Mixu Paatelainen facts for kids
Paatelainen in August 2011
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mika-Matti Petteri Paatelainen | ||
| Date of birth | 3 February 1967 | ||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.83 m | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1985–1987 | Haka | 48 | (18) |
| 1987–1992 | Dundee United | 133 | (33) |
| 1992–1994 | Aberdeen | 75 | (23) |
| 1994–1997 | Bolton Wanderers | 69 | (15) |
| 1997–1998 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 23 | (0) |
| 1998–2001 | Hibernian | 93 | (32) |
| 2001–2002 | Strasbourg | 7 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Hibernian | 24 | (7) |
| 2003–2004 | St Johnstone | 33 | (11) |
| 2004–2005 | St Mirren | 16 | (4) |
| 2005 | Cowdenbeath | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 522 | (143) | |
| National team | |||
| 1989–2000 | Finland | 70 | (18) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2005–2006 | Cowdenbeath | ||
| 2006–2007 | TPS | ||
| 2008–2009 | Hibernian | ||
| 2010–2011 | Kilmarnock | ||
| 2011–2015 | Finland | ||
| 2015–2016 | Dundee United | ||
| 2018 | Ubon UMT United | ||
| 2018 | Latvia | ||
| 2019–2021 | Hong Kong | ||
| 2022 | HIFK | ||
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Mika-Matti Petteri "Mixu" Paatelainen (born 3 February 1967) is a Finnish former professional football player and manager. He was most recently the head coach for HIFK, a club in Finland.
Mixu was a striker who scored 18 goals in 70 games for the Finnish national team. This makes him one of Finland's top goal scorers. He comes from a football family; his two younger brothers also played professionally, and his father was a Finnish international player too.
Paatelainen played football for 20 years. He played for nine different clubs in four countries. Most of his playing time was in Scotland. He also played in Finland, England, and France. While playing for Bolton, he made history as the first Finnish player to play in the Premier League, England's top football league.
After he stopped playing in 2005, Mixu became a football manager. He managed clubs in Scotland and Finland. He also coached the national teams of Finland, Latvia, and Hong Kong. He helped Cowdenbeath win a league title and was named Manager of the Year in Scotland while at Kilmarnock.
Contents
Club Playing Career
Mixu Paatelainen started his football journey with Haka in Finland in 1985. He played 48 league matches and scored 18 goals for them. During his first season, Haka won the Finnish Cup, which was the only trophy the club won while he was there.
In October 1987, Mixu moved to Scotland to play for Dundee United. He scored a goal in his very first game! He quickly became a key player, scoring 11 goals in his first season. He even scored four goals in one match against Morton. Mixu helped Dundee United reach the Scottish Cup Final in 1988, but they lost to Celtic. He was the top scorer for his team for the next two seasons. In total, he scored 47 goals in 173 games for Dundee United.
In March 1992, he moved to Aberdeen for £400,000. He played for three seasons, scoring 23 goals in 75 matches. Paatelainen played in two cup finals with Aberdeen, but they lost both times to Rangers.
In 1994, Paatelainen joined the English club Bolton Wanderers. In his first season, his team was promoted to the Premier League. This was a big moment because it made Paatelainen the first Finnish footballer ever to play in the Premier League. He played a very important part in their promotion, scoring a crucial goal in the playoff final that helped Bolton win 4–3.
Mixu also played in the 1995 League Cup Final with Bolton, where they lost to Liverpool. After a season in the Premier League, Bolton was relegated, but they came back up the next season. He then played for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1997–98 season. He didn't score in the league for Wolves, but he scored four goals in their FA Cup matches.
After his time at Wolves, Paatelainen returned to Scotland in 1998 to play for Hibernian. Hibs had just been relegated, and Mixu's 12 goals helped them get promoted back to the top division in Scotland. Fans remember him for scoring three goals in a big 6–2 win against their rivals, Heart of Midlothian, in October 2000. He played in the 2001 Scottish Cup Final for Hibs, making him the first player to play in the Scottish Cup final with three different clubs. However, he never won the cup.
In 2001, Paatelainen left Hibs to play for the French club Strasbourg. He then came back to Hibs for one more season, where he also helped coach the youth teams. In 2003, he moved to St Johnstone, also working as an assistant manager. His last club was St Mirren, where he also helped as an assistant manager. During his playing career, Mixu Paatelainen scored 143 league goals.
International Playing Career
Mixu Paatelainen played 70 matches for the Finland national team and scored 18 goals. His first international game was on 9 September 1986. A special moment in his international career was when he scored four goals in one match against San Marino. This is still a record for the most goals scored by a Finnish player in a single game. He stopped playing for the national team in 2000. Before playing for the senior team, he also played for Finland's under-19 and under-21 teams.
Coaching Career
Cowdenbeath Football Club
After playing, Paatelainen became the full-time manager of Cowdenbeath in August 2005. This team played in the Scottish Third Division. In his first season, he led the Blue Brazil to win their first league title in 67 years! He even signed his brothers, Markus and Mikko, to play for the club.
