Roni Porokara (born 12 December 1983) is a Finnish former international
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 ...
.
Club career
FC Hämeenlinna
On 15 May 2003, at age 19, Roni Porokara made his league debut in a match between
FC Hämeenlinna and
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 time ...
. During his two-year spell with
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...
, he made 46 league appearances and scored 6 goals.
FC Honka
He joined
FC Honka
FC Honka is a Finnish football club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club currently play in the Finnish premier division (''Veikkausliiga''), having been promoted for the f ...
in 2005, and played there until the end of 2007, making 76 league appearances and scoring 24 goals.
Örebro SK
In 2008, Porokara moved to the
Swedish Premier Division side
Örebro SK
Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...
staying there until the end of 2010, making 84 league appearances and scoring 11 goals.
At the end of the
2009 Allsvenskan season, after playing for a year in
Örebro SK
Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...
, Porokara entered into negotiations with
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i clubs,
Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...
and
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...
. Porokara attracted interest from
Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...
due to his eligibility to receive
Israeli citizenship
Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law.
Every Jew in the world has ...
under the
law of return
The Law of Return ( he, חֹוק הַשְׁבוּת, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Isr ...
. He was set to transfer to Maccabi Haifa in January 2010, for $700,000, but the deal fell through.
In August 2010, Porokara attracted interest from number of clubs in Europe.
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
from the Premier League was the big name out of this clubs along with
Cesena
Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. ...
from
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
, and a few clubs from Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland. After Örebro finished third in
2010, Porokara announced that he would not renew his contract with the Swedes.
Beerschot AC
On 3 December 2010 he signed with
Beerschot,
Porokara signs with Beerschot
where he stayed until the summer of 2012, before moving to Ironi Kiryat Shmona in Israel.
Back to FC Honka
Porokara returned to FC Honka
FC Honka is a Finnish football club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club currently play in the Finnish premier division (''Veikkausliiga''), having been promoted for the f ...
in 2015 after the team was relegated to Kakkonen
Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1 ...
due to financial problems. After appearing five times and scoring once, Porokara was forced to retire from active football because of a hip problem.
International career
On 13 April 2005, Porokara made his only appearance for the Finnish under-21 side in a friendly match
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
against their Estonian counterparts. His full national team debut came a year later on 25 May 2006 in a friendly against Sweden. Porokara was a late substitute and only got a minute on the pitch.
On 8 November 2010, Porokara scored the winning goal against Belgium in friendly game.
International goals
''Updated 12 December 2009''
Honours
Club
FC Honka
* 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 pla ...
: 2005
Individual
* BV Cup Player of the Tournament: 2006
* 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 Veikka ...
All-Star Team: 2006
Statistics
See also
* List of select Jewish football (association; soccer) players
References
External links
Profile on Finnish national team website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porokara, Roni
1983 births
Living people
Footballers from Helsinki
Finnish footballers
Finnish expatriate footballers
Finland international footballers
Finland under-21 international footballers
Finnish Jews
Jewish footballers
Veikkausliiga players
Allsvenskan players
Belgian First Division A players
Israeli Premier League players
FinnPa players
FC Jokerit players
AC Allianssi players
FC Hämeenlinna players
FC Honka players
Örebro SK players
Beerschot A.C. players
Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. players
Klubi 04 players
Association football wingers
Expatriate footballers in Belgium
Expatriate footballers in Sweden
Expatriate footballers in Israel
Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Israel