Henri Toivomäki (born 21 February 1991) is a Finnish former professional footballer, who last played as a defender for

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura, commonly referred to as KuPS, is a Finnish professional football club based in Kuopio. KuPS competes in Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. The team plays its home matches at Kuopio Football Stadium. KuPS ha ...

. He previously played for

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian professional football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. ...

FC Lahti FC Lahti is a Finnish professional football club based in the city of Lahti. It currently plays in the Finnish second tier Ykkösliiga, after relegating from Veikkausliiga after the 2024 season. The homeground of Lahti is Toolpoint Arena. La ...

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

FC Hämeenlinna FC Hämeenlinna is a Finnish football club, based in Hämeenlinna. The club's manager is Tomi Uusitorppa, and it plays its home matches at Kauriala. The team was formed in 1991. Club's history Initial years FC Hämeenlinna was founded in a ...

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

and

Almere City FC Almere City Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Netherlands. Founded in 2001, the club currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, following relegation from the Eredivisie in 2024–25 Eredivisie, 20 ...

. On 3 October 2023, Toivomäki announced that he is forced to end his professional career due to a head injury he suffered in a

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

match against Derry City in July 2023.

Career

FC Lahti

A product of the

youth system, Henri Toivomäki made 45 appearances for the Finnish club. On 2 December 2009, he was on trial with the French club

Racing Club de Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

. On 31 January 2010 Toivomäki was loaned to

, playing in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, with an option to buy at the end of the

2009–10 Serie A The 2009–10 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 108th season of top-tier Italian football, the 78th in a round-robin tournament. There were three promoted teams from the Serie B, replacing the three teams that w ...

season. The option was never activated and Toivomäki returned to Lahti, who were struggling against relegation in

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

AFC Ajax

On 3 January 2011, Toivomäki signed a -year contract with Dutch club

. Upon his arrival, Toivomäki stated that the influence of FC Lahti teammate

Jari Litmanen Jari Olavi Litmanen (; born 20 February 1971) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an inter ...

was decisive in his decision to join the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

-based side. In the first instance, Toivomäki joined the selection of

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

. Sidelines for the entire 2011–12 season due to a groin injury, on 27 June 2012 it was announced that Henri would play for Almere CIty on loan from

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

until July 2013 to find his form after recovery. Making a total of 8 league appearances in the Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

for the side form

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands across the IJmeer fro ...

, and one appearance in the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

, not being offered a contract extension following his loan spell however, Toivomäki was released from Ajax, returning to his native Finland.

Return to FC Lahti

On 23 July 2013 it was announced that Henri Toivomäki had signed with his former club FC Lahti, following the announcement of the club manager

Juha Malinen Juha Malinen (born 16 July 1958) is a Finnish association football, football coach with a total of 20 seasons at the highest level. Malinen most recently managed Veikkausliiga club Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat, KTP. Managerial career Malinen wa ...

Sarpsborg 08

On 24 November 2015 he signed with

HJK Helsinki

On 31 December 2018, Toivomäki signed with

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...

International career

He has represented Finland at different youth levels, currently he is part of the

Finland national under-21 football team The Finland national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Finland. The team qualified for the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, UEFA Euro U21 Championship final tournament for the first time in 2009 UEFA E ...

. He is considered as one of the most talented junior players in Finland. He was selected to represent Finland U21 against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

on 7 September 2010. Toivomäki was called up to the senior

Finland national football team The Finland national football team (, ) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team ...

, and made his debut in a 2–0 friendly loss to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on 5 June 2018.

Career statistics

¹ Includes

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Qualifier matches. ² Includes Liigacup and

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national football ...

Honours

Individual *

Team of the Year:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

*
Henri Toivomäki at Altomfotball
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toivomaki, Henri 1991 births Living people People from Mäntsälä Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finland men's international footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Finnish expatriate men's footballers FC Lahti players Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players Atalanta BC players AFC Ajax players Almere City FC players Eerste Divisie players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Sarpsborg 08 FF players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Eliteserien players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Kuopion Palloseura players Men's association football fullbacks Reipas Lahti players Footballers from Uusimaa