Kuopio Steelers

American football team from Kuopio, Finland

Kuopio Steelers

Founded	1991^[1]
Based in	Kuopio, Finland
Home field	Väinölänniemi Stadium
Head coach	Pekka Utriainen
General manager	Jaana Tuppurainen
League	Suomen Amerikkalaisen Jalkapallon Liitto
Division	Finland Maple League, European 1st Division
Colours	Black, White, Red
Nickname(s)	Steelers
Finnish Maple League wins	3 (2020, 2021, 2022)
Website	Steelers.fi
2023 season

Kuopio Steelers (formerly known as Varkaus Steelers) are an American football team originally from Varkaus, Finland in years 1991-2005,^[2]^[3] and since 2006 from Kuopio, Finland. The team plays in the Finnish Maple League and it has also played in the European Football League. The club's home field is Väinölänniemi Stadium in the Väinölänniemi district.

The Steelers play in the Men’s Maple League as well as various junior leagues in B- (under 19), C- (under 17), D- (under 15) and E-juniors (under 13). In the summer of 2013, the Steelers formed the women’s American football team that participated in the women’s Division I in the 2014 season. In the 2018 season, the team won their own block in Division I and promoted to the Women’s Maple League. The Steelers have won three Finnish championships in 2020,^[2]^[3]^[4] 2021^[5]^[6] and 2022.

Team Roster (2019)

Staff

Finland Pekka Utriainen (head coach)
Finland Ari Hartikainen (assistant coach)
Finland Sami Hovinen (assistant coach)
Finland Marco Lindroos (assistant coach)
Finland Petri Pellinen (assistant coach)
Finland Erkka Vehkomäki (assistant coach)

QB

USA # Seth Peters

RB & FB

USA # Gerard Johnson
Finland # Ville Lindsten
Finland # Perttu Pajunen
Finland # Samppa Sinkkonen

WR

Finland # Johannes Jauhiainen
Finland # Kaapro Keränen
Finland # Waltteri Kinnunen
Finland # Tino Ndongo
Finland # Jaakko Paananen
Finland # Ville Simola
Finland # Petteri Vilpponen
Finland # Juho Väisänen

OL

Finland # Tapio Jääskeläinen
Finland # Roope Korhonen
Finland # Oskari Laitinen
Finland # Niilo Ojansivu
Finland # Simo Ovaskainen
Finland # Jupe Peltonen
Finland # Eppu Pulkkinen
Finland # Mikael Vilhunen

DL

Finland # Matias Kauppinen
Finland # Perttu Kosonen
Finland # Jani Lindqvist
Spain # Victor Miller-Gonzalez
Finland # Aapo Peräkorpi
Spain # Artur Pinheiro
Finland # Leevi Ruotsalainen

LB

Sweden # Mattias Eriksson
USA # Donavan Hayden
Finland # Teemu Hirvelä
Finland # Toni Tuppurainen
Finland # Kusti Ukkonen
Finland # Aku Uotila

CB/S

Finland # Iisakki Eskelinen
Finland # Toni Hartikainen
Finland # Santeri Inkinen
Poland # Thomas Kaczocha
Finland # Markus Ojainväli
Finland # Leevi Ojala
Finland # Iiro Pekkarinen
Finland # Tiivo Savolainen

References

^ Crocodiles ry (in Finnish)
^ ^a ^b Kuopio Steelers - Jenkkifutis (in Finnish)
^ ^a ^b Steelers ja poika saunoo nyt! – Vaahteramaljan mestarin syntyjuuret Varkaudesta
^ IL: Kuopio Steelers on Suomen mestari – Vaahteramalja uuteen osoitteeseen (in Finnish)
^ Savon Sanomat: Kuopion Steelers on amerikkalaisen jalkapallon Suomen mestari – Finaalissa kaatui maineikas helsinkiläisjoukkue (in Finnish)
^ YLE: Steelersille toinen mestaruus putkeen – "Lahden stadion on toinen kotikenttämme" (in Finnish)