 Valakari as the head coach ofSJK in 2015. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Simo Johannes Valakari[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1973-04-28)28 April 1973 (age 51) | ||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | St. Johnstone (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| KäPa | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990 | KäPa | 16 | (2) |
| 1991–1994 | Kontu | 59 | (7) |
| 1995–1996 | FinnPa | 48 | (5) |
| 1996–2000 | Motherwell | 103 | (0) |
| 2000–2004 | Derby County | 46 | (3) |
| 2004–2006 | FC Dallas[a] | 89 | (1) |
| 2007–2009 | TPS | 38 | (1) |
| Total | 399 | (19) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996–2003 | Finland | 32 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010 | Åbo IFK | ||
| 2012–2016 | SJK | ||
| 2017–2020 | Tromsø | ||
| 2021–2022 | KuPS | ||
| 2023 | Auda | ||
| 2024 | Riga FC | ||
| 2024– | St. Johnstone | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Simo Johannes Valakari (born 28 April 1973) is a Finnishfootball manager and a former international football player. He is currently the manager ofScottish Premiership sideSt Johnstone.
Valakari played in the youth sector ofKäpylän Pallo (KäPa) inKäpylä, Helsinki, and began his senior career with KäPa first team in 1990 in the fourth-tierKolmonen. He played also forKontula-based clubKontU in the Finnish second-tierYkkönen and third-tierKakkonen, before first moving toVeikkausliiga clubFinnPa in 1995 and then toScottish Premier League clubMotherwell in 1996. After four seasons in Scotland, he was off toDerby County in thePremier League.
Valakari failed to become a first team regular atPride Park Stadium and decided to joinDallas Burn for the 2004MLS season and finished the year with a goal and four assists. Following the 2006 season, his contract was not renewed with the team, known by that time asFC Dallas.[2]
Valakari decided to return to Finland for the 2007Veikkausliiga season, where he signed forTPS, managed byMixu Paatelainen. He retired from playing in 2009 after several injuries.
Valakari was a regular with theFinnish national team during his stay in Europe. He made a total of 32 caps for his country.
Valakari was named manager ofÅbo IFK (ÅIFK) in January 2010 and subsequently ended his playing career.[3] He, however returned "home" as he announced his return toKäpylän Pallo as a youth coach after the 2010 season.[4]
In 2012, Valakari joinedSeinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (SJK) as the head coach. In 2013, he managed the team to gain promotion to theVeikkausliiga and they went on to win the Finnish championship in 2015. The team also won theFinnish League Cup in 2014 and theFinnish Cup in2016. In the early 2016, he had been linked withMotherwell,[5] but eventually signed an upgraded contract extension with SJK on 10 February 2016.[6] Valakari was dismissed on 17 February 2017, due to disagreement with the club's chairman Raimo Sarajärvi.[7][8]
After working as assistant manager for the Finnish national team after being fired from the SJK job, he was appointed head coach of NorwegianEliteserien sideTromsø IL in June 2017. In 2018, his contract was extended until 2022, but he was fired due to disagreements in April 2020, after the club had suffered a relegation at the end of the2019 season.[9][10]
In November 2020, Valakari was appointed as the head coach ofKuopion Palloseura (KuPS).[11][12] Under Valakari, KuPS won two consecutiveFinnish Cup titles in2021 and2022,[13] and finished as theVeikkausliiga runner-up twice, falling just a one point short toHJK on both occasions. Valakari also led KuPS to theUEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers on two occasions. In2021–22, the club reached to the (fourth) play-off round, but was knocked out byUnion Berlin.Next year they reached to the 3rd round, where they eventually fell short toYoung Boys. In the summer 2022, Valakari was rumoured for a head coach position ofMotherwell, but eventually was not chosen.[14]
His contract with KuPS was terminated by mutual consent on 13 January 2023, after Valakari had announced his lack of "passion and ability" to continue to coach KuPS.[15][16]
Shortly after his contract termination with KuPS, it was announced that Valakari was named the head coach ofFK Auda inLatvia for the2023 season.[17][18] Valakari was named The Virslīga Coach of the Month in September 2023.[19] At the end of the season, Auda finished 3rd in the league and won their first medal in the premier division, and also qualified for theUEFA Conference League qualifiers again.[20]
