Mika-Matti Petteri "Mixu" Paatelainen (born 3 February 1967) is a Finnish former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager who is currently serving as the sporting director of Scottish club The Spartans. He scored 18 goals in 70 appearances for the Finnish national team, which makes him Finland's all time thirteenth most capped player and fifth top goalscorer. He is the eldest of three brothers, all of whom have played professional football. Their father Matti was also a Finnish international. Paatelainen had a 20-year playing career, playing for nine clubs in four countries. Most of his career was spent in the Scottish leagues, with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Hibernian, St Johnstone and St Mirren. He also played for

Haka Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the f ...

in Finland,

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

in England and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

in France. While at Bolton, Paatelainen became the first Finn to play in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. After retiring as a player in 2005, Paatelainen became

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Scottish club

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

, where he helped the club win the championship of Scottish Football League Third Division and earn a promotion. After a season coaching in his native Finland with TPS, Paatelainen returned to Scotland as manager of Hibernian. He left that position by mutual consent after 18 months. After a year out of the game, Paatelainen was appointed manager of

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. He was Kilmarnock manager for less than one season, but enjoyed personal success during that time. He was appointed manager of the Finland national team in March 2011, a position he held until June 2015. He was appointed as Dundee United manager in October 2015, parting company with the club in May 2016 after their relegation to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

. He has subsequently managed Ubon United in Thailand, and the national teams of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and Hong Kong. After his playing career, Paatelainen has also worked for

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

as a technical observer.

Club career

Paatelainen made his debut for

in 1985. He played 48 league matches for Haka, scoring 18 goals. During his debut season, Haka won the

Finnish Cup The Finnish 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 UEFA Europa Conference League ...

, the only honour of the club during his time there. In October 1987,

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

club

signed him for a £100,000 transfer fee. He scored on his debut a day later and quickly established himself as a first team regular, scoring eleven goals in his first season, including four goals in a 7–0 rout of Morton in April 1988. Paatelainen also helped Dundee United reach the Scottish Cup Final in May 1988, although he had to settle for a runners-up medal, as United lost 2–1 to

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

. He was the club's top scorer for the following two seasons, and in total scored 47 times in 173 matches for United. In March 1992, he transferred to

for £400,000. During the three seasons he stayed there, he scored 23 goals in 75 matches. Paatelainen played in two cup finals during his time at Pittodrie, but lost to Rangers in October 1992 in the League Cup Final and in May 1993 lost to the same opposition in the Scottish Cup Final. Paatelainen transferred in 1994 to English club

. The team was promoted to the

in his first season with the club, which then meant that Paatelainen became the first Finnish footballer to play in the Premier League (as the old First Division had been rebranded in 1992). He played a crucial part in the promotion triumph, putting Bolton 3–2 ahead in their playoff final clash with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

in extra time on their way to a 4–3 victory which ended a 15-year exile from the top flight. Paatelainen also played in the 1995 League Cup Final, in which Wanderers were beaten 2–1 by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He was unable to keep Bolton in the Premier League in 1995–96, although they did return the next season by winning the Division One title with 100 goals and 98 points. He then played for

during the 1997–98 season. He failed to score for Wolves in the league but scored four times in their

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

run, with goals against

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

(two), Charlton Athletic and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. He also scored once in the League Cup, against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. After his spell in Wolverhampton, Paatelainen decided to return to Scotland in the summer of 1998; this time signing for

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

club Hibernian. Hibs had been relegated the previous season, and Paatelainen's twelve goals in his first season helped his side get promotion back to the top division in Scotland. He is fondly remembered by Hibernian supporters for his

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 6–2 victory over

Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any association football, football match played between Football in Scotland, Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs), the two o ...

rivals Heart of Midlothian on 22 October 2000. Paatelainien's appearance for Hibs in their 2001 Scottish Cup Final defeat by

meant that he became the first player to play in the Scottish Cup final with three clubs. Despite this, Paatelainien never collected a winners medal in the competition. Paatelainen left Hibs in 2001 to sign for French club

. He then returned to Hibs for one season, where he combined his playing duties with coaching the youths. In 2003, he transferred to St Johnstone, when Hibs no longer wished to extend his contract, also acting as an assistant manager. Paatelainen only stayed with St Johnstone for one season. Paatelainen then transferred to St Mirren, where he also served as an assistant manager. This was his last club. During his playing career, Paatelainen scored 143 league goals.

