Henri Toivomäki (born 21 February 1991) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

footballer, who plays as a defender for

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the ninth most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 times ...

. He previously played for

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, the ...

FC Lahti FC Lahti is a Finnish football club based in the city of Lahti. It currently plays in the Finnish Premier League (''Veikkausliiga'') after placing first in the Finnish First Division (''Ykkönen'') during season 2011. The homeground of FC Lah ...

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

FC Hämeenlinna FC Hämeenlinna is a Finnish football club, based in Hämeenlinna. It currently plays in the Finnish third Division (''Kakkonen''). The club's manager is Tomi Uusitorppa, and it plays its home matches at Kauriala. The team was formed in 1991. ...

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

and

Almere City FC Almere City Football Club is a Dutch professional football club based in Almere, Flevoland. Founded in 2001, plays in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, and hosts home matches at the Yanmar Stadion. The club builds on former c ...

Career

FC Lahti

A product of the

youth system, Henri Toivomäki made 45 appearances for the Finnish club. On 2 December 2009, he was on trial with the French club

Racing Club de Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), com ...

. On 31 January 2010 Toivomäki was loaned to

, playing in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, with an option to buy at the end of the

2009–10 Serie A The 2009–10 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 108th season of top-tier Italian football, the 78th in a round-robin tournament. There were three promoted teams from the Serie B, replacing the three teams that w ...

season. The option was never activated and Toivomäki returned to Lahti, who were struggling against relegation in

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

AFC Ajax

On 3 January 2011, Toivomäki signed a -year contract with Dutch club

. Upon his arrival, Toivomäki stated that the influence of FC Lahti teammate

Jari Litmanen Jari Olavi Litmanen (; born 20 February 1971) is a Finnish former footballer. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an international career that ran from 1989 to 2010. Litmanen is widely consider ...

was decisive in his decision to join the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

-based side. In the first instance, Toivomäki joined the selection of

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

. Sidelines for the entire 2011–12 season due to a groin injury, on 27 June 2012 it was announced that Henri would play for

Almere CIty Almere City Football Club is a Dutch professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Flevoland. Founded in 2001, plays in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and hosts home matches ...

on loan from

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

until July 2013 to find his form after recovery. Making a total of 8 league appearances in the Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

for the side form

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

, and one appearance in the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

, not being offered a contract extension following his loan spell however, Toivomäki was released from Ajax, returning to his native Finland.

Return to FC Lahti

On 23 July 2013 it was announced that Henri Toivomäki had signed with his former club FC Lahti, following the announcement of the club manager

Juha Malinen Juha is a masculine given name of Finnish origin derived from Johannes (or John in English language contexts). Notable people with the name include: * Juha Alén * Juha Gustafsson * Juha Hakola * Juha Harju * Juha Haukkala * Juha Hautamäki * Ju ...

Sarpsborg 08

On 24 November 2015 he signed with

HJK Helsinki

On 31 December 2018, Toivomäki signed with

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...

International career

He has represented Finland at different youth levels, currently he is part of the

Finland national under-21 football team The Finnish national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Finland. The team qualified for the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship final tournament in 2009. UEFA U-21 Championship Record 2023 UEFA Euro Under ...

. He is considered as one of the most talented junior players in Finland. He was selected to represent Finland U21 against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

on 7 September 2010. Toivomäki was called up to the senior

Finland national football team The Finland national football team ( fi, Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, sv, Finlands fotbollslandslag) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body ...

, and made his debut in a 2–0 friendly loss to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on 5 June 2018.

Career statistics

¹ Includes

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

Qualifier matches. ² Includes Liigacup and

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

Honours

Individual *

Team of the Year:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

*
Henri Toivomäki at Altomfotball
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toivomaki, Henri 1991 births Living people People from Mäntsälä Finnish footballers Finland international footballers Finland youth international footballers Finnish expatriate footballers FC Lahti players Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players Atalanta B.C. players AFC Ajax players Almere City FC players Eerste Divisie players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Sarpsborg 08 FF players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Eliteserien players Expatriate footballers in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Kuopion Palloseura players Association football fullbacks Reipas Lahti players Sportspeople from Uusimaa