Toni Kolehmainen (born 20 July 1988) is a Finnish former 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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He had previously played for AZ in Alkmaar,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Kolehmainen also played in

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

' youth academy during 2004–05.

Early career

After ending his stay with

' youth academy Toni returned to Finland to play for OLS Oulu. In 2006, he joined town rival AC Oulu and helped the club gain promotion to the

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 ...

. His play with AC Oulu led to interest from

Dutch Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

who signed Kolehmainen in 2007.

Club career

During his time with AZ he was primarily a member of the reserve squad. In 2008, he was promoted to the first team squad by

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...

and made his debut in a 3-0 KNVB Cup victory over Achilles '29.AZ debut
/ref> Once the 2009 season concluded Kolehmainen did not exercise the option on his contract with AZ and returned to AC Oulu for a brief stay, which led to a promotion after the season. Kolehmainen however left Oulu and went on signing a two-year contract with TPS in February 2010. After some promising performances, Kolehmainen was spotted by

Hønefoss BK Hønefoss Ballklubb is a Norwegian football club from Hønefoss, founded in 1895. The club was a part of the multi-sports club L/F Hønefoss, which folded in 2008. After 11 years in 1. divisjon, the second tier of Norwegian football, Hønefo ...

, where he would reunite with a TPS teammate

Riku Riski Riku Olavi Riski (born 16 August 1989) is a Finnish footballer who plays for the Finnish club HJK Helsinki. He has previously played for TPS Turku in Finland, Widzew Łódź in Poland, Hønefoss BK, Rosenborg BK and Odds BK in Norway, and has a ...

. A long-term contract was signed on 31 August 2012. Kolehmainen retired in 2017, finishing his career at Polish side

Wisła Puławy Wisła Puławy is a Polish football club based in Puławy, Lublin Voivodeship. They compete in the third-tier II liga, having won promotion from the III liga in 2020–21. Honours *III liga (fourth level): 2010–11, 2020–21 Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in his senior level debut, in a friendly match against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Career statistics

International goals

References

External links

Kolehmainen at AZ fan page

Kolehmainen player card at AC Oulu

A wonderkid from escadinavian soccer
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolehmainen, Toni 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Oulu Footballers from North Ostrobothnia Finnish men's footballers Finland men's international footballers AC Oulu players AZ Alkmaar players Eredivisie players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Turun Palloseura footballers Veikkausliiga players Hønefoss BK players Norwegian First Division players Eliteserien players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Men's association football midfielders Wisła Puławy players Oulun Luistinseura players