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Aapo Halme
Halme with HJK with 2017
Personal information
Full name Aapo Ilmari Halme[1]
Date of birth (1998-05-22) 22 May 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Helsinki, Finland
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
HJK
Number 6
Youth career
2009–2015 Honka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014[3] Honka 1 (0)
2015 Klubi 04 15 (1)
2015–2018 HJK 29 (0)
2018–2019 Leeds United 4 (0)
2019–2022 Barnsley 55 (4)
2022– HJK 19 (1)
International career
2013–2014 Finland U16 5 (0)
2014 Finland U17 10 (1)
2015–2016 Finland U18 9 (0)
2015–2017 Finland U19 7 (0)
2017–2020 Finland U21 18 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 June 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:00, 17 November 2020

Aapo Ilmari Halme (born 22 May 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Veikkausliiga club HJK. He has also represented the Finland national under-21 football team from 2017 to 2020.[4] Halme was born in Helsinki, Finland. He began his senior club career playing for Honka, before signing with HJK Helsinki at age 17 in 2015.[5] He would go on to win the 2017 Veikkausliiga and 2016–17 Finnish Cup.

Formerly an international at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 level. Halme was nominated to Finland´s preliminary UEFA Euro 2020 team[6] but he did not make it to the final squad.

Club career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Halme started his youth career at FC Honka, making 1 senior appearance before joining Klubi-04, where he made 15 appearances and scored once.[citation needed]

HJK Helsinki[edit]

The winners of the 2015 Finnish League Cup HJK Helsinki brought in Halme from Klubi-04 on a three-year deal expiring at the end of the 2018 season as stated in his contractual obligation.[7][8][9] He made 29 league appearances over three seasons with the club, scoring once.[citation needed]

Leeds United[edit]

On 3 January 2018, Halme signed for Leeds United on a four-year contract for an unknown fee,[10] reported to be around £500,000. He became the fourth Finnish player to sign for Leeds after Sebastian Sorsa, Mika Väyrynen and Mikael Forssell.[11]

However, Halme picked up a serious foot injury during one of his first training sessions at Leeds in January, which was to rule him out for the remainder of the season.[12] After nearly nine months out injured, on 27 August 2018, Halme made his first appearance for the club representing Leeds Under 23's against Queens Park Rangers' Development squad.[13] On 23 November 2018, Leeds' first-team head coach Marcelo Bielsa gave Halme special praise after returning from his long injury layoff.[14] He made his debut the next day in the EFL Championship against Bristol City in a 2–0 win, after being named in the starting lineup after an injury to Pontus Jansson and long-term injuries to Luke Ayling and Gaetano Berardi.[15]

He scored his first goal for Leeds on 6 January 2019 during a 2–1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers in the third round of the FA Cup.[16]

Halme was regularly named as an unused substitute on the bench for the first team squad in the Championship, but still featured regularly for Carlos Corberán's under 23's side[17] that won the 2018-19 Professional Development League Northern Section. They then became the national Professional Development League champions by beating Birmingham City in the final.[18]

Barnsley[edit]

On 3 July 2019, Halme joined Championship club Barnsley for an undisclosed six-figure fee.[19] He made his debut for Barnsley on 13 August in a EFL League Cup match against Carlisle United.[20] He scored his first goal for Barnsley in a 2–2 draw with Derby County on 2 October 2019.[21]

Return to HJK[edit]

On 25 July 2022 it was announced that Halme had signed a contract with HJK until the end of 2024.[22]

International career[edit]

Finland youth teams[edit]

Halme has represented Finland at U16, U17, U18 and U19 levels. He made his debut for Finland U21's on 8 June 2017 against Ukraine U21's. On 23 March 2019, Halme captained Finland U21 to an 8–3 victory against Norway U21.[23]

Finland first team[edit]

Halme was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021 but he remained as an unused substitute.[24]

Career statistics[edit]

As of match played 22 June 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] League Cup[b] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Honka 2014[25] Veikkausliiga 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Klubi 04 2015[25] Kakkonen 15 1 0 0 15 1
HJK 2015[25] Veikkausliiga 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2016[25] Veikkausliiga 14 0 1 0 2 0 1[c] 0 18 0
2017[25] Veikkausliiga 13 0 1 0 1[c] 0 15 0
Total 29 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 35 0
Leeds United 2018–19[26] Championship 4 0 1 1 0 0 5 1
Barnsley 2019–20[27] Championship 32 4 1 0 1 0 34 4
2020–21[28] Championship 18 0 0 0 2 0 20 0
2021–22[29] Championship 5 0 1 0 1 0 7 0
Total 55 4 2 0 4 0 0 0 61 4
HJK 2022[25] Veikkausliiga 2 1 0 0 0 0 3[c] 0 5 1
2023[25] Veikkausliiga 7 0 0 0 1 0 7[d] 0 15 0
2024 Veikkausliiga 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
Total 19 1 0 0 1 0 10 0 30 1
Career total 123 6 5 1 7 0 12 0 148 7

Honours[edit]

Club[edit]

HJK

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Leeds United" (PDF). English Football League. p. 21. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Aapo Halme career stats, height and weight, age".
  3. ^ "Aapo Halme - Nieuws, foto's en statistieken".
  4. ^ "Aapo Halme" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Leeds news: Aapo Halme to complete Elland Road transfer in 'next few days'". Daily Express. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Huuhkajien leiriryhmään uusi pelaaja" [A new player at the Eagle Owl´s training camp] (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Aapo Halme ja HJK pitkään jatkosopimukseen". Sportti.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Aapo Halme jatkaa Klubissa pitkällä sopimuksella" [Aapo Halme and HJK enter into a long-term extension agreement] (in Finnish). HJK. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Aapo Halme jatkaa Klubissa pitkällä sopimuksella" [Aapo Halme will stay at the Club with a long contract]. urheiluuutiset.com (in Finnish). 2 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Aapo Halme signs for Leeds United". Leeds United F.C. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  11. ^ Lee Sobot (3 January 2018). "Leeds United: Whites sign up Finland Under-19s centre-back". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Leeds defender Aapo Halme reveals foot injury is reason for absence". Yorkshire Evening Post. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  13. ^ "U23 report: Leeds United 1-1 Queens Park Rangers". Leeds United. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Marcelo Bielsa drops Aapo Halme hint with defender 'ready' to make long-awaited Leeds United debut". Yorkshire Evening Post. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Leeds United vs Bristol City". Leeds United. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  16. ^ "QPR 2–1 Leeds United". BBC Sport. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  17. ^ "'True leader' – Leeds under-23 captain Hugo Diaz impresses the fans once again". The Boot Room. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  18. ^ "Carlos Corberan on what the future can hold for Leeds United's PDL champions". Yorkshire Evening Post. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  19. ^ "Aapo Halme makes Barnsley move". Leeds United F.C. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  20. ^ "'Send him back to Leeds' Barnsley fans fuming after Aapo Halme's nightmare debut in cup upset". LeedsLive. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Barnsley 2-2 Derby County". BBC Sport. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  22. ^ "Aapo Halme pitkällä sopimuksella Klubiin" [Aapo Halme has signed a long contract with Klubi] (in Finnish). HJK Helsinki. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Leeds United defender captains international side in huge victory". The72. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  24. ^ "Aapo Halme Huuhkajien mukaan" [Aapo Halme joins the Eagle Owls] (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g "A. Halme". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  26. ^ "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  27. ^ "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  28. ^ "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  29. ^ "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.

External links[edit]

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