Taavi Aulis Rytkönen (5 January 1929 – 16 April 2014) was 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 ...

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, rugb ...

. He became the country's first

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...

player when he signed for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

in 1952. In total Rytkönen spent eight seasons (1952–1960) in France, winning the

French Cup The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and professiona ...

in 1957. A forward, he started his career in Finland with

KuPS Kuopio 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 ...

in 1945, and after returning from France he worked as player-coach of

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 i ...

1960–1966 and as coach 1967–1971. Rytkönen earned 37 caps for the Finnish national team, scoring seven goals. He played for Finland at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. He also worked as national coach from 1975 to 1978. He was chosen Finland's Player of the Year in 1949, 1950, and 1952.Finland - Player of the Year Awards
/ref> Aulis rytkosen katu kuopio

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rytkonen, Aulis 1929 births 2014 deaths People from Karttula Association football forwards Expatriate footballers in France Finnish expatriate footballers Finnish football managers Finnish footballers Finland international footballers Finland national football team managers Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi managers Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Kuopion Palloseura players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Olympic footballers of Finland Toulouse FC players Sportspeople from North Savo