Juha Reini
Personal information
Date of birth (1975-03-19) 19 March 1975
Place of birth Kokkola, Finland
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
GBK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1995 KPV 27 (2)
1996–1998 VPS 54 (0)
1998–2002 Genk 66 (2)
2002–2006 AZ 32 (1)
2006 KPV 24 (5)
International career
1997–2004 Finland 23 (0)
Managerial career
2009 VPS
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Juha Reini (born 19 March 1975) is Finnish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Playing career

A versatile defender, Reini started his professional career in Finland with Veikkausliiga club VPS in 1996. In 1998, he moved to Genk in Belgium. There, he won two Belgian championships – in 1999 and 2002 – and also captained the side.[1] In 2002, Reini moved to Dutch Eredivisie club AZ. He suffered multiple injuries during his stint with the club, which limited his appearances for both club and for the Finland national football team.[2] After having played eight seasons of professional football abroad, Reini returned to his first club KPV in 2006, and retired after the Finnish Cup final against HJK Helsinki.[3] For the Finnish national team, he gained 23 caps.

Managerial career

From 2006 to 2010, Reini worked as a scout for AZ, first in Scandinavia and later focusing only on Finland.[4] He was then appointed sporting director of his former club, VPS in autumn 2008,[5] but left the position after one season, where he temporarily managed the first team alongside Petri Vuorinen. In the autumn of 2009, Reini announced his resignation from the VPS on personal grounds.[6][7]

From 2010 to 2013, Reini worked as the agent of several Finnish national team players together with Tapio Raatikainen. Their clients included Teemu Pukki, Joona Toivio, Kasper Hämäläinen and Jere Uronen.[8][9] In the summer of 2013, he took up the position of chairman of TPS, holding office until January 2015.[10] He then moved to the position of TPS's director of sports, from which he resigned in the summer of 2015, citing his desire to continue his career in coaching positions.[11]

Apart from management, Reini has been an expert with Yle Sport since 2002. In addition, Reini has been a member of the Football Association of Finland's Top Football Committee in 2006–2012.

References

  1. De Gruyter, Erik (10 April 2000). "Juha Reini én Genk krijgen rode kaart: "Domme reactie typeert seizoen van Racing"". Het Belang van Limburg (in Flemish).
  2. "AZ vraagt ontslag aan voor 'breekbare' Reini". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 31 March 2006.
  3. Savela, Juha (30 October 2018). "Turussa viime vuodet asunut KPV-kasvatti Juha Reini odottaa liigakarsintaa ristiriitaisin tuntein: henkilökohtaisesti painajaismainen tilanne, Reini kuvailee". KPK (in Finnish).
  4. "Fins talent toegevoegd aan AZ-selectie". Trouw (in Dutch). 4 September 2008.
  5. "Juha Reini blir sportchef i VPS". svenska.yle.fi (in Swedish). 5 September 2008.
  6. "Vaasan palloseurassa uusi valmentajakaksikko". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 15 May 2009.
  7. "Juha Reini vahvisti lähtönsä VPS:sta". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 23 September 2009.
  8. Savela, Juha (16 November 2019). ""Järkyttävän hyvä fiilis" – Joukkue, hyvät pelaajat ja realistinen pelitapa ovat menestyksen takana, arvioivat Michael Käld, Juha Reini ja Tapio Raatikainen". KPK (in Finnish).
  9. "Teemu Pukista satelee yhteydenottoja agentille". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 26 August 2011.
  10. "Juha Reini jättää TPS jalkapallon urheilutoimenjohtajan tehtävät". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 30 April 2015.
  11. "TPS:n urheilutoimenjohtaja jättää tehtävänsä". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 30 April 2015.
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