International career

Paatelainen played 70 matches for

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, scoring 18 goals. He played his first international match on 9 September 1986, against

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. One of his feats in the national team was scoring four goals in a single match against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

, which stands as a record number of goals in one match for Finland. He retired from international football in 2000. In addition to his appearances for the senior national team, Paatelainen also played eight matches each for the Finland under-21s and the under-19s.

Coaching career

Cowdenbeath

Having previously worked as a coach while still playing for St Johnstone and St Mirren, Paatelainen was appointed full-time manager of Scottish Third Division part-time football team

in August 2005. In his first season, he guided ''the Blue Brazil'' to their first league title in 67 years. He signed his brothers Markus and Mikko for the club.

TPS

On 21 October 2006, Paatelainen resigned as manager of Cowdenbeath to join Finnish club TPS. He guided TPS to third place and

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

qualification in what was to be his only season in charge.

Hibernian

Paatelainen was linked with the managerial vacancy at former club Hibernian in December 2007, and he was appointed on 10 January 2008. He commented upon taking the job that he wanted to make Hibs play a bit more direct, which he later claimed was misinterpreted as him wanting to play a

long ball In association football, a long ball is a pass attempt that moves the ball a long distance on the field via one long aerial kick from either a goalkeeper or a defender directly to an attacking player, with the ball generally bypassing the midfie ...

game. Paatelainen took the Hibs job at a time when they had only won one of their previous ten games and had slipped into the bottom half of the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

. Hibs’ results initially improved under Paatelainen and the club secured a place in the top half of the league. During the 2008–09 season, Paatelainen came under increasing pressure from Hibs fans due to poor results and his favouring of a 4–3–3 system. Paatelainen eventually abandoned 4–3–3 in favour of a more orthodox 4–4–2 system. He was criticised by Abdessalam Benjelloun, who accused Paatelainen of favouring outdated

tactics. Paatelainen responded by saying that Benjelloun was "frustrated" at not being a regular pick for club or country. A poor run of results early in 2009 led to many Hibs supporters calling for Paatelainen to be sacked, but he did manage to lead the team into the top half of the league again. Paatelainen was also praised by the media for his tactical approach in winning the last

of the season, but he left the job by mutual consent at the end of May after a disappointing season.

Kilmarnock

After a year out of the game, Paatelainen was appointed manager of

on 23 June 2010. Paatelainen earned plaudits from the Scottish media for his work with Kilmarnock. In November 2010, he was linked with the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

position of the Finland national football team. Paatelainen won the manager of the month award for December 2010, as Kilmarnock continued their good start with two league wins, against Hibernian and Inverness CT, and a draw at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

. Kilmarnock offered him a long-term contract in March 2011, in an attempt to frustrate interest in Paatelainen from Scunthorpe United. The approach from Scunthorpe was rejected by Paatelainen, but soon afterwards he accepted an offer from

. Despite having left Kilmarnock in March, Paatelainen won the SFWA Manager of the Year award for the 2010–11 season.

Finland national team

Following a bad start by

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

and their decline in the

FIFA World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, first introduced in December 1992. The men's teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their gam ...

from 33 to 86, head coach Stuart Baxter was sacked. Paatelainen was appointed as the new Finland head coach on 31 March 2011. His first match as a head coach was a 1–0 away win against

on 3 June, but Finland then suffered a 5–0 defeat by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in his second game. Both matches were part of the

process. Paatelainen's deal with the Finnish Football Association extended to 2016, covering not only the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers but also the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers. As Finland was already eliminated from

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

, Paatelainen's task was to renew the national team and try to qualify for one or more of the tournaments during his projected tenure as Finland's head coach. On 14 June 2015 Paatelainen was sacked following his fourth defeat in a row during the

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

qualifying campaign.

Dundee United

Paatelainen was announced as the new head coach of Dundee United in October 2015, having signed a contract until 2018. His first match in charge of the club was a 1–0 defeat to Hearts at Tannadice. He was unable to prevent the side from relegation, which was confirmed by a

Dundee derby The Dundee derby is a football match between Dundee and Dundee United. The clubs are based yards apart in the city of Dundee, the fourth-largest city in Scotland. History Dundee is the older of the two, having been founded in 1893, compared t ...

defeat on 2 May 2016, and he left United two days later.

