Sami Ristilä (born 15 August 1974) is a Finnish

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 ...

manager and former player.

Player career

Ristilä was born in

Valkeakoski Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa regions of Finland, region. The municipality has ...

. Before he joined Drogheda Ristilä played for MyPa,

SC Neukirchen The SC Neukirchen is a German association football club from the city of Neukirchen, Hesse. History The actual foundation date of the club is shrouded in mystery but the club decided in 1945 that 1899 seemed the most likely year. The local gy ...

FC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

and

FC Haka FC Haka, originally ''Valkeakosken Haka'', commonly known as Haka, is a Finnish professional football club based in the industrial town of Valkeakoski. The club was founded in 1934 and competes in Finland's premier division, the Veikkausliiga. ...

. He played an important role in the Drogheda midfield and sometimes played up front. He has represented the Finland national side on two occasions. He played three seasons with Zwolle 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 ...

. In December 2008 he returned to

and signed a contract to 30 December 2011. He has played 247 games in the

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 ...

Manager career

The longest spell of his career as a manager was 2013–2016 with Finnish club KTP. After 2015 season KTP got relegated from

. Poor results continued the next year and Ristilä was replaced by his assistant coach in middle of the season on 30 June 2016. On 31 August 2016, he joined the coaching staff of

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

under head coach Stephen Bradley, who he formerly played together with at

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

. Sami would work with the development of the Shamrock Rovers Academy on a deal until the end of 2016. In 2017, he returned to Finland and at the end of the year, he was appointed assistant coach to Toni Korkeakunnas at

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 ...

for the 2018 season with an option for one further year. He was also going to be responsible for the youth development from the U19s to the first team. On 8 October 2018, he was appointed head coach of Lahti, signing a deal until the end of 2020 with an option for one further year. The club announced in October 2019, that Ristilä would leave his position at the end of the year.

Career statistics

Honours

Haka *

(1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Drogheda United *

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

(1):

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football (soccer), football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from ...

(2):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

(1):

Individual *

Coach of the Month: October 2010 August 2011,Sampsa Timoskasta Veikkausliigan elokuun pelaaja

References

*
Guardian Football

External links

* https://www.independent.ie/regionals/droghedaindependent/sport/soccer/sami-wants-to-do-the-haka-with-drogheda-27102318.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Ristila, Sami 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Valkeakoski Footballers from Pirkanmaa Finnish men's footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Finnish expatriate men's footballers Veikkausliiga players League of Ireland players FC Jokerit players Myllykosken Pallo −47 players PEC Zwolle players FC Haka players Drogheda United F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Finnish football managers FC Haka managers FC Lahti managers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Veikkausliiga managers Regionalliga players Eerste Divisie players