Timo Rahja

Timo Rahja

Personal information
Date of birth	(1948-10-09) 9 October 1948 (age 77)
Place of birth	Finland
Position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Pallo-Pojat
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1967–1971	HJK	71	(35)
1972	HIFK	19	(9)
1973–1974	HJK	33	(7)
1974–1975	MVV Maastricht	10	(3)
1975–1976	HJK	27	(1)
1977–1978	OTP	9	(0)
International career
1971–1974	Finland	7	(2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Timo Rahja (born 9 October 1948) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career, he represented HJK Helsinki, HIFK and Oulun Työväen Palloilijat in his native Finland, winning the Finnish championship title with HJK in 1973. In total, he made 169 appearances and scored 52 goals in Finnish top-tier Mestaruussarja. He also played one season in Dutch Eredivisie with MVV Maastricht in 1974–75.

He was capped seven times for the Finland national team, scoring two goals in the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying campaign against Poland and Netherlands.^[1]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[2]

Club	Season	Division	League		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
HJK Helsinki	1967	Mestaruussarja	8	11	2[a]	0	10	11
	1968	Mestaruussarja	8	4	–		8	4
	1969	Mestaruussarja	18	8	–		18	8
	1970	Mestaruussarja	21	6	–		21	6
	1971	Mestaruussarja	16	6	–		16	6
	Total		71	35	2	0	73	35
HIFK	1972	Mestaruussarja	19	9	–		19	9
HJK Helsinki	1973	Mestaruussarja	11	0	–		11	0
	1974	Mestaruussarja	22	7	3[b]	1	25	8
	Total		33	7	3	1	36	8
MVV Maastricht	1974–75	Eredivisie	10	3	–		10	3
HJK Helsinki	1975	Mestaruussarja	9	1	2[c]	0	11	1
	1976	Mestaruussarja	18	0	–		18	0
	Total		27	1	2	0	29	1
OTP Oulu	1977	Mestaruussarja	5	0	–		5	0
	1978	Mestaruussarja	4	0	–		4	0
	Total		9	0	0	0	9	0
Career total			169	55	7	1	176	56

1. Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
2. Appearances in European Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Finland
	1970	1	0
	1971	1	0
	1972	0	0
	1973	1	0
	1974	4	2
Total		7	2

Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rahja goal.

List of international goals scored by Timo Rahja

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	1 September 1974	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Poland	1–0	1–2	UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying
2.	25 September 1974		Netherlands	1–0	1–3	UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying

Honours

HJK

• Mestaruussarja: 1973

References

1. Kannelmäen keskushyökkääjä, eepinen.fi, 6 March 2018
2. Timo Rahja at National-Football-Teams.com