Niilo Mäenpää

Niilo Mäenpää
Mäenpää in 2023 with Warta Poznań
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-01-14) 14 January 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Hämeenlinna, Finland
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Halmstad
Youth career
Hämeenlinna
2015 Haka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Hämeenlinna 6 (0)
2015–2018 Haka 66 (4)
2018–2019 Inter Turku 38 (1)
2020–2021 IFK Mariehamn 47 (2)
2022–2024 Warta Poznań 67 (0)
2024– Halmstad 14 (1)
International career‡
2013–2014 Finland U16
2014–2015 Finland U17 10 (1)
2016 Finland U18 8 (3)
2015–2017 Finland U19 9 (0)
2019–2020 Finland U21 6 (0)
2022– Finland 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:45, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

Niilo Mäenpää (born 14 January 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Allsvenskan club Halmstad and the Finland national team.[1]

Career

Hämeenlinna

Mäenpää started his senior career with the club, making his first competitive appearance on 23 May 2014 in a 1-0 home victory in the league over Tampereen-Viipurin Ilves-Kissat.[2] He was subbed on for Juho Saarinen in the 68th minute.

Haka

In January 2015, Mäenpää moved to Ykkönen club FC Haka. He made his league debut for the club on 2 May 2015, playing all ninety minutes in a 2-2 away draw with JJK.[3] He scored his first competitive goal for the club on 2 August 2015 in a 4-3 away victory in the league over MP.[4] His goal, scored in the 69th minute, made the score 4-1 to Haka.

Inter Turku

In November 2017, Mäenpää moved to Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku, arriving alongside Mikko Kuningas.[5] He made his league debut for the club on 7 April 2018 in a 2-0 away defeat to VPS, playing 63 minutes before being subbed off, to be replaced by Arttu Hoskonen.[6]

IFK Mariehamn

On 28 November 2019 it was confirmed, that Mäenpää would join IFK Mariehamn from the 2020 season, signing a deal until the end of 2021.[7]

Warta Poznań

On 22 December 2021, Mäenpää penned a two-and-a-half-year deal with Polish Ekstraklasa club Warta Poznań, effective from 1 January 2022.[8][9] He was released by the club at the end of the 2023–24 season.[10]

Halmstad

On 15 July 2024, Swedish Allsvenskan club Halmstad announced the signing of Mäenpää.[11] He scored his first Allsvenskan goal on 19 October, in a 3–1 home win against Sirius.

Personal life

Mäenpää's twin brother Aapo is also a professional footballer.[12] The two played together in their early years at Hämeenlinna and Haka, before reuniting at Mariehamm beginning in 2020.

Career statistics

Club

As of 11 November 2024[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Hämeenlinna 2014 Kakkonen 6 0 — — — 6 0
Total 6 0 — — — 6 0
FC Haka 2015 Ykkönen 18 1 2[a] 0 — — 20 1
2016 Ykkönen 23 2 3[a] 0 — — 26 2
2017 Ykkönen 25 1 5[a] 5 — — 30 6
Total 66 4 10 5 — — 76 9
Inter Turku 2018 Veikkausliiga 17 0 4[a] 0 — — 21 0
2019 Veikkausliiga 21 1 7[a] 0 1[b] 0 — 29 1
Total 38 1 11 0 1 0 — 50 1
IFK Mariehamn 2020 Veikkausliiga 21 0 4[a] 0 — — 25 0
2021 Veikkausliiga 26 2 3[a] 0 — — 29 2
Total 47 2 7 0 — — 54 2
Warta Poznań 2021–22 Ekstraklasa 12 0 — — — 12 0
2022–23 Ekstraklasa 31 0 2 0 — — 33 0
2023–24 Ekstraklasa 24 0 3 0 — — 27 0
Total 67 0 5 0 — — 72 0
Halmstad 2024 Allsvenskan 14 1 1 0 — — 15 1
Career total 238 8 34 5 1 0 — 273 13
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in the Finnish Cup
  2. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played on 7 June 2024
National team Year Competitive Friendly Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Finland 2022 0 0 2 0 2 0
2023 0 0 1 0 1 0
2024 0 0 1 0 1 0
Total 0 0 4 0 4 0

Honours

Inter Turku

References

  1. ^ a b c "Finland – N. Mäenpää – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Hameenlinna vs. I-Kissat – 23 May 2014 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Haka vs. JJK – 2 May 2015 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  4. ^ "MP vs. Haka – 2 August 2015 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Mikko Kuningas ja Niilo Mäenpää siirtyvät FC Interiin". fcinter.fi (in Finnish). 3 November 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  6. ^ "VPS vs. Inter Turku – 7 April 2018 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  7. ^ IFK Mariehamnissa ensi kaudella kaksi Mäenpäätä, veikkausliiga.com, 28 November 2019
  8. ^ "Niilo Mäenpää będzie piłkarzem Warty Poznań" (in Polish). Warta Poznań. 22 December 2021.
  9. ^ Kaikki päin helvettiä, Helsingin Sanomat, hs.fi, Ari Virtanen, 17 April 2024
  10. ^ "Kolejni zawodnicy odchodzą z Warty". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 29 June 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Niilo Mäenpää w Halmstad". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  12. ^ "For the first time, the miracle duo of Finnish football Niilo and Aapo, 19, play apart: "It's different to be alone now"". yle.fi (in Finnish). 27 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2021.