Toni Lehtinen
Toni-Pekka Lehtinen (born 5 May 1984) is a Finnish football manager and former player. He is currently an assistant coach of Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (SJK).[2][3] Lehtinen was previously the manager of JJK Jyväskylä.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Toni-Pekka Lehtinen | ||
| Date of birth | 5 May 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland[1] | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | SJK (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2000 | TP-Seinäjoki | ||
| 2000–2002 | Peterborough | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2003 | TP-Seinäjoki | 19 | (3) |
| 2003–2008 | Haka | 130 | (50) |
| 2009 | Levadiakos | 9 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Aarau | 8 | (0) |
| 2010 | Haka | 6 | (1) |
| 2011 | IFK Mariehamn | 30 | (7) |
| 2012−2016 | SJK | 117 | (39) |
| 2015–2017 | SJK II | 10 | (5) |
| International career | |||
| 2004–2008 | Finland | 4 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017 | SJK Akatemia (player-coach) | ||
| 2017-2018 | SJK (assistant) | ||
| 2018-2019 | SJK Akatemia (assistant) | ||
| 2020 | SJK U19 | ||
| 2021 | SJK Akatemia | ||
| 2021 | SJK (assistant) | ||
| 2021–2023 | JJK | ||
| 2024 | SJK | ||
| 2024– | SJK (assistant) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
Early career
Lehtinen has previously played for TP-Seinäjoki and was a youth player at English club Peterborough United. He returned to TP-Seinäjoki in 2002.
FC Haka
Toni signed for FC Haka in 2003. He won the Veikkausliiga in 2004 and finished runners up in 2007. He finished as the second highest scorer in the Veikkausliiga in 2004, 2007 and 2008 with 11 league goals in each of those seasons. He won the Veikkausliiga Rookie of the Year award in 2004. He won the Finnish Cup in 2005.
Levadiakos FC, FC Aarau
He joined the Greek club Levadiakos FC in the Super League Greece in January 2009,[4] and joined FC Aarau in the Swiss Super League later that year after the Greek season had ended.
International career
Toni made his debut for the Finnish national team against Bahrain in December 2004. He has made 3 appearances for his country.
Coaching career
The last years of his playing career, Lehtinen was in SJK Akatemia squad on a player-coach contract. He worked as an assistant coach and youth coach in SJK organisation, before he was named the head coach of JJK Jyväskylä in August 2021.[5]
On 12 January 2024, Lehtinen returned to Seinäjoki after he was named the manager of SJK first team.[6][7]
Career statistics
- As of 15 May 2024.[8]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | League Cup[lower-alpha 2] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| TP-Seinäjoki | 2002 | Ykkönen | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | ||||
| Haka | 2003 | Veikkausliiga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2004 | Veikkausliiga | 26 | 11 | 0 | 0 | – | 3[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 29 | 11 | ||
| 2005 | Veikkausliiga | 23 | 8 | 1 | 0 | – | 3[lower-alpha 4] | 1 | 27 | 9 | ||
| 2006 | Veikkausliiga | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 25 | 9 | ||
| 2007 | Veikkausliiga | 25 | 11 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | 29 | 12 | ||
| 2008 | Veikkausliiga | 26 | 11 | 2 | 0 | – | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | 32 | 12 | ||
| Total | 130 | 50 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 150 | 53 | ||
| Levadiakos | 2008–09 | Super League Greece | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | ||
| Aarau | 2009–10 | Swiss Super League | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 10 | 1 | ||
| Aarau II | 2009–10 | 2. Liga Interregional | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | |||
| Haka | 2010 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | 6 | 1 | |||
| IFK Mariehamn | 2011 | Veikkausliiga | 30 | 7 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 32 | 9 | ||
| SJK | 2012 | Ykkönen | 21 | 13 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 22 | 14 | ||
| 2013 | Ykkönen | 25 | 10 | – | – | – | 25 | 10 | ||||
| 2014 | Veikkausliiga | 30 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | – | 33 | 8 | ||
| 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 6] | 0 | 29 | 6 | |
| 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | |
| Total | 107 | 41 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 10 | ||
| SJK II | 2015 | Kakkonen | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2016 | Kolmonen | 3 | 2 | – | – | – | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 2017 | Kolmonen | 6 | 3 | – | – | – | 6 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 10 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 321 | 108 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 356 | 115 | ||
- Includes Suomen Cup and Iranian Hazfi Cup
- Includes Finnish League Cup
- Includes UEFA Cup
- Includes UEFA Champions League
- Includes Finnish League Cup
- Includes UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 21 March 2024
| Finland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2004 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |
Honours
As a player
Haka
- Veikkausliiga: 2004
- Finnish Cup: 2005
SJK
- Veikkausliiga: 2015
- Finnish Cup: 2016
- Finnish League Cup: 2014
Individual
- Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month: April 2024
References
- Mina vänner 2011: Toni Lehtinen
- Stevie Grieve kantaa jatkossa päävalmentajan titteliä, sjk.fi, 28 May 2024
- "Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerhon päävalmentaja kaudella 2024 on Toni Lehtinen".
- http://footballinfinland.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/toni-lehtinen-signs-for-levadiakos/ Toni Lehtinen signs for Levadiakos – Football in Finland-
- Päävalmentaja Toni Lehtinen jättää JJK:n – siirtyy Veikkausliigaan, Keskisuomalainen, 30 November 2023
- Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerhon päävalmentaja kaudella 2024 on Toni Lehtinen, sjk.fi, 12 January 2024
- SJK aloittaa Veikkausliiga-kauden uuden valmentajan johdolla – Toni Lehtinen: ”Pääsy europeleihin realistinen tavoite”, Yle, 5 April 2024
- Toni Lehtinen, Finnish FA