Juha Reini (born 19 March 1975) is Finnish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender.

Playing career

A versatile defender, Reini started his professional career in Finland with

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 ...

club VPS in 1996. In 1998, he moved to

Genk Genk () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. I ...

in Belgium. There, he won two Belgian championships – in 1999 and 2002 – and also captained the side. In 2002, Reini moved to Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club AZ. He suffered multiple injuries during his stint with the club, which limited his appearances for both club and for the

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 ...

. After having played eight seasons of professional football abroad, Reini returned to his first club

KPV The KPV-14.5 heavy machine gun (KPV is an initialism for Krupnokaliberniy Pulemyot Vladimirova (Large-caliber Machine gun Vladimirov), in Russian as Крупнокалиберный Пулемёт Владимирова, or КПВ) is a Soviet de ...

in 2006, and retired after the

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...

final against

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 ...

. For the Finnish national team, he gained 23 caps.

Managerial career

From 2006 to 2010, Reini worked as a scout for AZ, first in Scandinavia and later focusing only on Finland. He was then appointed sporting director of his former club, VPS in autumn 2008, but left the position after one season, where he temporarily managed the first team alongside Petri Vuorinen. In the autumn of 2009, Reini announced his resignation from the VPS on personal grounds. From 2010 to 2013, Reini worked as the agent of several Finnish national team players together with Tapio Raatikainen. Their clients included

Teemu Pukki Teemu Eino Antero Pukki (born 29 March 1990) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Norwich City and the Finland national team. Pukki began his career with KTP and made his debut on senior leve ...

Joona Toivio Joona Toivio (born 10 March 1988) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a defender for Veikkausliiga club HJK. He has previously played for Klubi 04, AZ, Telstar, Molde, Djurgården, and Termalica Nieciecza. Club career Early career Earlier ...

Kasper Hämäläinen Kasper Woldemar Hämäläinen (born 8 August 1986) is a Finnish professional football attacking midfielder who plays for Ykkönen side TPS and the Finland national team. Hämäläinen was born in Turku, Finland, where he started his senior ca ...

and

Jere Uronen Jere Uronen (born 13 July 1994) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Bundesliga club Schalke 04, on loan from Brest, and the Finland national team. He began his senior club career playing for TPS, before signing w ...

. In the summer of 2013, he took up the position of chairman of TPS, holding office until January 2015. He then moved to the position of TPS's director of sports, from which he resigned in the summer of 2015, citing his desire to continue his career in coaching positions. Apart from management, Reini has been an expert with Yle Sport since 2002. In addition, Reini has been a member of the

Football Association of Finland The Football Association of Finland ( fi, Suomen Palloliitto, abbr. SPL; sv, Finlands Bollförbund) is the governing body of football in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907. The SPL organises the men's and women's national footb ...

's ''Top Football Committee'' in 2006–2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reini, Juha 1975 births Living people People from Kokkola Finnish footballers Finnish expatriate footballers Vaasan Palloseura players K.R.C. Genk players AZ Alkmaar players Kokkolan Palloveikot players Finland international footballers Veikkausliiga players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Association football defenders Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands AZ Alkmaar non-playing staff Vaasan Palloseura managers GBK Kokkola players Sportspeople from Central Ostrobothnia