Juho Mäkelä (born 23 June 1983) is a Finnish

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 plays as a striker. He is especially known for his pace.

Club career

Early career

Mäkelä started his career with

Tervarit Tervarit is a football and futsal club based in Oulu, Finland. It plays currently in the Finnish fourth tier Kolmonen. Notable former players * Mark Dziadulewicz * Raphael Edereho * Otto Fredrikson * Ismaila Jagne * Jani Kauppila * Juho ...

in his home-town, before moving to

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

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 2003 season. He scored 33 goals in 66 appearances for the club in three seasons, and was the Veikkausliiga top scorer in 2005. He is known as 'The Surgeon'.

Hearts

Mäkelä signed for Hearts on a three-and-a-half-year deal during the January 2006

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

. He scored his first goal for Hearts in 4–0 win over

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

on 8 April 2006. On 20 September 2006 he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

on his first start for Hearts in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

tie against

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

in a 4–0 win. He scored with his head, and both his feet, scoring a treble. His fifth and final Hearts goal came on 1 October 2006 against Dundee United. On 16 January 2007, it was reported that Mäkelä was training with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

side Greuther Fürth pending a possible six-month loan move, however it was subsequently announced that he would be spending the rest of the season with FC Thun. On 28 January 2008, Juho went on trial with Dutch side RKC Waalwijk who had been relegated at the end of the 2006–07 season. On 24 April 2008, Mäkelä returned to his former club

on an initial three-month loan deal. On 22 July 2008, it was confirmed by Hearts that Mäkelä had returned from his successful loan spell with

, in which he scored seven goals in 13 games, and would immediately join his teammates for pre-season training in Germany. Mäkelä's first game back was against a German regional select side in which he played the second half. He scored the sixth goal of the game with a powerful volley from eight yards in a 6–0 victory. On 2 February 2009, transfer deadline day, Hearts announced Mäkelä had been released after 23 appearances and five goals in all competitions.

Return to HJK Helsinki

Mäkelä returned to former club

prior to the

2009 Veikkausliiga The 2009 Veikkausliiga was the 79th season of top-tier football in Finland. It began on 18 April 2009 and ended on 17 October 2009. Inter Turku were the defending champions. The championship was won by HJK Helsinki, who came out on top of a three ...

season. He marked his return to the club with a goal in the opening game of the season, coming of the bench in the 76th minute and scoring in the 80th minute to complete the scoring in a 5–1 win over

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 also came off the bench in the second game of the season against TPS Turku, in which he set up the equalizing goal for Medo in a 2–2 draw. On 17 August 2008, he went on trial with Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

side

Ascoli Calcio Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C., commonly referred to as Ascoli, is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Serie B. The team traditionally play in vertical black and white stripes. H ...

. He had a wonderful start for the 2010 season with HJK as he went on scoring ten goals in just eight games. After the season, he was again awarded as the league's top scorer with 16 goals.

Sydney FC

On 17 November 2010, it was announced that he would be trialling with

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

. Transfer was confirmed by HJK on 7 December 2010. He joined Sydney FC for their A-league and ACL season. He will wear the number 18 shirt. He scored his first Sydney goal in his home debut after coming off the bench against

Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...

on 8 January 2011. Mäkelä followed this goal up with an injury-time equaliser against arch-rivals

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

the following week with a simple tap-in. Unhappy at Sydney, due to lack of opportunity under manager Vitezslav Lavicka it was announced that club would not be renewing his contract at the end of the season, and was free to leave the club during the 2012

January transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer w ...

if he could find another club in time. Mäkelä departed the club in April 2012.

Second return to HJK

On 5 April 2012, it was announced that Mäkelä would make his second comeback for HJK, signing a 1+1 contract with his former club. On 17 July, he scored a hat-trick, in a 7–0 home win over

KR Reykjavik KR is the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and WMO country code for South Korea. KR or Kr may also refer to: Sports * KR (basketball club), associated with Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur * Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, an Icelandic football club * Kickoff r ...

in the Champions League qualifiers.

Germany, Switzerland, and a return to Finland

After short spells in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

with

SV Sandhausen Sportverein Sandhausen 1916 e.V., commonly known as simply SV Sandhausen or Sandhausen, is a German association football club that plays in Sandhausen, immediately to the south of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. The club's greatest success ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

with

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League. History Founde ...

, Mäkelä returned to Finland, signing for

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

club

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...

on a short-term deal.

PS Kemi

Mäkelä signed with PS Kemi in March 2018, and left the club again at the end of 2018.Yksi Veikkausliigan kaikkien aikojen maalitykeistä vapailla markkinoilla
veikkausliiga.com, 17 December 2018

International career

Mäkelä made his debut for the Finnish national team on 3 February 2004 against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

References

External links

* * *
Profile at londonhearts.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Makela, Juho 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Oulu Finnish footballers Finnish expatriate footballers Association football forwards Scottish Premier League players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Sydney FC players FC Thun players SV Sandhausen players FC St. Gallen players IFK Mariehamn players Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho players Vaasan Palloseura players HIFK Fotboll players Kemi City F.C. players Oulun Luistinseura players AC Oulu players Veikkausliiga players 2. Bundesliga players Swiss Challenge League players Swiss Super League players Finland international footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate soccer players in Australia Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Australia