Turun Palloseura
On 21 October 2006, Paatelainen left Cowdenbeath to manage the Finnish club TPS. He guided TPS to a third-place finish in the league, which meant they qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. This was his only season in charge of TPS.
Hibernian Football Club
Paatelainen became the manager of his former club, Hibernian, on 10 January 2008. When he took over, Hibs had been struggling. Their results quickly got better under his leadership, and the club finished in the top half of the league.
During the next season, some fans were not happy with the team's results and his choice of playing style. However, he still managed to lead the team into the top half of the league again. Paatelainen left Hibs by agreement at the end of May 2009.
Kilmarnock Football Club
After a year away from coaching, Paatelainen was appointed manager of Kilmarnock on 23 June 2010. He received a lot of praise from the Scottish media for his work with Kilmarnock. In November 2010, he was considered for the head coach job of the Finland national team. Paatelainen won the Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month award for December 2010. Kilmarnock offered him a longer contract, but he decided to accept an offer from the Finland national team. Even though he left Kilmarnock in March, he won the Scottish Manager of the Year award for the 2010–11 season.
Finland National Team
The Finland national team was not doing well in their Euro 2012 qualifying games. So, Mixu Paatelainen was appointed as the new head coach on 31 March 2011. His first game as coach was a 1–0 win against San Marino.
Paatelainen's contract with the Finnish Football Association was planned to last until 2016. His main goal was to rebuild the national team and try to help them qualify for major tournaments. However, on 14 June 2015, Paatelainen was let go after his team lost four games in a row during the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
Dundee United Football Club
Mixu Paatelainen was announced as the new head coach of Dundee United in October 2015. He signed a contract until 2018. His first match in charge was a 1–0 loss. He could not stop the team from being relegated from the top league. After their relegation was confirmed in May 2016, he left the club.
Latvia National Team
Paatelainen became the head coach of the Latvia national team in May 2018. He announced in December that he would not continue as coach after his contract ended that month.
Hong Kong National Team
In April 2019, Paatelainen was appointed as the head coach of the Hong Kong team. He signed a two-year contract.
Hong Kong was in a World Cup qualifying group with Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Cambodia. The team won one game against Cambodia and drew two others before the qualifiers were stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hong Kong had a strict "Zero Covid" policy, which made it hard for the team to train for the remaining games. Paatelainen's contract was extended to cover these matches. After the qualifiers, his contract ended, and he decided to return to Europe.
HIFK Fotboll
After the previous manager resigned, the Finnish club HIFK appointed Paatelainen as their manager in April 2022. The club was already struggling, having lost in a cup quarter-final and only getting one point from their first two league games.
Just two months later, the club announced that they might go bankrupt. This lack of money greatly affected the team, and they were relegated from the Finnish Veikkausliiga. However, Paatelainen did guide HIFK to the semi-finals of the Finnish Cup for the first time in 63 years!
Once HIFK's relegation was confirmed, Paatelainen stated that he would not continue as manager after the season ended. He resigned a few days later.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Haka | 1985 | Mestaruussarja | 11 | 5 | * | * | — | — | 11 | 5 | ||
| 1986 | Mestaruussarja | 19 | 6 | * | * | — | — | 19 | 6 | |||
| 1987 | Mestaruussarja | 18 | 7 | * | * | — | — | 18 | 7 | |||
| Total | 48 | 18 | — | — | 48 | 18 | ||||||
| Dundee United | 1987–88 | Scottish Premier Division | 19 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 25 | 11 | |
| 1988–89 | Scottish Premier Division | 33 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 17 | |
| 1989–90 | Scottish Premier Division | 31 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 38 | 9 | |
| 1990–91 | Scottish Premier Division | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 1991–92 | Scottish Premier Division | 30 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 9 | |
| Total | 133 | 33 | 17 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 169 | 47 | ||
| Aberdeen | 1991–92 | Scottish Premier Division | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |
| 1992–93 | Scottish Premier Division | 33 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | — | 41 | 20 | ||
| 1993–94 | Scottish Premier Division | 36 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 7 | |
| Total | 75 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 91 | 28 | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | 1994–95 | First Division | 44 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | — | 53 | 14 | |
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| 1996–97 | First Division | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 2 | ||
| Total | 69 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | — | 80 | 17 | |||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1997–98 | First Division | 23 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | — | 33 | 5 | |
| Hibernian | 1998–99 | Scottish First Division | 26 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 12 | |
| 1999–2000 | Scottish Premier League | 31 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 35 | 10 | ||
| 2000–01 | Scottish Premier League | 36 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 43 | 12 | ||
| Total | 93 | 32 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 34 | ||
| Strasbourg | 2001–02 | Division 2 | 7 | 0 | * | * | * | * | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Hibernian | 2002–03 | Scottish Premier League | 24 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 29 | 7 | |
| St Johnstone | 2003–04 | Scottish First Division | 33 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | 37 | 13 | |
| St Mirren | 2004–05 | Scottish First Division | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 17 | 5 | |
| Career total | 521 | 143 | 48 | 15 | 36 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 618 | 174 | ||
- Asterisk (*) indicates that more matches and goals may yet emerge as cup records are investigated.
