they were relegated back to theYkkönen at the end of their first season in the top division. After two seasons in the second tier AC Oulu won promotion again to the Veikkausliiga at the end of the 2009 season after finishing top of theYkkönen.
Having finished 11th in 2010 season the club were initially going to continue in the Veikkausliiga for the 2011 season. However, they were denied a league licence for financial reasons and therefore dropped down to theYkkönen.
Since the relegation for financial reasons in 2010, AC Oulu played in Ykkönen for ten years, where it was considered as a candidate to promote for a long time. During 2009–2014, the formerFinland national team wingerMika Nurmela played for the club, and simultaneously worked as asporting director in AC Oulu.Dritan Stafsula had returned to the club in 2011 and represented AC Oulu until 2015, having established himself the club's top goal scorer with 54 goals. During 2016–2018, the former national team defenderMarkus Heikkinen played for the club as a player-coach. Since 2017, he has also been working as a sporting director for the club. In 2018, Tomi Kaismo and his investment companyOTC-Sijoitus Oy, became the biggest shareholder of the club.[1][2] The club managed to create stability to their economy during those years, and finally won Ykkönen in the 2020 season with head coachJyrki Ahola, gaining a promotion back toVeikkausliiga for the2021 season, previous time being in 2010.[3]
In the2021 Veikkausliiga season, after the run of poor results, the head coach Jyrki Ahola was sacked in September and replaced by PortugueseRicardo Duarte.[4][5] AC Oulu finished 11th in the league, and successfully defended its place in the relegation play-offs againstRoPS.[6]
In the2022 season, the club finished in the 7th place, after having narrowly missed the top-6 championship group in the league. AC Oulu established its place in the league, after having mostly played in the second-tier Ykkönen since its foundation in 2002.
In the early 2023, AC Oulu reached to the final of the pre-seasonFinnish League Cup tournament, after winningInter Turku on penalties in the semi-final. They eventually fell short toHJK in the final, losing the game 2–1.[7] Before the league season started, the club sold its own local protégéMiika Koskela to Norwegian clubTromsø IL, and in the summer transfer windowOtso Liimatta was sold to PortuguesePrimeira Liga clubFC Famalicão.
In August 2023, the head coach Duarte announced that he will leave the club after the season, and his option will not be exercised.[8] Only a couple of weeks later, the club announced that Duarte was sacked with an immediate effect, following the loss in the2023 Finnish Cup semi-final againstIlves, and the miserable results in the league.[9] However, in the end of the season, the club renewed its position in 7th place in theleague, having narrowly missed the top-6 again.[10]
After the club had turned 20 years of age in 2022, AC Oulu started the documentary project with a local production studio Feeniks Visual, to highlight the early years when the club was formed starting in 2002. The one-hour long documentary film was first published in the late June 2023 exclusively,[11] and later in April 2024 for the public.[12]
For the2024 season, the club acquiredTuomas Silvennoinen the new head coach. Due to his lack of the required UEFA Pro coaching license, he was officially named the associate head coach in the coaching staff with Rauno Ojanen and Mikko Viitsalo. The budget for the new season was increased also. In April, it was announced that Hanna Väänänen would step aside from the club's CEO position and later Jani Kotikangas took the charge as the new CEO.[13] The team started the season poorly, and eventually the whole coaching staff was fired on 13 June 2024, after 11 league matches, with a record of one win, five draws and five losses. The reserve team coachesMikko Isokangas andRafinha were named the caretaker coaches of the first team, leading the team to advance in theFinnish Cup with a win againstKäPa, and drawing withVPS in the league. On 20 June 2024, a formerVolos head coachKostas Bratsos was named the manager of AC Oulu.[14] The team reached the quarter-finals of the2024 Suomen Cup, but was knocked out bySJK 2–0 in the early July in theOmaSP Stadion inSeinäjoki. On 2 September, after Bratsos had received his third consecutive red card of the season in his 10th league match, he and his whole coaching staff were fired, and the reserve team coaches Isokangas and Rafinha were appointed the interim managers again for the rest of the season. At the time of their departure, the club was sitting in the 9th place of the Veikkausliiga table, just above the relegation play-offs line. Eventually, they finished their disappointing and messed-up season in the 9th place of the table. After the season, Isokangas was officially named the new manager. Later the team's number one strikerAshley Coffey announced he would depart from Oulu. During two seasons he spent with the club, he scored 36 goals in 65 official appearances.
