Ville Viljanen

Ville Viljanen (born 2 February 1971) is a Finnish former international footballer. A striker, he scored 47 goals in 200 league games in a nine-year career, and won one cap for Finland in 1999.

Ville Viljanen

Personal information
Full name	Ville Viljanen^[1]
Date of birth	(1971-02-02) 2 February 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth	Helsinki, Finland
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)^[2]
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1994	Sandarna BK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–1998	BK Häcken	71	(15)
1999	Västra Frölunda IF	20	(2)
2000–2001	Port Vale	34	(6)
2001–2004	GAIS	75	(24)
Total		200	(47)
International career
1999	Finland	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He played in Sweden with Sandarna BK, BK Häcken, and Västra Frölunda IF between 1994 and 1999, helping Häcken to promotion out of Division 1 as play-off winners in 1997. He joined English club Port Vale in February 2000, and was an unused substitute in the 2001 Football League Trophy Final. He then returned to Sweden with GAIS, helping the club to two promotions from Division 2 to Allsvenskan, before he retired in 2005.

Career

Viljanen began his career in Sweden with Sandarna BK, before he moved to Division 1 side BK Häcken in 1995. They finished fourth in 1996 and second in 1997, beating Västerås SK Fotboll 5–3 in the play-offs to win promotion into the Allsvenskan. They were relegated automatically in 1998, finishing one point behind Örgryte IS in the play-offs. He scored 15 goals in 71 league games for the club. He then moved on to Västra Frölunda IF, and made 20 appearances for the club in 1999, as they posted a 7th-place finish in the top-flight. In February 2000 he moved to England to sign for Brian Horton's Port Vale. He scored his first goal for the club on 7 March, in a 2–1 defeat to Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road, and finished the 1999–2000 campaign with four goals in 15 games. He was one of five players placed on the transfer list in December 2000 following a humiliating defeat to non-League Canvey Island in the FA Cup.^[3] He finished the 2000–01 campaign with two goals in 23 appearances, and was an unused substitute in the 2001 Football League Trophy Final. He then returned to Sweden to play for GAIS. They were relegated out of the Superettan in 2001, finishing behind Assyriska on goal difference. GAIS finished second in Division 2 in 2002, before winning promotion as Västra Götaland champions in 2003, finishing above Ljungskile SK on goal difference. The Gamla Ullevi club finished sixth in the Superettan in 2004.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[4]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
BK Häcken^[5]	1996	Division 1	26	7
	1997	Division 1	19	5
	1998	Allsvenskan	26	3
	Total		71	15
Västra Frölunda IF^[5]	1999	Allsvenskan	20	2
Port Vale^[6]	1999–2000	First Division	15	4	0	0	0	0	15	4
	2000–01	Second Division	19	2	1	0	3	0	23	2
	Total		34	6	1	0	3	0	38	6
GAIS^[5]	2001	Superettan	11	1
	2002	Division 2	21	7
	2003	Division 2	22	13
	2004	Superettan	21	3
	Total		75	24

Honours

BK Häcken

• Swedish Football Division 1 play-offs: 1997

Port Vale

• Football League Trophy: 2001^[7]

GAIS

• Swedish football Division 2 Västra Götaland: 2003

References

1. "Ville Viljanen". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2000/01". footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
3. "Five up for sale at Vale". BBC Sport. 4 December 2000. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
4. Ville Viljanen at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
5. Ville Viljanen at National-Football-Teams.com
6. Ville Viljanen at Soccerbase
7. "Vale vault Brentford to lift Vans trophy". BBC Sport. 22 April 2001. Retrieved 19 January 2016.