Tampereen Ilves (pronounced [ˈilʋes]; Finnish for "Lynx"; Swedish: Ilves Tammerfors), commonly referred to as Ilves, is a Finnish professional football club based in Tampere. They currently play in the Veikkausliiga, the highest level of professional football in Finland.
They were formed in 1975 as a merger between Ilves-Kissat Tampere and TaPa Tampere, and joined the Premier Division in 1979.[2]
Ilves won the Finnish League championship in 1983 and the Finnish Cup on four occasions in 1979, 1990, and 2019 and 2023.
In the late 1990s, Ilves suffered financial trouble and its professional team was reformed into Tampere United before the 1999 season. The initial plan was to join Ilves with TPV, but TPV decided to continue as its own team. As a result, Tampere United inherited Ilves' place in the second highest division, and Ilves dissolved their men's team. Thus the club did not have a men's team from 1999 to 2007.[3]
Their home ground is Tammelan Stadion. Between 2020 and 2023, they played at Tampere Stadium, while waiting for the new Tammelan stadion to be built.[1]
As of 11 July 2024.[5]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
As of 3 November 2023.[5]
As of 31 July 2020[6]
Ilves/2 is the reserve team of Ilves. The team plays in Kakkonen in 2024 season. It is coached by Guillem Santesmases.[7]
Raimo Vasama (1975) Martti Halme (1976–1977) Pertti Mäkipää (1978–1981) Jussi Ristimäki (1982–1984) Turo Flink (1985–1986) Harri Holli (1987–1989) Jussi Ristimäki (1990)
Ian Crawford (1991–1992) Matti Paatelainen (1993) Markku Wacklin (1993–1994) Esa Kuusisto (1995–1996) Arto Uimonen (1997) Ari Hjelm (1997) Kari Nikkilä (1998) Janne Salovaara / Jarmo Virtanen (2001) Veijo Visuri (2008–2009)
Valeri Popovitch (2010–11) Mika Malinen (2012–2014)
Keith Armstrong (2015) Jarkko Wiss (2016–2021) Toni Kallio (2021–2023) Joni Lehtonen (2023) Joonas Rantanen (2023–present)