In the beginning of 2025, it was announced that the club had acquired local basketball teamOulun NMKY[15] and volleyball team Oulun Kisko,[16] with the aim to establish AC Oulu as a new multi-sport club.[17]
Initially after the formation, AC Oulu played its home matches at the city-ownedCastrén Stadium inVälivainio, Oulu until 2010. Castrén has a maximum capacity of 4,000 people. The club set their attendance record of 4,717 on 21 October 2006 in a decisiveYkkönen match againstAtlantis, which resulted in a 2–0 victory and secured AC Oulu's promotion to Veikkausliiga for the first time.[18]
For the2011 Ykkönen season, AC Oulu moved toRaatti Stadium, located inKoskikeskus area of Oulu, near the city centre. The city-owned track and field stadium has a capacity of 4,392.
The club's new home ground is set to be opened in the summer 2026 inHeinäpää. Currently an unnamed Heinäpää football stadium has a project name ofOTC Stadion.[19]
For the 2020–21 off-season, the construction for the club's ownair-supported indoor arena, sponsor nameGaram Masala Areena, was completed.[20] During the winter months, the club trains at the Garam Masala Areena, and plays the officialFinnish League Cup matches at the nearby-locatedHeinäpää football arena, an indoor arena owned by the city of Oulu, with the capacity of 630.
Runners-up: 2023
|
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
In the summer 2020, AC Oulu and one of its founding member clubsOulun Luistinseura (OLS) signed a new co-operation deal, by which AC Oulu acquired the U-17 team and OLS first team under its command.[23][24]
In the end of the 2023 season, the club's U17 team won the silver medal in the league of their age group.[25] In addition, the club's reserve team OLS gained a promotion fromKakkonen to newYkkönen.[26]
On 13 November 2023, the club announced that they had signed a co-operation deal with one of their associate clubsOulunsalon Pallo (OsPa), and acquired the control and the management of the OsPa first team inKolmonen, as AC Oulu's second reserve team for youth players.[27]
After the 2023 season, Olli-Pekka Piisilä, the head coach of the AC Oulu/OLS U17 team, was awarded The Best Coach of the Boys' Team by theFootball Association of Finland.[28]
As of 18 November 2023[29][30][31]
|
As of 23 November 2023[32]
|
Ari Härkönen (2003–2004)
Steven Polack (2005)Harri Kampman (2006–2007)Juha Malinen (2008–2012)Rauno Ojanen (2013–2017)Mika Lähderinne (2018–2019)Rauno Ojanen (2019)Jyrki Ahola (1 January 2020 – 25 September 2021)Teemu Tavikainen (interim, 26 September 2021 – 5 October 2021)
Ricardo Duarte (6 October 2021 – 24 August 2023)Rauno Ojanen andJussi-Pekka Savolainen (interim, 2023)Tuomas Silvennoinen (1 January 2024 – 13 June 2024)Mikko Isokangas and
/Rafinha (caretaker)
Kostas Bratsos (20 June 2024 – 2 September 2024)Mikko Isokangas and/Rafinha (caretaker)Aki Karppanen (2003)Jani Sipilä (2004)Mike Peltola (2005–2006)Janne Hietanen (2007)Antti Pehkonen 2008–2010
Dominic Yobe (2010)Jani Kauppila (2011–2012)Lassi Nurmos (2013)Pekka Räsänen (2014)Tuure Siira (2015)Lassi Nurmos (2016)
David Ramadingaye (2017)Lassi Nurmos (2018—2021)Rafinha (2022)Rasmus Karjalainen (2023)Niklas Jokelainen (2024–present)| Season | Player[33] | G | League |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Jeferson Pires | 12 | Ykkönen |
| 2004 | Jeferson Pires | 10 | |
| 2005 | Jeferson Pires | 5 | |
| Jukka Puurunen | |||
| /Rafinha | |||
| 2006 |  Dragan Pejic | 15 | |
| 2007 | Janne Hietanen | 5 | Veikkausliiga |
| 2008 | Donewell Yobe | 8 | Ykkönen |
| 2009 | Donewell Yobe | 14 | |
| 2010 |  Frank Jonke | 8 | Veikkausliiga |
| 2011 | Randy Edwini-Bonsu | 16 | Ykkönen |
| 2012 | Joonas Sohlo | 9 | |
| 2013 | Joonas Sohlo | 7 | |
| 2014 | / Dritan Stafsula | 11 | |
| 2015 |  Kemo Darboe | 6 | |
| 2016 |  /Aristote M'Boma | 18 | |
| 2017 | Saša Jovović | 8 | |
 Alvarado Morín | |||
| 2018 | Alvarado Morín | 17 | |
| 2019 | Juho Mäkelä | 11 | |
| 2020 | Aapo Heikkilä | 9 | |
| 2021 |  Dennis Salanović | 4 | Veikkausliiga |
 Lucky Opara | |||
| 2022 |  Michael López | 10 | |
| 2023 | Ashley Coffey | 13 | |
| 2024 | Ashley Coffey | 12 |
