Simo Valakari

Club

Valakari played in the youth sector of Käpylän Pallo (KäPa) in Käpylä, Helsinki, and began his senior career with KäPa first team in 1990 in the fourth-tier Kolmonen. He played also for Kontula-based club KontU in the Finnish second-tier Ykkönen and third-tier Kakkonen, before first moving to Veikkausliiga club FinnPa in 1995 and then to Scottish Premier League club Motherwell in 1996. After four seasons in Scotland, he was off to Derby County in the Premier League. Valakari failed to become a first team regular at Pride Park Stadium and decided to join Dallas Burn for the 2004 MLS season and finished the year with a goal and four assists. Following the 2006 season, his contract was not renewed with the team, known by that time as FC Dallas. Valakari decided to return to Finland for the 2007 Veikkausliiga season, where he signed for TPS, managed by Mixu Paatelainen. He retired from playing in 2009 after several injuries.

International

Valakari was a regular with the Finnish national team during his stay in Europe. He made a total of 32 caps for his country.

Valakari was named manager of Åbo IFK (ÅIFK) in January 2010 and subsequently ended his playing career. He, however returned "home" as he announced his return to Käpylän Pallo as a youth coach after the 2010 season.

SJK

In 2012, Valakari joined Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (SJK) as the head coach. In 2013, he managed the team to gain promotion to the Veikkausliiga and they went on to win the Finnish championship in 2015. The team also won the Finnish League Cup in 2014 and the Finnish Cup in 2016. In the early 2016, he had been linked with Motherwell, but eventually signed an upgraded contract extension with SJK on 10 February 2016. Valakari was dismissed on 17 February 2017, due to disagreement with the club's chairman Raimo Sarajärvi.

Tromsø

He was appointed head coach of Norwegian Eliteserien side Tromsø in June 2017. In 2018, his contract was extended until 2022, but he was fired in April 2020, after the club had suffered a relegation at the end of the 2019 season.

KuPS

In November 2020, Valakari was appointed as the head coach of Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS). Under Valakari, KuPS won two consecutive Finnish Cup titles in 2021 and 2022, and finished as the Veikkausliiga runner-up twice, falling just a one point short to HJK on both occasions. Valakari also led KuPS to the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers on two occasions. In 2021–22, the club reached to the (fourth) play-off round, but was knocked out by Union Berlin. Next year they…

Club

As of 31 December 2020

International

Managerial

As of match played 19 September 2026

Valakari's three sons are also footballers. His oldest son Paavo is a former player and current coach, Onni is playing professionally for San Diego FC, and the youngest one Toivo plays for Käpylän Pallo in Helsinki, Finland. Valakari meditates in his everyday life. In January 2026, St Johnstone launched the club's own lager beer, Simo's Gold, which was named after head coach Valakari.