Henri Aalto (born 20 April 1989) is a Finnish former professional footballer who last played as a defender for Finnish Veikkausliiga club Honka.[2] He began his senior club career playing for Honka and made his league debut at age 19 in 2008. He helped Honka win two successive League Cup titles and the Finnish Cup.

Henri Aalto
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-04-20) 20 April 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Espoo, Finland[1]
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
HooGee
2001–2007 Honka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2014 Honka 143 (8)
2008GrIFK (loan) 10 (0)
2008–2011Pallohonka 22 (8)
2015–2017 SJK 44 (0)
2017–2018 VfB Oldenburg 32 (1)
2018–2023 Honka 109 (3)
Total 360 (20)
International career
2008 Finland U19 5 (0)
2008 Finland U20 1 (0)
2009 Finland U21 8 (0)
Medal record
Honka
Second place Finnish Cup 2008
Second place Veikkausliiga 2008
Second place Veikkausliiga 2009
First place Finnish League Cup 2010
First place Finnish League Cup 2011
First place Finnish Cup 2012
Second place Veikkausliiga 2013
SJK
First place Veikkausliiga 2015
Second place Finnish League Cup 2016
First place Finnish Cup 2016
Third place Veikkausliiga 2016
Second place Finnish Cup 2017
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 April 2023

Club career

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Honka

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Aalto was born in Espoo, Finland, raised in Honka's youth ranks, he made his first team debut on 27 April 2008, at the age of 19, in a match against MYPA.[3] He represented Honka for eight seasons in 140 league matches in which he scored 8 goals.

On 15 March 2015, it was announced that Aalto had signed a contract with SJK.[4] Aalto made his league debut for the club on 19 April 2015, playing all ninety minutes of a 1–0 home victory over RoPS.[5] He spent the 2015 and 2016 Veikkausliiga seasons with the club.

VfB Oldenburg

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In the winter of 2017 Aalto signed a contract with VfB Oldenburg, in the German Regionalliga.[6] Aalto made his competitive debut for the club on 5 February 2017 in a 3–3 draw in the league with Lupo Martini.[7] He scored his first league goal for the club exactly two weeks after he made his debut, with it coming in the 34th minute of a 2–1 league defeat to Weiche Flensburg.[8] He would go on to make 32 league appearances for the club, scoring 1 goal.

Return to Honka

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In July 2018 it was announced that Aalto would return to Honka.[9]

On 19 October 2023, it was announced that Aalton would retire after the end of the 2023 season. He won several honours during his time with the club.[10]

International career

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Aalto has capped 14 matches for various Finland youth teams. He made his debut for the Finland U21 in a match against Estonia U21 on Esport Arena on 11 February 2009 when he replaced Jussi Heikkinen for the second period of the match.[11]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 18 May 2019[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cups[a] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Honka 2008 Veikkausliiga 5 0 0 0 1[b] 0 6 0
2009 Veikkausliiga 13 0 7 0 3[b] 0 23 0
2010 Veikkausliiga 9 1 1 0 1[b] 0 11 1
2011 Veikkausliiga 26 2 5 0 4[b] 0 35 2
2012 Veikkausliiga 30 4 11 0 41 4
2013 Veikkausliiga 25 1 5 1 2[b] 0 32 2
2014 Veikkausliiga 32 0 2 0 2[b] 0 36 0
Total 140 8 31 1 13 0 184 9
GrIFK (loan) 2008 Ykkönen 10 0 0 0 10 0
SJK 2015 Veikkausliiga 21 0 1 0 1[b] 0 23 0
2016 Veikkausliiga 23 0 4 0 2[c] 0 29 0
Total 44 0 5 0 3 0 52 0
SJK Akatemia 2015 Kakkonen 1 0 1 0
Oldenburg 2016–17 Regionalliga Nord 12 1 0 0 12 1
2017–18 Regionalliga Nord 20 0 2 0 22 0
Total 32 1 2 0 0 0 33 2
Honka 2018 Veikkausliiga 12 0 0 0 12 0
2019 Veikkausliiga 23 2 7 0 30 0
2020 Veikkausliiga 14 0 6 0 1[b] 0 20 0
2021 Veikkausliiga 23 0 0 0 4[d] 0 27 0
2022 Veikkausliiga 21 1 7 1 28 2
2023 Veikkausliiga 16 0 4 0 0 0 20 0
Total 109 3 24 1 5 0 138 4
Career total 336 12 77 2 21 0 434 14
  1. ^ Includes Finnish Cup, Finnish League Cup and DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Conference League

Honours and achievements

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Honka

SJK

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "FC Honka". Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  2. ^ "Honkaan palannut Henri Aalto haaveilee mestaruudesta Espoossa – "Se olisi upea päätös kansalliselle uralle"" (in Finnish). YLE. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Veikkausliiga Hall of Fame" (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  4. ^ "SJK ja puolustaja Henri Aalto sopimukseen" (in Finnish). SJK. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  5. ^ "SJK vs. RoPS – 19 April 2015 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Henri Aalto siirtyy Saksaan" (in Finnish). YLE. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  7. ^ "VfB Oldenburg vs. Lupo-Martini – 5 February 2017 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  8. ^ "VfB Oldenburg vs. Weiche Flensburg – 19 February 2017 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Honkaan palannut Henri Aalto haaveilee mestaruudesta Espoossa – "Se olisi upea päätös kansalliselle uralle"" (in Finnish). YLE. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  10. ^ Honka-kapteeni Henri Aalto päättää komean uransa - "Tunnen syvää kiitollisuutta", Veikkausliiga, 19 October 2023
  11. ^ "U21: Suomi kaatoi Viron" [U21: Finland wins Estonia] (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Henri Aalto". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
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Henri Aalto at Soccerway.com