The next destination of our alphabetical world tour is Finland. The likes of Jussi Jääskeläinen and Sami Hyypiä are Premier League legends and amongst 17 Finns to have appeared in the Premier League.
First Player – Mixu Paatelainen (Bolton Wanderers; 1995-96)
After helping the Trotters win promotion in his first season in England, Mixu Paatelainen became the first player to represent Finland in the Premier League.
An important figure for Bolton, Paatelainen scored during the 1995 second-tier play-off final and started in the 1995 League Cup final as Bolton were narrowly defeated by Premier League Liverpool.
Paatelainen spent the majority of his club career in England and Scotland before moving into management with Scottish side Cowdenbeath. He went on to manage Finland between 2011 and 2015, later taking the international reins at Latvia and Hong Kong, where he remains today.
Records
- Most Appearances – Jussi Jääskeläinen (436)
- First appearance – Mixu Paatelainen (Wimbledon 3-2 BOLTON, August 19th 1995)
- Most goals – Mikael Forssell (34)
- First goal – Mixu Paatelainen (BOLTON 1-1 Everton, October 14th 1995)
Current/Most Recent Players
Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki was the only Finn playing in the Premier League last season and the first since Jussi Jääskeläinen left West Ham in 2015. Pukki enjoyed an electric start to his Premier League career with six goals in his first five appearances, but his and Norwich’s goals dried up and the Canaries succumbed to relegation.
Trivia
- Finland had never qualified for a major tournament before Euro 2020.
- Only four non-British or Irish players have made more Premier League appearances than Jussi Jääskeläinen (Mark Schwarzer (514), Sylvain Distin (469), Brad Friedel (450) and Petr Čech (443)).
- The four highest goal scorers in the history of the Finland national team all played in the Premier League (Jari Litmanen (32), Mikael Forssell (29), Teemu Pukki (25) and Jonatan Johansson (22)).
