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Name: Juha Malinen (born July 16, 1958 in Oulu, Finland)
Nationality: Finnish
Profession: Football manager
E-mail: juha @ malinen.net
Full CV, Gallery, Pictures for free media use


First steps as a football manager
After some years as a wannabe pro football player, Juhani Karjalainen, junior football president of OLS told simply that at this age you can't become a top player any more, but maybe you could be a pro coach. That was the end of one playing career.

Studies at University of Oulu for MSc. in Education started. They were left a bit short when job as a junior grade teacher began. It was soon to be discovered that job as a pure grade teacher wasn't meant to be. Football and coaching were still things to desire.

Kastelli - education and football
Kastelli Sports School and secondary education presented a new opportunity. Besides coaching their football team, part-time teaching job (craft and sports) was available at a nearby school for the hearing disabled.
Kastelli's football team was lucky to have some excellent talent - Antti Niemi, Mika Nurmela, Ville Nylund and Aarno Turpeinen. Some people might have heard these names before (picture, Kastelli team).

Florence - city of opportunities
Luck and skills got us all the way to Florence, Italy, where School World Championships in Football were to be played. Young but confident team got a chance at the big games - and they used it well (pic, after winning Ireland). Kastelli didn't lose any games before the second stage, where Auxerre managed to get ahead with closing penalty shoot-out. They did end up winning the championship and Kastelli placed 5th.

Club coaching and a sidetrack to U15/U16 national team manager
Rauman Pallo was first job as a football club manager outside Oulu and also first full-time job. Two more from Kastelli, Antti Niemi and Mika Nurmela made also their way to Rauman Pallo. The club wasn't financially stable, which resulted in transfer to U15/U16 national team manager. Working for the FA of Finland was a learning opportunity for the future and after four years at the helm, sights were set again to pro club football (pic, team in 1990 at Eerikkilä).

First silverware
A year at FC Oulu was rich in experience. League promotion and financial difficulties, again (pic, Panu Toivonen, trusted keeper followed from FC Oulu to TPS, celebrates bronze with TPS). TPS Turku was next location. Just about nothing was expected, because the club had only limited funds. But it was enough, when combined with a superb team spirit. During those years TPS won Finnish Cup (pic, with the cup and wife Eira) and placed third at its best Veikkausliiga-season. (pic, bronze medal glory, congratulated first by R. Möller-Nielsen)

Lasting relationship
Anjalankoski and MyPa was a totally new combination. Big city by Finnish standards changed to a small town, but the team had a strong backing from the local forest industry. MyPa won three medals and it was just unlucky that none of theme were gold (pic, MyPa won Odense in Denmark and proceeding to next round of UEFA Cup was close). Job with MyPa was also the longest - it lasted six years.

Kuopion Palloseura
New challenge was waiting in Kuopio and KuPS, which was one of the oldest and most decorated teams in Finland. The team had just recently fallen again to First Division, something which was all too familiar to its supporters. KuPS was promoted next year (pic, celebrating), fought hard and ended up at 10th place next year. Last year KuPS won League Cup, which was a sign of promise to some, but ultimately didn't do much good with the league. Financial difficulties bounced back into the picture and our remaining contract could not to be fulfilled by the club after the end of year.

Road to Kazakhstan
In February, after thorough negotiations a contract was signed with FC Shahter of Karaganda. The team has set its sights on silverware in the Premier League of Kazakhstan. Shortly after finalizing negotiations with Shahter, contract with U-21 national team of Kazakhstan was also confirmed.