Kaija Salopuro (born 1938) is a Finnish former footballer, who won five women's football championships with

Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi 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 i ...

between 1971 and 1975. She later worked for 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 ...

, and won multiple awards for her contributions to Finnish women's football.

Personal life

Salopuro is from

Ylivieska Ylivieska () is a town and municipality of Northern Ostrobothnia region, Finland. It has a population of (), and it serves as the administrative centre for Kalajokilaakso and Pyhäjokilaakso, an area with a population of about 90,000 inhabitant ...

, Finland. In her early life, she participated in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

Career

Salopuro moved to Helsinki to work in the offices of

sports club (HJK). At the time, the club was considering the creation of a women's football club. In 1971, Salopuro was the first captain of the Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi women's team. None of the players were initially paid for their participation. Between 1971 and 1975, she won five Finnish Football Championships as HJK captain. HJK also won the 1971

Finnish Women's Cup The Finnish Women's Cup ( fi, Naisten Suomen Cup, sv, Finlands cup för damer) is the national women's football cup competition in Finland and was first played in 1981. List of finals The list of finals: Helsingin Sanomat archives 1981 See ...

, beating Vaasan Palloseura 6-0 in the final. The match was apparently attended by just two men, who heckled the players. Salopuro worked in the offices of HJK until 1976, when she moved to work for the

. In the 1980s she worked with the

Finland women's national football team The Finland women's national football team, also known as nickname The Boreal Owls ( fi, Helmarit), represents Finland in international women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Finland (SPL/FBF), reached the semi ...

. Salopuro retired from the Finnish Football Association in 2003.

Awards

In 2006, she was the first recipient of the award for contributions to women's football. The award was named after Salopuro. In 2010, she was entered into the . In 2012, she won the Finnish . In 2013, she was inducted into HJK's Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salopuro, Kaija 1938 births Living people Finnish women's footballers People from Ylivieska Football Federation of Finland executives Women's association footballers not categorized by position Sportspeople from North Ostrobothnia