Heikkinen with Rapid Wien in 2013

Markus Heikkinen (born 13 October 1978), nicknamed Mako, is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a centre back or defensive midfielder. He is currently working as a sporting director of Veikkausliiga side AC Oulu.[1]

He previously played for Oulun Palloseura (OPS), Turun Palloseura (TPS), MyPa, HJK Helsinki, Portsmouth, Aberdeen, Luton Town, Rapid Wien and Start, before returning to his hometown and ending his professional playing career in AC Oulu.

Club career

Heikkinen started his senior career in OPS, when the club played in Ykkönen in 1996 season. Heikkinen scored five goals, most in his team, but ultimately OPS were relegated back to Kakkonen, and Heikkinen left the club.[2] He spent three seasons in Veikkausliiga with TPS and MyPa, before joining HJK Helsinki.

Whilst at Portsmouth on loan, he contributed two appearances as they won the First Division Championship and promotion to the Premier League.[3]

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.

An integral part of the Luton side that finished 10th in the 2005–06 Championship 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.[4]

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.[5][6] 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 Tippeligaen club Start.[7] Heikkinen helped Start avoid relegation with solid performances.

After years abroad, "Mako" returned to Finland and HJK in December 2013. After two seasons with the Helsinki-based side, on 2 September 2015 it was reported that the 36-year-old Heikkinen had signed a three-year player-coach contract with his hometown team AC Oulu.[8]

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.[9]

Career statistics

Club

As of 12 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Other Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
OPS 1996 Ykkönen 24 5 0 0 — — 24 5
TPS 1997 Veikkausliiga 22 0 0 0 — 4[b] 0 26 0
MyPa 1998 Veikkausliiga 14 0 0 0 — — 14 0
1999 Veikkausliiga 29 1 0 0 — — 29 1
Total 43 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 43 1
HJK 2000 Veikkausliiga 32 0 1 0 — 4[c] 0 37 0
2001 Veikkausliiga 33 1 0 0 — 4[c] 0 37 1
2002 Veikkausliiga 20 0 0 0 — 2[c] 0 22 0
Total 85 1 1 0 0 0 10 0 96 1
Portsmouth (loan) 2002–03 First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
Aberdeen 2003–04 Scottish Premiership 38 0 0 0 0 0 — 38 0
2004–05 Scottish Premiership 30 2 0 0 0 0 — 30 2
Total 68 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 68 2
Luton 2005–06 Championship 40 2 1 0 0 0 — 41 2
2006–07 Championship 37 1 0 0 0 0 — 37 1
Total 77 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 78 3
Rapid Wien 2007–08 Austrian Bundesliga 28 1 0 0 — 8[d] 0 6 2
2008–09 Austrian Bundesliga 32 0 2 0 — 2[e] 0 36 0
2009–10 Austrian Bundesliga 28 1 2 1 — 10[c] 0 40 2
2010–11 Austrian Bundesliga 30 2 0 0 — 9[c] 0 39 2
2011–12 Austrian Bundesliga 29 1 0 0 — — 29 1
2012–13 Austrian Bundesliga 26 0 1 0 — 9[c] 0 35 1
Total 173 4 5 1 0 0 38 0 217 5
Start 2013 Tippeligaen 10 2 0 0 — — 10 2
HJK 2014 Veikkausliiga 21 0 4 0 2[f] 0 11[g] 0 37 0
2015 Veikkausliiga 19 0 0 0 3[f] 0 6[g] 0 37 0
Total 40 0 4 0 5 0 17 0 68 0
AC Oulu 2016 Ykkönen 18 0 1 0 — — 19 0
2017 Ykkönen 18 0 2 0 — — 20 0
2018 Ykkönen 21 0 4 0 — — 25 0
Total 57 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 64 0
Career total 601 19 18 1 5 0 69 0 693 20
  1. ^ Includes Suomen Cup, FA Cup and Austrian Cup
  2. ^ Includes UEFA Intertoto Cup
  3. ^ a b c d e f Includes UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Includes UEFA Intertoto Cup and UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Includes UEFA Champions League
  6. ^ a b Includes Finnish League Cup
  7. ^ a b Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[10]
National team Year Apps Goals
Finland 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

References

  1. ^ https://acoulu.fi/yhteystiedot
  2. ^ OPS:N HISTORIA, ops.fi, Retrieved 12 January 2024
  3. ^ "Games played by Markus Heikkinen in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  4. ^ Loyal Luton Supporters Club – Luton Town FC – Player of the Year Archived 8 September 2012 at archive.today
  5. ^ HEIKKINEN BLOW FOR HATTERS | Luton Town | News | News | News Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ HEIKKINEN UPDATE | Luton Town | News | News | News Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Finsk rutine skal hjelpe Start Archived 15 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)
  8. ^ Markus "Mako" Heikkinen palaa Ouluun (in Finnish)
  9. ^ Heikkinen retires from international duties Archived 20 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
  10. ^ Markus Heikkinen at National-Football-Teams.com

External links