Jussi Jääskeläinen

Jussi Albert Jääskeläinen (born 19 April 1975) is a Finnish professional football coach and a former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He is currently working as a goalkeeping coach of Ykkösliiga club PK-35.

Jääskeläinen was born in Mikkeli, and made his Veikkausliiga debut for MP Mikkeli in 1992, becoming the club's first choice goalkeeper in 1994.

In 1996, he moved to VPS Vaasa where he spent two seasons.

During his career, Jääskeläinen most notably represented Bolton Wanderers from 1997 until 2012, making 530 appearances across all competitions.

Jääskeläinen was bought by manager Colin Todd for £100,000 for Bolton Wanderers of the Football League First Division in 1997.

Upon joining the club, manager Todd said: "He's one for the future," Todd explained.

"I saw him playing for the Under 21s and he was very impressive. I followed it up immediately but things got held up. When I got wind of him being on trial and possibly signing for another English club I moved in quickly. You can't let people of his quality pass you by."

However, Jääskeläinen was the third choice goalkeeper for the rest of the 1997–98 season, behind Keith Branagan and Gavin Ward, as Bolton Wanderers were relegated to Football League First Division.

Jääskeläinen earned 56 caps for the Finland national team, making his debut in 1998 and retiring from international football in 2010.

Following the injury of Branagan and the departure of Ward, Jääskeläinen was promoted to the club’s first choice goalkeeper ahead of the 1998–99 season.

He made his Bolton Wanderers debut, starting the whole game, in a 2–2 draw against Crystal Palace in the opening game of the season.

Jääskeläinen soon established himself as the club's first choice keeper, though a cruciate ligament injury ruled him out for half of Bolton's 2000–01 promotion season.

In 2012, in the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards, a double-save from Jääskeläinen against Manchester United on 20 October 2001 came third in a poll deciding the best save in the Premier League's 20-year existence.

In October 2006 he saved two penalties in one match from Blackburn Rovers' Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts to secure a 1–0 away win.

On 13 May 2007, Jääskeläinen received Bolton's "Player of the Year Award" and also the "Players' Player of the Year Award" after helping Bolton secure a UEFA Cup spot for only the second time in their history.

Despite much speculation linking him with a move away from Bolton when his contract expired following the 2007–08 season, Jääskeläinen agreed a new four-year contract on 11 June, which he signed on 9 July.

His 400th appearance came against Manchester City on 2 November 2008, with his 400th start coming six days later against Hull City.

In January 2009 he saved another penalty from Benni McCarthy in a match against Blackburn Rovers, now managed by his former manager Sam Allardyce, to secure a 2–2 draw.

After twelve years, Jääskeläinen was granted a testimonial match against Hibernian in August 2009 in which he kept a clean sheet.

He left Bolton for West Ham United at the end of the 2011–12 season, moving on after three seasons to Wigan Athletic on a free transfer.

In his first season with Wigan, he won the League One title.

His 500th appearance came against Birmingham City on 12 March 2011 in an FA Cup Quarter-Final and his 500th start a week later at Manchester United.

At the end of the 2011–12 season Bolton were relegated from the Premier League and Jääskeläinen rejected a two-year contract bringing an end to his 15-year stay with the club.

He made 530 appearances in all competitions, putting him joint third in Bolton's all-time appearance list.

On 13 June 2012, West Ham confirmed that Jääskeläinen had agreed personal terms on a one-year deal with an option for a second year.

Jääskeläinen was once again reunited with former manager Sam Allardyce, under whom he worked for eight years at Bolton Wanderers.

He made his debut for West Ham on 18 August 2012 in a 1–0 win against Aston Villa.

He played all 38 games of West Ham's 2012–13 season, in the Premier League and was named runner-up in the Hammer of the Year.

He played 18 games in the next Premier League season before being dropped in January for Adrián.

On 12 April 2013, the option for contract extension was activated, keeping Jääskeläinen with "the Hammers" until summer 2014.

On 4 June 2014, signed a new one-year contract extension with West Ham keeping him at the club until the end of the 2014–15 season, saying "Physically I feel good and I felt good last season so I hope I can carry on from there."

Jääskeläinen played just one game for West Ham in the 2014–15 season, coming on for Carlton Cole after Adrián had been sent-off in a goalless draw at Southampton on 11 February 2015.

He was released at the end of the campaign.

After his release from West Ham, Jääskeläinen trialled with Bradford City.

On 11 August 2015, he signed a one-year deal with Wigan Athletic, newly relegated to League One.

Initially back-up to fellow incomer Richard O'Donnell, he made his debut on 3 October at the age of 40, keeping a clean sheet in a goalless draw with Walsall at the DW Stadium.

On 31 March 2016, after his 15 clean sheets in 32 games helped Wigan onto an 18-match unbeaten run and second place in the table, he extended his contract for another season.

Wigan ended the season as champions.

He left Wigan after two seasons to join Indian club ATK, where he retired in 2018.