FF Jaro

FF Jaro
Full name	Fotbollsföreningen Jaro Jalkapalloseura
Founded	1965
Ground	Centralplan, Jakobstad
Capacity	5,000
Chairman	Mikael Eklund
Manager	Niklas Vidjeskog
League	Veikkausliiga
2024	Ykkösliiga, 2nd of 10 (promoted via play-offs)
Home colours	Away colours

FF Jaro (Jakobstads Rostfria), commonly referred to as Jaro, is a Finnish professional football club based in the bilingual town of Jakobstad. The club currently plays in Ykkösliiga, the second-highest level in Finland. Home matches are played at the Jakobstads Centralplan.

Jaro has played 23 seasons in the top-tier Veikkausliiga. The club won the promotion back at the end of the 2024 season, after spending nine seasons in the second-tier since the relegation in 2015.

Current squad

Updated 6 August 2024^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	RUS	Sergey Lazarev
2	DF	ARG	Guillermo Sotelo
3	FW	FIN	Sami Sipola
4	DF	NGA	Michael Ogungbaro
5	DF	FIN	Aron Bjonbäck
6	DF	FIN	Johan Brunell (captain)
7	MF	FIN	Benjamin Sandnäs
8	FW	FIN	Alex Ramsay
9	FW	SWE	Edvin Crona
10	MF	FIN	Sergei Eremenko
11	FW	FIN	Albin Björkskog
12	DF	TRI	Kareem Moses


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	MF	FIN	Markus Kronholm (2nd captain)
16	MF	FIN	Adam Vidjeskog
17	MF	FIN	Ludvig Nyman
18	FW	FIN	Axel Sandstedt
19	MF	FIN	Antonio Hotta
21	MF	FIN	Jim Myrevik
22	MF	FIN	Roni Björkskog
24	FW	FIN	Joni Remesaho (3rd captain)
25	GK	FIN	Emil Öhberg
47	DF	FIN	Sebastian Huldén
66	MF	FIN	Severi Kähkönen
77	GK	SWE	Pontus Zvar

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 20 January 2024^[2]

Name	Role
Niklas Vidjeskog	Head coach
Rasmus Wikström	Assistant coach
Anders Brunell	Goalkeeping coach
Ida Kronholm	Fitness coach
Johan Hult	Naprapath
Jesper Ahlvik	Masseur
Veppe Tervaskangas	Team Manager
Tobias Sundberg	Doctor

Boardroom

As of 22 July 2021^[3]

Name	Role
Mikael Eklund	Chairman
Fredrik Haga	CEO
Mikael Byggmästar	Chairman of the Youthsection
Tapani Salo	Director
Joni Remesaho	Head of Marketing

Season to season

Season to Season

Season	Level	Division	Section	Administration	Position	Movements
1966	Tier 3	Maakuntasarja (Third Division)	Group 8 – Vaasa & Central Ostrobothnia	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Promoted
1967	Tier 2	Suomensarja (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th
1968	Tier 2	Suomensarja (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	7th
1969	Tier 2	Suomensarja (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	9th	Relegated
1970	Tier 3	III Divisioona (Third Division)	Group 7 – Vaasa & Central Ostrobothnia	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Promoted
1971	Tier 2	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	7th
1972	Tier 2	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd
1973	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	12th	Relegated
1974	Tier 3	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
1975	Tier 3	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	9th
1976	Tier 3	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th
1977	Tier 3	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	7th
1978	Tier 3	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
1979	Tier 3	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Promotion Playoff – Promoted
1980	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th	Relegation Group 5th
1981	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	9th	Relegation Group 5th
1982	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th	Relegation Group 2nd
1983	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th	Promotion Group 5th
1984	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	6th
1985	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th
1986	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	10th	Relegated
1987	Tier 3	II Divisioona (Second Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Promoted
1988	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Promoted
1989	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	12th	Relegated
1990	Tier 2	I Divisioona (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd	Promotion Playoff – Promoted
1991	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	4th
1992	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
1993	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	11th	Relegation group 2nd
1994	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	7th
1995	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
1996	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	1st	Upper Group – 5th
1997	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th	Third round – 8th
1998	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	9th	Third round – 10th – Relegated
1999	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd	Promotion Group – 3rd – Play-offs
2000	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd	Promotion Group – 5th
2001	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)	North Group	Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	2nd	Play-offs – Promoted
2002	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th	Upper Group – 7th
2003	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	8th
2004	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	11th
2005	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	11th
2006	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	12th
2007	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	11th
2008	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	9th
2009	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	10th
2010	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	5th
2011	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	11th
2012	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	11th
2013	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	10th
2014	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	6th
2015	Tier 1	Veikkausliiga (Premier League)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	12th	Relegated
2016	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto)	3rd
2017	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)	5th
2018	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)	6th
2019	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)	3rd
2020	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)	3rd
2021	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)	4th
2022	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)	3rd
2023	Tier 2	Ykkönen (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)	9th
2024	Tier 2	Ykkösliiga (First Division)		Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)	2nd	Promotion play-offs – Promoted

23 seasons in Veikkausliiga
27 seasons in Ykkönen/Ykkösliiga
9 seasons in Kakkonen

International achievements

1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup

FF Jaro – Guingamp 0-0
Dinamo Bucharest – FF Jaro 0–2
FF Jaro – Kolkheti Poti 2–0
Zemun – FF Jaro 3–2

Former managers

Börje Nygård (1966–67)
Rainer Aho (1968–70)
Matti Aarni (1971–74)
Bjarne Sjöholm (1975–77)
Esko Vikman (1978)
Ulf Larsson (1979)
Bjarne Sjöholm (1980)
Jan–Eric Holmberg (1981)
Kalle Jaskari (1982–84)
Matti Huotari (1985)
Kalle Jaskari (1986)
Richard Wilson (1987–89)
Kari Mars (1989)
Hannu Touru (1990–93)
Antti Muurinen (1994–96)
Veijo Wahlsten (1997)
Keijo Paananen (1997)
Janne Westerlund (1998)
Keijo Paananen (1999–01)
Sixten Boström (2002–04)
Hannu Touru (2004–05), (2006)
Mika Laurikainen (2007–09)
Alexei Eremenko Sr. (Aug 19, 2009–Jun 10, 2016)
Kristian Heames (Jul 28, 2016–Jul 10, 2017)
Calle Löf (Jul 11, 2017-Oct, 2017)
Tomi Kärkkäinen (Jan 1, 2018-Aug 13, 2018)
Niklas Käcko (Aug 14, 2018-Dec 31, 2020)
Jimmy Wargh (Jan 1, 2021–Oct, 2022)
Stephen Ward (2023)
Niklas Vidjeskog (Jan 1, 2024 – present)

References

^ FF Jaro. "Joukkue". www.ffjaro.fi. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
^ FF Jaro. "Joukkue". www.ffjaro.fi. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
^ "Toimisto" (in Finnish). FF Jaro. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.

External links

Official website (in Finnish and Swedish)
Official fansite (in Finnish and Swedish)

[1] FF Jaro. "Joukkue". www.ffjaro.fi. Retrieved 3 August 2023.

[2] FF Jaro. "Joukkue". www.ffjaro.fi. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.

[3] "Toimisto" (in Finnish). FF Jaro. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.

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