The 2018 Veikkausliiga was the 88th season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK were the defending champions.
Fixtures for the 2018 season were announced on 17 January 2017. The season started on 7 April 2018 and ended on 27 October 2018.
Teams JJK were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2017 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions TPS.
HIFK as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team FC Honka in a relegation/promotion playoff.
Stadia and locations
ClubLocationStadiumTurfCapacityFC HonkaEspooTapiolan UrheilupuistoNatural6,000FC InterTurkuVeritas StadionNatural10,000FC LahtiLahtiLahden StadionNatural15,000HJKHelsinkiTelia 5G -areenaArtificial10,770IFK MariehamnMariehamnWiklöf Holding ArenaNatural4,000IlvesTampereTammelan StadionNatural5,040KuPSKuopioSavon Sanomat AreenaArtificial5,000PS KemiKemiSauvosaaren UrheilupuistoNatural4,500RoPSRovaniemiRovaniemen keskuskenttäArtificial4,000SJKSeinäjokiOmaSP StadionArtificial6,000TPSTurkuVeritas StadionNatural10,000VPSVaasaElisa StadionArtificial6,000
Personnel and kits ClubManagerCaptainKit manufacturerSponsorsFC Honka PumaFC Inter NikeAlfons HåkansFC Lahti UmbroHalton Lahti Energia Prima PowerHJK Rafinha AdidasApuIFK Mariehamn PumaHotell ArkipelagIlves AdidasLähiTapiola Pihlajalinna KiiltoKuPS PumaLähiTapiolaPS Kemi CraftVariousRoPS PumaSJK AdidasLähiTapiola Prima Power ElisaTPS PumaOP Turun Seutu Silja Line LähiTapiolaVPS PumaVarious
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointmentTableRoPS Signed by Finland U19 31 October 2017 1 November 2017 Pre-seasonSJK Brian Page End of caretaker spell 31 October 2017 1 November 2017 SJK Sacked21 May 2018 22 May 2018 9thFC Inter Fabrizio PiccaretaResigned9 June 2018 John Allen10 June 2018 8thPS Kemi Jari ÅhmanSacked30 June 2018 David Hannah1 July 2018 12th
League table
Results Each team plays three times against every other team, either twice at home and once away or once at home and twice away, for a total of 33 matches played each.
Matches 1–22
Matches 23–33
Season statistics Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 KlaussHJK212 Rasmus KarjalainenKuPS173 Macoumba KandjiHonka164 Borjas MartínHonka12 Petteri PennanenKuPS6 Aleksei KangaskolkkaIFK Mariehamn10 Sebastian StrandvallVPS8 Timo FuruholmInter Turku9 Marius NoubissiIlves10 Mika ÄäritaloTPS8 Benjamin KällmanInter Turku Lassi LappalainenRoPS
Awards Annual awards AwardWinnerClubPlayer of the Year KlaussHJK Goalkeeper of the Year Antonio RegueroRoPS Defender of the Year Faith ObilorHJK Midfielder of the Year Petteri PennanenKuPS Striker of the Year KlaussHJK Breakthrough of the Year KlaussHJK Coach of the Year Toni KoskelaRoPS Team of the Year
Team of the YearGoalkeeper Antonio Reguero (RoPs)Defence Henri Aalto (Honka)Faith Obilor (HJK) Leo Väisänen (RoPs)Taye Taiwo (RoPs)MidfieldSebastian Strandvall (VPS)Sebastian Dahlström (HJK) Borjas Martin (Honka)Petteri Pennanen (KuPs)Attack Klauss (HJK) Macoumba Kandji (Honka)
Attendances
No. Club Average Highest 1 HJK 3,779 5,723 2 TPS 3,004 5,560 3 Ilves 2,860 4,762 4 RoPS 2,625 4,013 5 KuPS 2,618 3,695 6 SJK 2,534 4,010 7 VPS 2,070 3,928 8 Inter Turku 1,954 5,525 9 Honka 1,928 3,302 10 Lahti 1,820 2,830 11 Mariehamn 1,236 1,795 12 Kemi 1,209 3,650Source:
References