Jussi Jääskeläinen

MP Mikkeli

Jääskeläinen was born in Mikkeli, and started his football career at Veikkausliiga side MP Mikkeli. He got his big break in the first team following the injury of Esa Viitanen. Jääskeläinen made his debut for the club, starting the whole game and kept a clean sheet, in a 1–0 win against HJK Helsinki on 17 May 1992. He made five more appearances for MP Mikkeli, as the club avoided relegation in the Veikkausliiga. In the opening game of the 1993 season, Jääskeläinen kept another clean sheet, in a 1–0 win against Ilves. He later made more appearances later in the 1993 season, including another clean sheet, in a 5–0 win against Kuusysi on 12 August 1993. At the start of the 1994 season, Jääskeläinen became a first choice goalkeeper for MP Mikkeli. However, the club went on a seven match run without a win in the league. This last until on 12 June 1994 when he helped Mikkeli win 2–1 against TPV, to end the club’s winless streak. Jääskeläinen pulled off another win against HJK Helenski on 7 August 1994 when he helped Mikkeli win 5–1. Jääskeläinen helped the club avoid relegation for the second by collecting five points in the last three remaining matches. At the end of the 1994 season, he went on to make twenty–six appearances in all competitions. In the 1995 season, Jääskeläinen kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league between 21 June 1995 and 6 July 1995. The club, once again, found themselves in a relegation zone but he helped Mikkeli avoid…

Having previously represented Finland levels, Jääskeläinen made his debut for Finland on 25 March 1998 against Malta, having been called up to the national team for the first time. Having not played for Finland for over a year, he picked up his sixth international cap against Norway on 16 August 2000, winning 3–1. Jääskeläinen had to wait until on 20 March 2002 when he earned his eighth international cap, in a 2–0 loss against South Korea. Jääskeläinen was Finland's second choice behind Antti Niemi for years, as he spoke out on becoming the national side’s first choice one day. But after Niemi retired from international football in 2005, Jääskeläinen finally became the Finnish number one. However, he started four out of the six qualifying campaign matches for the national side, as Finland finished fourth place. In a match against Belarus on 1 March 2006, which it went to penalty shootout following a 2–2 draw, Jääskeläinen saved a penalty from Uladzimir Karytska, which led Finland winning 5–4. In the first match of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Poland, he set up a goal for Jari Litmanen, who later scored twice, in a 3–1 win. Jääskeläinen then kept three consecutive clean sheets in the qualifier matches between 7 October 2006 and 15 November 2006. He, once again, kept three consecutive clean sheets in the qualifier matches between 8 September 2007 and 13 October 2007. However, Finland failed to qualify for the UEFA Euro after a goalless draw against Portugal on…

In 2018 he was appointed as the goalkeeper coach at Wrexham by manager Sam Ricketts, a former team-mate at Bolton. Due to the speculation over Ricketts' job, Jääskeläinen, alongside Graham Barrow and Carl Darlington, took charge of Wrexham's second round FA Cup match against Newport County on 1 December. The match finished 0–0, meaning a replay would be played. Two days later, the departure of Ricketts was confirmed, and Barrow was named sole caretaker manager until a replacement was found. He left the club on 7 June 2019. On 1 February 2024, Jääskeläinen started working as a goalkeeping coach of Finnish club PK-35 competing in the second-tier Ykkösliiga.

Jääskeläinen is married to Tessa and together, they have three sons, all of them were born in England. Jääskeläinen's eldest son Will Jääskeläinen plays for Woking FC, in the same position, having left Bolton in August 2017 without making a competitive senior appearance. He wears the shirt number 22, the same that his father did during his time at Bolton. His second son, Emil Jääskeläinen, plays for Sporting JAX of USL Championship. His youngest son, Robin, plays collegiate soccer in the United States. Former Bolton Wanderers’ goalkeeper coach and mentor Fred Barber said about Jääskeläinen: "He's a very modest person, just a nice family man. He loves his wife, loves his children and he's very quiet. But you have to admire him for what he's achieved." Jääskeläinen is close friends with Tepi Moilanen. Growing up in Finland, he followed Liverpool, due to their history and reputation, and idolised Bruce Grobbelaar as the main inspiration for him to become a goalkeeper. Having lived in England since 1997, Jääskeläinen became a fan of cricket, saying about the sport: "Sometimes it lasts a bit too long, but I like the good bits. It's a decent game." Jääskeläinen consider himself an adopted Boltonian during his time at Bolton Wanderers. He also spoke out about getting used to playing football in December; in contrast to his home country’s football schedule. In 2021, Jääskeläinen moved back to Finland after spending 23 years away from the country. Jääskeläinen also took part in…