Pauliina Miettinen (born 20 May 1972) 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 ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player. She currently works as the head coach of the

Kansallinen Liiga The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of Women's association football, women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten Suomen mestaruus, SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Se ...

team Tikkurilan Palloseura. During her playing career, Miettinen played as

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, defender and

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 ...

. She is one of the few footballers who have played both in goal (9 caps) and on the field (17 caps) at international level. Miettinen's first club was KMF from her hometown Kuopio. She has played in Finnish clubs

FC Kontu FC Kontu is a football club from Helsinki, Finland. It serves Kontula in East Helsinki and the immediately surrounding area. The club was formed in 1967 under the name Kontulan Urheilijat (abbreviated KontU), the name being changed in 1994. The ...

, Turun Pyrkivä,

Malmin Palloseura Malmin Palloseura (abbreviated as MPS) is a Helsinki-based football club that was formed in 1948. The club's first team has been playing mostly in the Second and Third Divisions. Currently the team plays in the Kakkonen which is the third tier of ...

and

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 ...

. Miettinen also played for the

Boston Renegades Boston Renegades was an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2003. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team plays in the Northeast Divisi ...

and captained at

Franklin Pierce College Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampshire. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional development, professional preparation. The scho ...

, where she managed to muster 122 goals and 65 assists, an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

record with 309 points. She won the

Finnish championship 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 ...

with HJK in 2001 and 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 ...

with Pyrkivä in 1994 and with HJK in 2002. Miettinen started her coaching career during her playing days. She was assistant coach at Franklin Pierce, her alma mater, and she has also coached at

Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is within the territory of the Archdiocese of Miami ...

and

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. After finishing her playing career, Miettinen became the head coach of FC Kontu and then PK-35 Vantaa. After the 2009 season, Miettinen was named as the head coach of

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

, but she was dismissed on 19 July 2010. In October 2010 she returned to PK-35 Vantaa. At PK-35 Vantaa she won the Finnish Championship in 2011 and 2012, and

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 ...

in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Miettinen also guided the club to the knockout phase of the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

three times. She quit in 2013, but returned to management in 2019 with the women's team of

Nurmijärven Jalkapalloseura Nurmijärven Jalkapalloseura (abbreviated NJS) is a football club from Nurmijärvi, Finland. The club was formed in 2004 following the amalgamation of Nurmijärven Nateva and FC Nurmijärvi. The club's home ground is at the sports area of Klauk ...

who played in the third tier. In December 2019 she was appointed as the head coach of the Tikkurilan Palloseura in

. Miettinen graduated from Franklin Pierce in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in secondary education and psychology and from Barry in 2005 with a master's degree in elementary education.

References

1972 births Living people Finnish women's footballers Finland women's international footballers Finnish football managers Female association football managers Finnish expatriate footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (women) players Kansallinen Liiga players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Women's association football goalkeepers Barry University alumni Franklin Pierce Ravens women's soccer players Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Finnish expatriate football managers Women's association football defenders Women's association football forwards Franklin Pierce Ravens women's soccer coaches Barry Buccaneers women's soccer coaches Florida State Seminoles women's soccer coaches People from Kuopio Sportspeople from North Savo Women's Professional Soccer coaches Boston Renegades players NJ/NY Gotham FC coaches {{Finland-women-footy-bio-stub