Kristian Yli-Hietanen (born 31 May 1996) is a Finnish 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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

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

Gnistan IF Gnistan (''The Spark'' in English) is a Finnish football club from the city of Helsinki, founded in 1924. The club is currently playing in the Ykkönen, the second tier of the Finnish league system. IF Gnistan play their home matches at Must ...

. Yli-Hietanen holds a dual Finnish-Canadian citizenship.

Early life

Born in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

, Finland, Yli-Hietanen began playing youth soccer with

Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for " Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the city ...

, In 2007, he moved to North Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada with his family, where he played youth soccer with North Vanocuver FC. After graduating high school at

Sutherland Secondary School Sutherland Secondary School is a public High school#Canada, high school in the city of North Vancouver (city), North Vancouver, British Columbia and part of School District 44 North Vancouver. Sutherland Secondary School was at one time a junior ...

, he was not recruited by any university programs and began working construction as a labourer and a painter.

University career

In 2015, he began attending

Capilano University Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshin ...

, where he was the 2015 PACWEST Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, as well as Golden Boot award winner after scoring eight goals in 14 league games. He also helped Capilano win the PACWEST Gold Medal and the national CCAA silver medal and was named a CCAA All-Canadian and CCAA Tournament All-Star. In February 2016, he decided to transfer to

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

, however, he ultimately remained with Capilano instead for 2016. In 2016, they repeated as PACWEST Gold medalists and won the CCAA bronze medal. In 2017, following two successful seasons with the

men's soccer team, Yli-Hietanen would move on to the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. On September 30, 2018, he scored 4 goals in a game against the University of North British Columbia Timberwolves. While in university, he also played amateur senior soccer with Rino's Tigers in the

Vancouver Metro Soccer League The Vancouver Metro Soccer League (VMSL) is a soccer men's league operating in British Columbia, Canada primarily in the Lower Mainland area. History The league is an amateur league, and does not compete against or promote teams to the Canadian ...

from 2017 to 2019.

Club career

In 2017, he played for

TSS FC Rovers TSS FC Rovers are a Canadian association football, soccer team based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada that play in League1 British Columbia. Established for the 2017 PDL season by general manager Will Cromack and head coach Colin Elmes, the ...

in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

. He would return to TSS FC for the 2019 season, scoring once in seven appearances. In 2020, he returned to Finland, signing with Tampereen Pallo-Veikot (TPV) of the third tier

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kakkonen (Finnish for 'Number Two' ...

. In 2021, Yli-Hietanen approached

Reipas Lahti Reipas Lahti is a sports club based in Lahti, Finland. It is involved in various of ball games and also other sports. The club emerged in the late 1940s, when the inhabitants of Viipuri had mostly been relocated in Lahti, after evacuation during ...

and went on trial with them, where he was recommended to the top tier side

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 ...

, where he signed a contract. He scored his first goal in a

2021 Finnish Cup The 2021 Finnish Cup is the 67th season of the Finnish Cup football competition. Until the 2017–2018 season, the tournament was held in the autumn-spring schedule from July to September of the following year. The introduction of this new forma ...

match against KTP on February 13. In 2022, he joined KäPa in

. On 9 January 2023, it was announced that Yli-Hietanen had signed a 1+1 year contract with FC Haka in the Veikkauslliga. On 14 July 2023, Yli-Hietanen rejoined

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also play ...

club KäPa on a contract for the rest of the season. On 15 January 2024, Yli-Hietanen signed with newly promoted

club

IF Gnistan IF Gnistan (''The Spark'' in English) is a Finnish football club from the city of Helsinki, founded in 1924. The club is currently playing in the Ykkönen, the second tier of the Finnish league system. IF Gnistan play their home matches at Must ...

on a one-year deal.

Career statistics

;Notes

References

External links

Kristian Yli-Hietanan
at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yli-Hietanen, Kristian 1996 births Living people Footballers from Tampere Capilano University alumni University of British Columbia alumni Finnish men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Kakkonen players Ykkönen players Veikkausliiga players USL League Two players Ilves (football) players TSS FC Rovers players Tampereen Pallo-Veikot players Reipas Lahti players FC Lahti players FC Haka players IF Gnistan players Käpylän Pallo players