International Goals
Win Draw Loss
| No. | Date | Home team | Visiting team | Goals | Score | Result | Venue | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 11 January 1988 |  Czechoslovakia |
 Finland |
 14' 1–0 (pen.) |
2–0 | Loss | Estadio Insular, Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, Spain | Friendly |
| 2. | 19 October 1988 |  Wales |
Finland |
45' 2–2 |
2–2 | Draw | Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales | FIFA World Cup 1990 qualification |
| 3. | 11 January 1989 |  Egypt |
Finland |
14' 1–1 |
2–1 | Loss | El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Egypt | Friendly |
| 4. | 11 November 1991 |  Tunisia |
Finland |
43' 0–1 |
1–2 | Win | Tunis, Tunisia | Friendly |
| 5. | 13 March 1991 |  Poland |
Finland |
20' 1–1 |
1–1 | Draw | Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland | Friendly |
| 6. | 13 May 1993 | Finland |
 Austria |
18' 1–0 |
3–1 | Win | Urheilupuisto, Turku, Finland | FIFA World Cup 1994 qualification |
| 7. | 16 November 1994 | Finland |
 Faroe Islands |
75' 4–0 |
5–0 | Win | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland | UEFA Euro 1996 qualification |
| 8. | do. | do. | do. | 85' 5–0 |
do. | Win | do. | do. |
| 9. | 14 December 1994 | Finland |
 San Marino |
24' 1–0 |
4–1 | Win | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland | UEFA Euro 1996 qualification |
| 10. | do | do. | do. | 30' 2–0 |
do. | Win | do. | do. |
| 11. | do. | do. | do. | 86' 3–1 |
do. | Win | do. | do. |
| 12. | do. | do. | do. | 90' 4–1 |
do. | Win | do. | do. |
| 13. | 26 April 1995 | Faroe Islands |
Finland |
75' 0–2 |
0–4 | Win | Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroese Islands | UEFA Euro 1996 qualification |
| 14. | 2 April 1997 |  Azerbaijan |
Finland |
64' 0–2 |
1–2 | Win | Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan | FIFA World Cup 1998 qualification |
| 15. | 5 September 1998 | Finland |
 Moldova |
63' 3–2 |
3–2 | Win | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland | UEFA Euro 2000 qualification |
| 16. | 14 October 1998 |  Turkey |
Finland |
6' 0–1 |
1–3 | Win | Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey | UEFA Euro 2000 qualification |
| 17. | 28 April 1999 |  Slovenia |
Finland |
22' 0–1 (pen.) |
1–1 | Draw | Bežigrad Central Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia | Friendly |
| 18. | 5 June 1999 | Finland |
Turkey |
14' 2–0 |
2–4 | Loss | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland | UEFA Euro 2000 qualification |
Managerial Statistics
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Cowdenbeath |  |
1 July 2005 | 1 October 2006 | 51 | 29 | 7 | 15 | 111 | 62 | +49 | 56.86 |
| TPS | |
1 October 2006 | 10 January 2008 | 34 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 57 | 41 | +16 | 44.12 |
| Hibernian | |
10 January 2008 | 29 May 2009 | 62 | 19 | 18 | 25 | 68 | 74 | −6 | 30.65 |
| Kilmarnock | |
23 June 2010 | 31 March 2011 | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 55 | 44 | +11 | 44.12 |
| Finland | |
31 March 2011 | 15 June 2015 | 44 | 17 | 9 | 18 | 59 | 62 | −3 | 38.64 |
| Dundee United | |
14 October 2015 | 4 May 2016 | 30 | 8 | 4 | 18 | 33 | 52 | −19 | 26.67 |
| Ubon UMT United |  |
13 January 2018 | 22 April 2018 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 18.18 |
| Latvia |  |
10 May 2018 | 4 December 2018 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 11.11 |
| Hong Kong |  |
9 April 2019 | 30 June 2021 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 24 | −20 | 8.33 |
| HIFK | |
17 April 2022 | 5 October 2022 | 22 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 61 | −44 | 4.55 |
| Total | 309 | 108 | 62 | 139 | 421 | 448 | −27 | 34.95 | |||
Honours
Player
Valkeakosken Haka
- Finnish Cup: 1985
Bolton Wanderers
- Football League First Division: 1996–97; play-offs: 1995
- Football League Cup runner-up: 1994–95
Hibernian
- Scottish First Division: 1998–99
Manager
Cowdenbeath
- Scottish Third Division: 2005–06
Latvia
- Baltic Cup: 2018
Individual
- Scottish Premier League Player of the Month: October 2000
- Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month: February 2008, March 2009, December 2010
- Scottish Premier League Manager of the Season: 2010–11
Images for kids
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Paatelainen in August 2011
See also
In Spanish: Mixu Paatelainen para niños
