Mika Kottila


Mika Antero Kottila, nicknamed Hirvi, is a Finnish former professional footballer. He played as a forward and spent the vast majority of his career playing in Nordic countries.

Club career

Kottila was born in Vantaa, Finland. He joined RoPS in 1992. He had a spell on loan at Hereford United during the 1996–97 season. He made 13 league appearances, scoring 1 goal.
He then joined HJK Helsinki for the second of three spells, having previously played for the club during the 1994 season. He made 157 appearances and scored 56 goals for the club during his three spells.
The top moment of his career came when he scored two goals for HJK in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 1998.
He joined a Norwegian Tippeligaen club SK Brann for a €500,000 transfer fee, where he was in the 1999 season, and then Sweden to play for Trelleborgs FF. A third spell at HJK followed between 2002 and 2004. He also featured in the 2004 UEFA Champions League playing against the likes of Linfield and Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. in the qualifying rounds.
Between 2005 and 2006 he played for FC Lahti in the Finnish Premier Division.

International career

He was capped 32 times for Finland, scoring seven goals between 1998 and 2004.

Career statistics

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
123 February 2000Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand1–04–2King's Cup
223 February 2000Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand3–04–2King's Cup
315 February 2001Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait1–03–4Friendly
44 January 2002Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain1–02–0Friendly
510 January 2002Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain1–03–0Friendly
610 January 2002Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain3–03–0Friendly
729 January 2003Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago1–12–1Friendly

Honours

HJK
Individual
  • Veikkausliiga top scorer: 2002