Vesa Vasara

Vesa-Pekka Vasara (born 16 August 1976) is a Finnish professional football manager for Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku, and a former player who played for the Veikkausliiga sides HJK Helsinki, FC Jokerit, FF Jaro, and FC Honka, as well as for Kalmar FF in Sweden. He was also capped 12 times for the Finland national team, scoring twice.

Vesa Vasara

Vasara with Honka in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Vesa-Pekka Vasara
Date of birth	(1976-08-16) 16 August 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Helsinki, Finland
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Inter Turku (manager)
Youth career
	MPS
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1993	MPS	30	(5)
1994–2000	HJK	136	(17)
2001	Jokerit	29	(0)
2002–2003	Kalmar FF	32	(2)
2004–2005	Jaro	24	(4)
2006–2008	Honka	59	(8)
International career
	Finland U21	11	(2)
1999–2002	Finland	12	(2)
Managerial career
2009–2011	Honka II
2012–2013	Honka (assistant)
2014–2016	HJK (assistant)
2017–2023	Honka
2024–	Inter Turku
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Vasara started his career with Malmin Palloseura (MPS) in Malmi, North Helsinki, before joining Vantaan Pallo in 1994.

On 26 August 1998, Vasara scored a goal for HJK Helsinki against Metz, in the 2nd leg of the UEFA Champions League play-off round, helping his team to get a 1–1 away draw (2–1 on aggregate) and qualify to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, as the first-ever Finnish club.^[1] Vasara ultimately spent six seasons with HJK.

Later he played for Kalmar FF in Swedish Allsvenskan, and for Jokerit, Jaro and Honka in Veikkausliiga.

Managerial career

Vasara was selected as the Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month for June 2018 while managing Veikkausliiga side Honka.^[2] Vasara worked as a manager of Honka for seven seasons, until Honka was declared for bankruptcy at the end of the 2023, and he was released.

Vasara was subsequently named the manager of a fellow Veikkausliiga side Inter Turku, signing a two-year deal with the club, starting in 2024.^[3][4][5] They won two consecutive Finnish League Cup titles in 2024 and 2025, and reached the final of the 2024 Finnish Cup.

Personal life

His brother Jussi Vasara is also a former professional footballer.^[6]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 September 2024.^[7]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
MPS	1992	Kolmonen
	1993	Kakkonen
	Total		30	5	0	0	30	5
Vantaan Pallo-70 [fi]	1994	Kakkonen	7	5	–		7	5
Honka	1994	Kolmonen	13	5	–		13	5
HJK	1995	Veikkausliiga	24	2	4[a]	0	28	2
	1996	Veikkausliiga	23	1	3[b]	1	26	2
	1997	Veikkausliiga	25	5	2[c]	0	27	5
	1998	Veikkausliiga	23	2	6[d]	1	29	3
	1999	Veikkausliiga	25	6	4[b]	0	29	6
	2000	Veikkausliiga	16	1	1[b]	0	17	1
	Total		136	17	20	2	156	19
Käpylän Pallo (loan)	1999	Kakkonen	1	0	–		1	0
Jokerit	2001	Veikkausliiga	29	0	2[b]	0	31	0
Kalmar FF	2002	Allsvenskan	15	0	–		15	0
	2003	Allsvenskan	17	2	–		17	2
	Total		32	2	0	0	32	2
Jaro	2004	Veikkausliiga	24	4	–		24	4
Honka	2005	Ykkönen	22	2	–		22	2
	2006	Veikkausliiga	23	5	–		23	5
	2007	Veikkausliiga	14	1	–		14	1
	Total		59	8	0	0	59	8
Career total			329	40	22	2	351	42

1. Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 17 April 2002^[7]

Finland
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	1	0
2000	6	2
2001	4	0
2002	1	0
Total	12	2

International goals

As of match played 4 February 2000. Finland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Vasara goal.

List of international goals scored by Vesa Vasara

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 February 2000	La Manga Stadium, La Manga, Spain	Denmark	1–0	2–1	2000–01 Nordic Football Championship
2				2–1

Managerial

As of 27 July 2025

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	W%
Honka		1 January 2017	31 December 2023	257	124	66	67	048.25
Inter Turku		1 January 2024	present	67	39	12	16	058.21
Total				470	232	104	134	049.36

Honours

As a player

HJK

• Veikkausliiga: 1997
• Finnish Cup: 2000

As a manager

Honka

• Finnish Cup runner-up: 2023
• Finnish League Cup: 2022
• Ykkönen runner-up: 2017

Inter Turku

• Finnish Cup runner-up: 2024
• Finnish League Cup: 2024, 2025