 | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Valeri Popovitch" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Popovitch with Ilves in a charity match in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Valeri Aleksandrovich Popovitch | ||
| Date of birth | (1970-05-18) 18 May 1970 (age 54) | ||
| Place of birth | Gorky, USSR | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker, Attacking midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986 | Khimik Dzerzhinsk | 3 | (1) |
| 1987 | Lokomotiv Gorky | 3 | (0) |
| 1988–1989 | CSKA Moscow | 25 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | Spartak Moscow | 10 | (0) |
| 1992–1993 | TPV | 48 | (26) |
| 1994 | Ilves | 12 | (3) |
| 1994–2008 | Haka | 323 | (170) |
| 1995–1996 | → Ikast (loan) | 6 | (3) |
| 1999–2000 | → Heerenveen (loan) | 18 | (6) |
| 2009 | HJK | 16 | (3) |
| 2010–2012 | Ilves | ? | (?) |
| International career | |||
| USSR U-17 | |||
| USSR U-19 | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010–2012 | Ilves (player-coach) | ||
| 2012 | Haka (youth coach) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Valeri Aleksandrovich Popovitch (Russian: Валерий Александрович Попович; born 18 May 1970) is a Russian former football forward. Popovitch is the all-time scoring leader of FC Haka. After his contract ended with HJK in 2010, he joined Ilves Tampere playing in Kakkonen, as a player-coach, signing a two-year contract. Currently he is a youth coach at FC Haka. Popovitch also holds the Finnish citizenship.
He has also capped several times for Soviet U-17 and U-19 National football teams. U-17 finished third in the 1986 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, and U-19 won the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in 1988. Popovitch played in both tournaments.
Popovitch played for FC CSKA Moscow in Soviet First League and FC Spartak Moscow in the Soviet Top League.
Legacy
Popovitch holds a legendary status in Finland and especially in Valkeakoski, where his regarded as one of the best players ever to play for FC Haka. FC Haka retired his number, 14. During his career, he made 395 appearances and scored 166 goals in Finnish top-tier, making him the top scorer in the Veikkausliiga history.
His son Anton Popovitch is also a professional footballer, currently playing for Ilves.
References
- Interview with Valeri Popovitch eurosport.ru
- "Popovich Valeriy Aleksandrovich". KLISF. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
| Finnish Football Hall of Fame | |
|---|---|
| 1993 | |
| 1994 | |
| 1996 | |
| 1997 | |
| 2003 | |
| 2005 | |
| 2007 | |
| 2010 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | |
| 2021 | |
| 2022 | |
| 2023 | |
| 2024 | |
| Veikkausliiga top scorers | |
|---|---|
|
| Ilves (football) – managers | |
|---|---|
|
- 1970 births
- Living people
- Footballers from Nizhny Novgorod
- Finnish men's footballers
- Soviet men's footballers
- Soviet Top League players
- Veikkausliiga players
- Eredivisie players
- Danish Superliga players
- PFC CSKA Moscow players
- FC Spartak Moscow players
- SC Heerenveen players
- FC Haka players
- Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players
- FC Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod players
- Ikast FC players
- Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark
- Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
- Russian emigrants to Finland
- FC Haka managers
- Men's association football forwards
- Men's association football midfielders
- FC Khimik Dzerzhinsk players
- Russian football managers
- Russian expatriate sportspeople in Finland
- Russian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
- Russian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
- Ilves (football) managers
- Ilves (football) non-playing staff