Jussi Kujala (born 4 April 1983 in Tampere) is a Finnish former footballer. Having started his career as an attacking midfielder, he has since dropped deeper down the field. He was the captain of the Finnish U21 national team in the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifiers.

Jussi Kujala
Kujala with De Graafschap in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1983-04-04) 4 April 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Tampere, Finland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder, Defender
Youth career
1992–1999 Ilves
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2000 Tampere United 10 (1)
2000–2004 Ajax 0 (0)
2004–2009 Tampere United 119 (8)
2009 TPS 6 (1)
2010–2012 De Graafschap 40 (1)
2012 Ilves 6 (2)
2013–2014 KuPS 29 (0)
2015 Ilves 29 (1)
International career
Finland U21
2004–2009 Finland 5 (0)
Medal record
Tampere United
Third place Veikkausliiga 2004
Third place Veikkausliiga 2005
Winner Veikkausliiga 2006
Winner Veikkausliiga 2007
Winner Finnish Cup 2007
Winner Finnish League Cup 2009
TPS
Third place Veikkausliiga 2009
De Graafschap
Winner Eerste Divisie 2010
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Tampere United

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Kujala made his debut for United in 2000; he made ten appearances and scored one goal for the team.

Ajax

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After Tampere United, he spent four seasons playing in the junior and reserve teams of Ajax.

Return to Tampere United

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He returned to Tampere United in 2004. As the club had financial difficulties, in 2009 he was allowed to leave the team.

He transferred to Turku during the summer 2009 transfer window.

De Graafschap

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In January 2010, he left Turku, and signed with Dutch side De Graafschap on a free transfer.

Return to Ilves

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In September 2012, Kujala signed a contract with his old junior team Ilves.[1] Ilves was promoted to Ykkönen at the end of the season.

KuPS

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On 27 November, KuPS announced that they had signed Kujala for two years.[2]

Ilves and retirement

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In January 2015, he signed a one-year contract with Ilves.[3]

He announced his retirement in December 2015.[4]

International career

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Kujala made his international debut in Finland's national team in 2004 against Oman.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 1 September 2024.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] League cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Tampere United 1999 Ykkönen 3 0 3 0
2000 Veikkausliiga 7 1 7 1
Total 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 1
Ajax 2001–02 Eredivisie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2002–03 Eredivisie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tampere United 2004 Veikkausliiga 8 0 8 0
2005 Veikkausliiga 23 5 6[b] 0 29 5
2006 Veikkausliiga 19 0 1 1 2[b] 0 22 1
2007 Veikkausliiga 25 1 1 0 8[c] 0 34 1
2008 Veikkausliiga 25 0 1 0 4[d] 0 30 0
2009 Veikkausliiga 19 2 1 0 9 0 29 2
Total 119 8 4 1 9 0 20 0 152 9
TPS 2009 Veikkausliiga 6 1 6 1
De Graafschap 2009–10 Eerste Divisie 10 0 10 0
2010–11 Eredivisie 17 0 1 0 18 0
2011–12 Eredivisie 13 1 2 1 15 2
Total 40 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 43 2
Ilves 2012 Kakkonen 6 2 6 2
KuPS 2013 Veikkausliiga 23 0 2 0 8 1 33 1
2014 Veikkausliiga 6 0 6 0
Total 29 0 2 0 8 1 0 0 39 1
Ilves 2015 Veikkausliiga 30 1 1 0 6 0 37 1
Career total 240 14 10 2 23 1 20 0 293 17
  1. ^ Includes Suomen Cup
  2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

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As of 26 March 2013[5]
Finland national team
Year Apps Goals
2004 1 0
2005 0 0
2006 2 0
2007 0 0
2008 1 0
2009 1 0
Total 5 0

Honours

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De Graafschap

Tampere United

De Graafschap

Ilves

References

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  1. ^ "Paluumuuttaja Jussi Kujala vahvistaa Ilvestä nousukarsinnoissa". YLE uutiset (in Finnish). 9 May 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Jussi Kujala liittyi KuPS:n riveihin". KuPS.fi (in Finnish). 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Jussi Kujala palaa kasvattajaseuraansa". ilvesedustus.com (in Finnish). FC Ilves. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Jalkapallomaajoukkueessa esiintynyt Jussi Kujala, 32, päätti lopettaa uransa". yle.fi (in Finnish). Yle Uutiset. 8 December 2015. Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Jussi Kujala".
  6. ^ Steenbergen, Mark van (4 April 2020). "Het kampioenschap van 2010 met De Graafschap bezorgt Powel nog steeds kippenvel". De Gelderlander (in Dutch).
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