Walter Viitala
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 January 1992 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| PPJ Eira | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2015 | Honka | 52 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | → HIFK (loan) | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 | → Pallohonka | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | IFK Mariehamn | 41 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Viborg FF | 20 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Malmö FF | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Sandefjord | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | SJK | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Inter Turku | 20 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Finland U-16 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Finland U-17 | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Finland U-19 | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Finland U-20 | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Finland U-21 | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Finland | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 29 May 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 17 January 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
Walter Viitala (born 9 January 1992) is a Finnish former professional footballer who last played as goalkeeper for Inter Turku.[1][2]
Club career
After winning the Finnish championship title with IFK Mariehamn, on 15 December 2016, Viitala signed a 2.5-year contract with Viborg FF on a free transfer. He made his debut in a 1–0 victory against AaB on 8 April 2017.
On 11 August 2018 Viitala signed for Swedish champions Malmö FF. He signed a short-term contract for the rest of the year to replace injured back-up goalkeeper Fredrik Andersson.[3][4] He made his first appearance for Malmö FF on 23 September 2018, when he replaced an injured Johan Dahlin at halftime in a 4–0 victory over Kalmar FF.[5] He made his first start a week later in a 0–0 draw against GIF Sundsvall.
On 2 December 2021, he joined Inter Turku on a two-year contract.[6] He retired after the 2023 season.
International career
Viitala is a former youth international for Finland, and represented his country from under-16 to under-21 level.
In November 2016, Viitala received his first call-up to the senior Finland squad for the match against Ukraine.[7] He made a debut on 9 January 2017 in a 1–0 win against Morocco in Al Ain.[8]
Coaching career
After retiring as a player, on 24 October 2023, it was announced that Viitala starts as a goalkeeping coach in his former youth club PPJ.[9]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Honka | 2011 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | Veikkausliiga | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2013 | Veikkausliiga | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | Veikkausliiga | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| Total | 52 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 0 | ||
| HIFK (loan) | 2011 | Ykkönen | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| Pallohonka | 2012 | Kakkonen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| IFK Mariehamn | 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 39 | 0 | ||
| Total | 41 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 0 | ||
| Viborg FF | 2016–17 | Danish Superliga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6[c] | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Danish 1st Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Danish 1st Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
| Malmö FF | 2018 | Allsvenskan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Sandefjord | 2019 | 1. divisjon | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| Sandefjord 2 | 2019 | 4. divisjon | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| SJK | 2020 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| SJK Akatemia | 2021 | Kakkonen | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Inter Turku | 2022 | Veikkausliiga | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | |
| 2023 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 177 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 211 | 0 | ||
- ^ Includes Suomen Cup
- ^ Includes Finnish League Cup
- ^ Appearances in the Danish Superliga relegation play-offs
International
- As of match played 11 January 2019
| Finland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | |
Honours
- IFK Mariehamn
- Veikkausliiga (1): 2016[12]
- Finnish Cup: 2015
Individual
- Veikkausliiga Player of the Month: April 2016[13]
- Veikkausliiga Goalkeeper of the Year: 2016[14]
- Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2016[15]
References
- ^ "Walter Viitala siirtyy SJK:n riveihin Norjasta". sjk.fi. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ "Toivotamme menestystä uraansa muualla jatkaville pelaajille". 4 November 2021.
- ^ "Välkommen till Malmö FF, Walter Viitala!". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 11 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ Wiman, Max (11 August 2018). "Landslagsmålvakt till MFF – Fredrik Andersson ska opereras". sydsvenskan.se (in Swedish). Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ Åkesson, Richard (23 September 2018). "Viitaladebut tack vare lagläkaren: "Ett perfekt läge"". sydsvenskan.se (in Swedish). Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ "WALTER VIITALA KAKSIVUOTISELLA SOPIMUKSELLA FC INTERIIN" (in Finnish). Inter Turku. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Viitala korvaa Mäenpään Huuhkajissa" [Viitala replaces Mäenpää in "Huuhkajat"]. palloliitto.fi. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- ^ "Huuhkajat voitti vihdoin – Juhani Ojalan puskumaali yllätti Marokon". yle.fi (in Finnish). Yle. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ PPJ PANOSTAA MAALIVAHTI TOIMINTAAN, ppj.fi, 24 October 2023
- ^ Walter Viitala at Soccerway
- ^ Walter Viitala stats, Finnish FA
- ^ "IFK vann årets ligaguld" [IFK won this year's league gold]. ifkfotboll.ax (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. 24 October 2016. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ Walter Viitala huhtikuun kuuka
- ^ "Kauden parhaita palkittiin Captain's Ballissa". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
- ^ "Koplajoukkue 2016 palkittiin päätöskierroksella". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
External links
- Walter Viitala – UEFA competition record (archive)