Jarkko Wiss

Jarkko Wiss (born 17 April 1972) is a Finnish football manager and a former international footballer, who serves as the manager of Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS). During his playing career, Wiss won four Finnish championship titles, with Tampereen Pallo-Veikot, HJK Helsinki and twice with Tampere United. He was capped 43 times for the Finland national team during 1996–2007.

Jarkko Wiss

Wiss as head coach of Ilves in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth	(1972-04-17) 17 April 1972 (age 53)
Place of birth	Tampere, Finland
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	KuPS (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1995	TPV	105	(8)
1996	Jaro	25	(1)
1997–1998	HJK	52	(8)
1999	Molde	3	(0)
1999	Lillestrøm	16	(4)
2000	Moss	17	(6)
2000–2001	Stockport County	41	(6)
2002–2004	Hibernian	48	(0)
2004–2007	Tampere United	90	(16)
Total		397	(49)
International career
1996–2007	Finland	43	(3)
Managerial career
2008–2009	Tampere United (sporting director)
2009	Finland U16
2011	Tampere United
2014	Finland U17
2014	Finland U18
2015	Finland U19
2016–2021	Ilves
2023	Inter Turku
2024–	KuPS
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

As a player, he played in the position of defensive midfielder for TPV Tampere, FF Jaro, HJK and Tampere United in Finland, Molde, Lillestrøm and Moss in Norway, before joining Stockport County in England for a £350,000 transfer fee, as well as for Hibernian in Scotland. He was known for his powerful shots with both feet and as a hard tackler.

When playing for HJK, Wiss represented the club in the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League group stage.

International career

During 1996–2007, Wiss made over 40 appearances for the Finnish national team.

Coaching career

After retiring in 2007 at the age of 35, he worked both as a youth coach and as a sporting director for Tampere United between 2008 and 2009. He also managed the Finnish under-15 football team.

On 29 October 2010 it was announced that Wiss had succeeded the longtime head coach Ari Hjelm at Tampere United.^[1] He signed a two-year contract, with an option for a two-year extension, with the club on the same day.^[1][2] However, the club was banned from competition for the 2011 season.

Wiss was the manager of Finland national under-18 football team since 1 January 2014.^[3]

On 6 November 2015 it was announced that Wiss is taking the head coach position at Ilves starting on 1 January 2016.^[4]

On 23 September 2022, Wiss signed a contract with Inter Turku as a manager for 2023 and 2024 seasons, with an option for an additional year.^[5] On 6 November 2023, after one season with the club, Wiss was fired due to a harassment incident.^[6]

On 13 August 2024, it was reported in Finnish media that Wiss would start as the new manager of Veikkausliiga club Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS) in the 2025 Veikkausliiga season.^[7] Two days later, the club confirmed the future signing.^[8] Tomi Erola, the CEO of KuPS, stated that the club's values were made clear for Wiss, and they think that no one should be judged definitively for a mistake, referring to an incident which led Wiss to be fired from Inter.

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 September 2024.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup[a]		League cup[b]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
TPV	1991	Kakkonen	12	1	–		–		–		12	1
	1992	Ykkönen	20	1	–		–		–		20	1
	1993	Veikkausliiga	25	0	–		–		–		25	0
	1994	Veikkausliiga	23	3	–		–		–		23	3
	1995	Veikkausliiga	25	3	–		–		2[c]	1	27	4
	Total		105	8	0	0	0	0	2	1	107	9
Jaro	1996	Veikkausliiga	25	1	–		–		3[d]	0	28	1
HJK Helsinki	1997	Veikkausliiga	26	5	–		–		2[e]	0	28	5
	1998	Veikkausliiga	26	3	–		–		5[f]	1	31	4
	Total		52	8	0	0	0	0	7	1	59	9
Molde	1999	Tippeligaen	3	0	–		–		–		3	0
Lillestrøm	1999	Tippeligaen	16	4	–		–		–		16	4
Moss	2000	Tippeligaen	17	6	–		–		–		17	6
Stockport County	2000–01	First Division	30	6	3	1	1	0	–		34	7
	2001–02	First Division	11	0	0	0	2	0	–		13	0
	Total		41	6	3	1	3	0	0	0	46	7
Hibernian	2001–02	Scottish Premier League	11	0	–		–		–		11	0
	2002–03	Scottish Premier League	24	0	0	0	1	0	–		25	0
	2003–04	Scottish Premier League	13	0	0	0	0	0	–		13	0
	Total		48	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	49	6
Tampere United	2004	Veikkausliiga	24	4	–		–		6[d]	2	30	6
	2005	Veikkausliiga	23	5	–		–		6[d]	1	29	6
	2006	Veikkausliiga	24	5	–		–		4[d]	1	28	6
	2007	Veikkausliiga	19	2	–		–		6[g]	1	25	3
	Total		90	16	0	0	0	0	22	5	112	21
Career total			397	49	3	1	4	0	34	7	438	57

1. Includes Suomen Cup
2. Includes EFL League Cup and Scottish League Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Cup
4. Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
5. Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
6. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
7. Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup

International

As of match played 12 September 2007

Finland
Year	Apps	Goals
1996	2	0
1997	6	0
1998	7	1
1999	3	1
2000	11	0
2001	3	0
2002	5	1
2003	0	0
2004	0	0
2005	3	0
2006	1	0
2007	2	0
Total	43	3

International goals

As of match played 4 January 2002. Finland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Wiss goal.

List of international goals scored by Jarkko Wiss

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	25 March 1998	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	2–0	2–0	Friendly
2	18 August 1999	Jan Breydel Stadium, Brugge, Belgium	Belgium	1–0	4–3	Friendly
3	4 January 2002	Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain	Bahrain	2–0	2–0	Friendly

Managerial

As of 6 August 2025

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	W%
Ilves		1 January 2016	17 August 2021	205	96	47	62	046.83
Inter Turku		1 January 2023	6 November 2023	37	15	6	16	040.54
KuPS		1 January 2025	present	32	18	7	7	056.25
Total				276	129	62	85	046.74

Honours

Tampere United

• Veikkausliiga: 2006, 2007
• Finnish Cup: 2007

HJK

• Veikkausliiga: 1997
• UEFA Champions League participant: 1998–99

TPV

• Veikkausliiga: 1994

Managerial honours

Ilves

• Finnish Cup: 2019

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month: September 2016,^[9] August 2017,^[10] June 2023^[11]