Latvia national team

Paatelainen was appointed head coach of the

national team in May 2018. On 4 December, he announced that he won't continue as the head coach of the team after his contract expires at the end of the month.

Hong Kong national team

Paatelainen was appointed as the head coach of the

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

representative team in April 2019 on a two-year contract, succeeding Gary White. Hong Kong was drawn in group C of the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualification AFC Second round along with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. The team earned a 2-0 win over Cambodia and draws against Cambodia and Bahrain before the qualifiers were halted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

after six matches. Hong Kong was one of the few countries and territories in the World to pursue a Zero Covid Elimination strategy. Due to this the Hong Kong Representative Team was unable to prepare and train for the remaining World Cup qualifiers played in Bahrain in early June 2021. Paatelainen's initial contract was extended to cover the remaining qualifying matches. Paatelainen's contract expired after the World Cup qualifiers and he decided to return to Europe.

HIFK

After manager Bernardo Tavares resigned, Finnish

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 ...

club

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

appointed Paatelainen as their manager. Before his appointment the club had lost in the quarter-final of the

Finnish League Cup The Finnish League Cup (in Finnish: ''Liigacup''), is a knock-out football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga. The competition is notably the only football competition in Europe which is most ...

and earned just one point from the first two matches of the league season. Only two months later the club released a statement of a possible bankruptcy. This lack of finances affected the team’s campaign significantly resulting in relegation from the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Nevertheless Paatelainen guided HIFK into the semi finals of the

for the first time in 63 years. Once HIFK's relegation was confirmed after a defeat against VPS, Paatelainen stated at a press conference that he would not carry on his managerial duties at HIFK beyond the end of the season. He subsequently resigned a few days later.

The Spartans (sporting director)

On 30 April 2025, Paatelainen was appointed the sporting director of Scottish club The Spartans.

In popular culture

Paatelainen's time at Bolton Wanderers led to him being mentioned in the comedy show ''

Phoenix Nights '' Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights'', sometimes shortened to ''Phoenix Nights'', is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In th ...

'', which was set in the Bolton area. This happened when the doormen Max & Paddy drunkenly made a

prank call A prank call (also known as a crank call, a hoax call, or a goof call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call and can be illegal under certain circumsta ...

to their boss Brian Potter, claiming that Paatelainen worked at the Coroner's office in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

and that the club was on fire.

Career statistics

Club

*Asterisk (*) indicates that more matches and goals may yet emerge as cup records are investigated.

International goals

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Valkeakosken Haka *

: 1985 Bolton Wanderers *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1996–97; play-offs:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 1994–95 Hibernian *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

: 1998–99

Manager

Cowdenbeath * Scottish Third Division: 2005–06 Latvia * Baltic Cup:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * Scottish Premier League Player of the Month: October 2000 *Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month: February 2008, March 2009, December 2010 *Scottish Premier League Manager of the Season: 2010–11

References

External links

*
Playing Stats at Hibernian
a
FitbaStatsManagerial Record at Hibernian
a
FitbaStats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paatelainen, Mixu 1967 births Living people Footballers from Helsinki Finnish men's footballers Men's association football forwards FC Haka players Dundee United F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Cowdenbeath F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Mestaruussarja players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players Ligue 2 players Finland men's international footballers Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Finnish football managers Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff St Johnstone F.C. non-playing staff St Mirren F.C. non-playing staff Cowdenbeath F.C. managers Turun Palloseura managers Hibernian F.C. managers Kilmarnock F.C. managers Finland national football team managers Dundee United F.C. managers Mixu Paatelainen Latvia national football team managers Hong Kong national football team managers HIFK Fotboll managers Scottish Football League managers Veikkausliiga managers Scottish Premier League managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Mixu Paatelainen Finnish sporting directors Finnish expatriate football managers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Latvia Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Expatriate football managers in Scotland Expatriate football managers in Thailand Expatriate football managers in Latvia Expatriate football managers in Hong Kong 20th-century Finnish sportsmen