Aleksi Piispa

Goalkeeper - VPS
31 Jan 2027
Sunday
Process

Marked for Aleksi Piispa

26 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Simon van Duivenbooden

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simon van Duivenbooden, and the manager let it.

Market

Emmanuel Okereke linked with a move away

The name of Emmanuel Okereke keeps appearing in other people's back pages. VPS say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

Back issues
22 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Miika Niemi: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” VPS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Martti Haukioja in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Will Wilson signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Will Wilson commits to VPS for another 3 years.

In brief

18 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Luka Nuorela keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” VPS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Martti Haukioja in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

221% of the income goes out in wages at VPS

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

In brief

14 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Aleksi Piispa hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what VPS can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Martti Haukioja in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

221% of the income goes out in wages at VPS

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

In brief

12 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Paulo Lima: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” VPS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Emmanuel Okereke in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Emmanuel Okereke

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Okereke, and the manager let it.

In brief

9 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Aleksi Piispa asks to leave VPS

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Miika Niemi says VPS went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

In brief

8 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Martti Haukioja in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

The Martti Haukioja question follows VPS around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Martti Haukioja’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

Questions about Jabir Abdihakim Ali on the training pitch

The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.

In brief

5 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Jayden Turfkruier runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Aleksi Piispa asks to leave VPS

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Emmanuel Okereke was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Jovan Zogović in the eights

A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No hiding place for Simon van Duivenbooden

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simon van Duivenbooden, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Emmanuel Okereke

Marked 8.57 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Jovan Zogović rescues a point for VPS

It needed Jovan Zogović to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against IFK Mariehamn, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad

Emmanuel Okereke finally opens his account

He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. VPS have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.

Squad

Vilmer Rönnberg asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

4 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A day Jabir Abdihakim Ali will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Market

FC Lahti come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and VPS did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Martti Haukioja in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Jabir Abdihakim Ali in the eights

A performance of 9.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

VPS see off KTP

Three points for VPS, 3‑1 the final word against KTP in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

No hiding place for Emmanuel Okereke

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Okereke, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Antti-Ville Räisänen in the eights

A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Jayden Turfkruier runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at VPS, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

3 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for VPS

Beaten 1‑4 by Inter Turku, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Match

The small margins put VPS out

Out, 0‑1 to FC Lahti, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Market

VPS turn down RoPS for Aleksi Piispa

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Akon Kuek has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around VPS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

4 matches without a win for VPS

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around VPS are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jayden Turfkruier

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Jovan Zogović in the eights

A performance of 8.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Jayden Turfkruier runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

2 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jayden Turfkruier

Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

FC Lahti come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and VPS did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Artur Pląskowski signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artur Pląskowski commits to VPS for another 2 years.

Squad

Aleksi Piispa gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

VPS come up short against FF Jaro

FF Jaro left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

RoPS are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. VPS will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Squad

Costly mistake from Aleksi Piispa

An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Aleksi Piispa knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.

Market

Akon Kuek is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at VPS has been clear about where Akon Kuek stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

1 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for VPS

A 1‑4 beating by KuPS was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Market

Aleksi Piispa puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at VPS, and it is not being withdrawn.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 23 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jayden Turfkruier

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Martti Haukioja stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Martti Haukioja and VPS agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Martti Haukioja in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

FC Lahti watching Luka Smyth

The interest is real enough to have reached print. VPS have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Martti Haukioja gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Boardroom

Nobody left the VPS dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

In brief