Anssi Jaakkola

Early career

Jaakkola previously played for TP-47 and FC-88. In the January 2007 window, Jaakkola signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Serie A side Siena. He made his Serie A debut by substituting Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos in the 2007–08 season final matchday, a 2–2 home draw with Palermo. In 2009, he was loaned to V.F. Colligiana in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione. He moved to Slavia Prague on free transfer in July 2010, signing a two-year contract with the option of a further year.

Kilmarnock

In January 2011, Jaakkola left Slavia for Scottish Premier League club Kilmarnock, under the management of fellow Finn Mixu Paatelainen. He made his debut as a substitute on 12 February against Hibernian. He then made his first start on 26 February against St Mirren. He left Kilmarnock when his contract expired in the summer of 2013.

Ajax Cape Town

Jaakkola joined South African Premier Soccer League club Ajax Cape Town in August 2013. On 22 September 2013 Jaakkola made his debut in the Premier Soccer League in a match against Polokwane when he came in as a substitute for Brandon Peterson on 57th minute of the match.

Reading

On 11 July 2016, Jaakkola signed a two-year contract with Reading. Jaakkola made his competitive debut for Reading on 8 August 2016, playing the full 90 minutes of Reading's 2–0 EFL Cup victory over Plymouth Argyle. On 7 November 2018 he was awarded as Reading supporters October player of the month. He was released by…

On 30 August 2010 he was selected to represent Finland for European Championship qualification matches against Moldova and Netherlands as a replacement for injured Peter Enckelman. However, he didn't earn any caps. He made his national team debut on 7 June 2011, conceding five goals against Sweden in a 5–0 away loss. He gained his second appearance in the national team on 7 June 2017 when Markku Kanerva announced that Jaakkola would replace Lukáš Hrádecký in a friendly match against Liechtenstein. In May 2021, Jaakkola was named in the provisional-26 man squad for the upcoming delayed UEFA Euro 2020 Championship. Jaakkola was a member of the Finnish squad at the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament but remained as an unused substitute for Lukáš Hrádecký. Finland was placed 3rd in Group B following a 2–0 defeat to Belgium on 21 June 2021.

Jaakkola stepped up into the role of goalkeeping coach in pre-season following the departure of goalkeeping coach Tony Warner to Jaakkola's former club Reading. Throughout the 2022–23 season, he balanced his coaching role with being the back-up goalkeeper, however the January loan signing of Ellery Balcombe allowed him to focus more on his new role. He was offered the position of permanent goalkeeping coach at the end of the season. Following the conclusion of the 2023–24 season, he announced his departure from the club. In September 2024, Jaakkola was announced to have joined National League side Southend United as goalkeeping coach. The move saw him reunite with manager Kevin Maher, whom Jaakkola had previously worked with at Bristol Rovers.

Jaakkola has two daughters and one son. His wife is Scottish.