Markus Heikkinen
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Markus Heikkinen | ||
Date of birth | 13 October 1978 | ||
Place of birth | Katrineholm, Sweden | ||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
Position(s) | Centre back, Defensive midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Start | ||
Number | 5 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1996–1997 | Oulun Palloseura | 24 | (5) |
1997–1999 | TPS | 22 | (0) |
1999–2001 | MyPa | 43 | (1) |
2001–2003 | HJK | 85 | (1) |
2003 | → Portsmouth (loan) | 2 | (0) |
2003–2005 | Aberdeen | 68 | (2) |
2005–2007 | Luton | 76 | (2) |
2007–2013 | Rapid Wien | 173 | (4) |
2013– | Start | 1 | (1) |
International career‡ | |||
Finland U18 | 2 | (0) | |
Finland U21 | 3 | (0) | |
2002–2011 | Finland | 61 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 May 2013 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 September 2011 |
Markus "Mako" Heikkinen (born 13 October 1978 in Katrineholm) is a Swedish born, Finnish footballer, who plays for IK Start in the Norwegian Tippeliga. Heikkinen can play either as a defensive midfielder or central defender.
Club career
An integral part of the Luton side that finished 10th in The Championship in the 2005-2006 season, Heikkinen collected four awards – the Player of the Year trophy, Players’ Player of the Season, Internet Player of the Season and the Luton News Player of the Season.[1]
His previous clubs include OPS, TPS Turku, MyPa, HJK, Portsmouth, Aberdeen and Luton Town.
During his two years with Aberdeen, Heikkinen was popular and important player, who usually featured in central midfield, where he had a reputation as a tough tackling and dependable player. Despite repeated attempts by Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood to get the player to sign a new deal, he indicated that he was unsettled at Aberdeen and wanted to move on.
On 29 December 2006, in a game for Luton against Birmingham City he was feared to have a compound fracture of the fibula, however it was in fact a nasty gash down his leg, after a late challenge by midfielder Fabrice Muamba.[2][3] He returned to action against Stoke City on 17 February 2007.
After his years in England Heikkinen played six seasons for Rapid Wien. He was a key player of the team, making over 170 appearances for the Austrian Bundesliga side.
On 10 August 2013, he signed for Norwegian Tippeliga club Start.[4]
International career
Heikkinen made his national team debut on 4 January 2002 against Bahrain. He immediately became an important defensive player to his native team. He often played as defensive midfielder. However he returned to his old position as centre back in 2010, after Hannu Tihinen retired in professional football. He announced his retirement from international football on 26 September 2011.[5]
Career statistics
International
- As of 18 August 2011[6]
Finland national team | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
2002 | 4 | 0 |
2003 | 7 | 0 |
2004 | 2 | 0 |
2005 | 7 | 0 |
2006 | 6 | 0 |
2007 | 7 | 0 |
2008 | 8 | 0 |
2009 | 9 | 0 |
2010 | 7 | 0 |
2011 | 4 | 0 |
Total | 61 | 0 |
External links
- Markus Heikkinen – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Profile at skrapid.at
- Profile at FA of Finland's official website Template:Fi icon
- Profile at ESPNsoccernet
References
- ^ Loyal Luton Supporters Club - Luton Town FC - Player of the Year
- ^ HEIKKINEN BLOW FOR HATTERS | Luton Town | News | News | News
- ^ HEIKKINEN UPDATE | Luton Town | News | News | News
- ^ Finsk rutine skal hjelpe Start Template:No icon
- ^ Heikkinen retires from international duties Template:Fi icon
- ^ Markus Heikkinen at National-Football-Teams.com
- Use dmy dates from April 2011
- 1978 births
- Living people
- People from Katrineholm Municipality
- Aberdeen F.C. players
- Finland international footballers
- Finnish footballers
- Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players
- Luton Town F.C. players
- MyPa players
- Portsmouth F.C. players
- SK Rapid Wien players
- TPS Turku footballers
- Veikkausliiga players
- The Football League players
- Scottish Premier League players
- Austrian Football Bundesliga players
- Finnish expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Expatriate footballers in Scotland
- Expatriate footballers in Austria
- Finnish expatriates in the United Kingdom
- Finnish expatriates in Austria