Jussi Nuorela


Jussi Nuorela is a Finnish professional football coach and a former player. He is the manager of VPS in the Veikkausliiga.

Club career

Nuorela began his professional career with Haka in the Veikkausliiga. Besides his native Finland, Nuorela played in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, and Switzerland. He retired from professional playing career after the 2009 season and started as a youth coach at Inter Turku.

International career

Nuorela has made 20 appearances for the Finland national football team, debuting coming in a friendly match against Qatar on 25 January 1994. He scored one goal, in a friendly match against Oman on 18 February 2001.

Coaching career

Nuorela started coaching as a U19 coach for Inter Turku, additionally coaching the club's reserve team Sinimustat. In 2011–12 he served as the head coach of FC Espoo, and in 2013 as an assistant coach of TPS. During 2014–2020, he worked as a youth coach of TPS and Inter Turku.
On 18 June 2021, Nuorela was promoted to the position of the head coach of Vaasan Palloseura in the Finnish second-tier Ykkönen. He led the club to the promotion to the top-level Veikkausliiga at the end of the 2021 season.
In the 2023 Veikkausliiga season, Nuorela led VPS to the record-tying streak of 12 victories, and managed the club to finish 3rd in the league and thus qualifying for the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League qualifiers. He was named the Veikkausliiga Manager of the Month in three consecutive times in July, August and September 2023, and ultimately he was named the Finnish Football Manager of the Year and Veikkausliiga Manager of the Year.

Personal life

His son Josep Nuorela is a footballer playing for VPS, and his younger son Luka plays for VPS U19 youth team.

Career statistics

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
118 February 2001Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat, Oman1–02–1Friendly

Managerial achievements

VPS

Individual