Kari Ukkonen

Personal information
Kari Ukkonen
Full name	Kari Ukkonen
Date of birth	February 19, 1961 (1961-02-19) (age 47)
Place of birth	Kuopio, Finland
Height	182 cm
Playing position	defender-midfielder
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1979-1982 1982-1986 1986-1987 1987-1991 1991-1993 1993-1996	KuPS Cercle Brugge SC Lokeren Anderlecht Antwerp LB Châteauroux	107 (16) 32 (8) 38 (3) 39 (1)
National team²
	Finland	59 (4)
Teams managed
	Finland (youth coach) Turun Palloseura
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 January 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 30 January 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Kari Ukkonen (born February 19, 1961 in Kuopio) is a Finnish former football player and current football manager. As player, Ukkonen was fielded as defender as well as midfielder.

Ukkonen represented Finland at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Three years later, he earned his first cap for Finland in a 1-1 draw against Poland. The same year, Ukkonen was voted Finnish Footballer of the Year by sports journalists and the Football Association of Finland.

In between, in 1982, Ukkonen had moved from Finland to Belgium, when he was bought by Cercle Brugge. Ukkonen made his Belgian début on November 13, when Cercle defeated SV Waregem with 2-1. Ukkonen would go on to win the Belgian Cup with Cercle in 1985. Ukkonen would spend most of his career in Belgium, also playing for other First division teams as SC Lokeren, Anderlecht and Antwerp. Ukkonen ended his playing career with French side LB Châteauroux. He stayed in football as coach. First he was coach of Finland's national youth team. He was head coach of Finland at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Argentina. His next job was manager of Turun Palloseura.