On 13 December 2023, it was reported in Finnish media that Valakari is about to be named the new head coach of a fellow Latvian sideRiga FC.[21] On the next day, the club confirmed that they had appointed Valakari as the new head coach.[22] On 2 March 2024, Valakari and Riga FC won the2024 Latvian Supercup, beatingRFS in the final on penalties.[23] On 14 September, in a press conference after the match against Auda, Valakari hinted that he was not the one who had selected the starting line-up for the match.[24] He left the club on 30 September, after Riga and St. Johnstone had agreed on a fee for his contract. Prior to his departure, Riga FC was comfortably sitting in the 2nd place of the league table.[25]
On 1 October 2024, Valakari returned to Scotland when he was named the new manager of theScottish Premiership clubSt. Johnstone on a three-year deal,[26][27] becoming the first foreign manager in the club's 140-year-history. Due to work visa issues, the first two matches he couldn't officially access the bench,[28] but on 26 October, he managed St. Johnstone as they beatDundee 2–1 away atDens Park.[29]
Valakari's three sons are also footballers. His oldest sonPaavo is a former player and current coach,Onni is playing professionally forSan Diego FC, and the youngest one Toivo plays forKäpylän Pallo inHelsinki, Finland.[30][31]
Valakari meditates in his everyday life.[32]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[b] | League cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| KäPa | 1990 | Kolmonen | 16 | 2 | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||
| Kontu | 1991 | Ykkönen | — | |||||||
| 1992 | Kakkonen | — | ||||||||
| 1993 | Ykkönen | — | ||||||||
| 1994 | Ykkönen | — | ||||||||
| Total | 59 | 7 | — | 59 | 7 | |||||
| FinnPa | 1995 | Veikkausliiga | 22 | 3 | — | — | 22 | 3 | ||
| 1996 | Veikkausliiga | 26 | 2 | — | — | 26 | 2 | |||
| Total | 48 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 5 | ||
| Motherwell | 1996–97 | Scottish Premier Division | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 1997–98 | Scottish Premier Division | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
| 1998–99 | Scottish Premier League | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 | |||
| 1999–00 | Scottish Premier League | 30 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 103 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 114 | 0 | ||
| Derby County | 2000–01 | Premier League | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2002–03 | First Division | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2003–04 | First Division | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 21 | 0 | |
| Total | 46 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 51 | 3 | ||
| FC Dallas[a] | 2004 | MLS | 26 | 1 | — | — | 26 | 1 | ||
| 2005 | MLS | 30 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 0 | |||
| 2006 | MLS | 33 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 0 | |||
| Total | 89 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 1 | ||
| TPS | 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| 2008 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Veikkausliiga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[e] | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 399 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 419 | 19 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | 1996 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 32 | 0 | |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W% | ||||
| SJK Seinäjoki |  | 1 September 2012 | 17 February 2016 | 165 | 92 | 32 | 41 | 275 | 153 | +122 | 055.76 |
| Tromsø |  | 27 July 2017 | 20 April 2020 | 81 | 31 | 11 | 39 | 126 | 136 | −10 | 038.27 |
| KuPS | | 1 January 2021 | 13 January 2023 | 83 | 52 | 18 | 13 | 153 | 80 | +73 | 062.65 |
| Auda |  | 16 January 2023 | 14 December 2023 | 40 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 50 | 49 | +1 | 042.50 |
| Riga FC | | 14 December 2023 | 30 September 2024 | 36 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 86 | 26 | +60 | 069.44 |
| St. Johnstone |  | 1 October 2024 | Present | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 27 | 37 | −10 | 034.62 |
| Total | 432 | 226 | 82 | 124 | 717 | 483 | +234 | 052.31 | |||
SJK Seinäjoki
Kuopion Palloseura
FK Auda
Riga FC
Individual