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Aapo Halme

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Finnish footballer (born 1998)

Aapo Halme
Halme with HJK with 2017
Personal information
Full name Aapo Ilmari Halme
Date of birth (1998-05-22) 22 May 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Helsinki, Finland
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
2009–2015 Honka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Honka 1 (0)
2015 Klubi 04 15 (1)
2015–2018 HJK 29 (0)
2018–2019 Leeds United 4 (0)
2019–2022 Barnsley 55 (4)
2022–2024 HJK 27 (3)
International career
2013–2014 Finland U16 5 (0)
2014 Finland U17 10 (1)
2015–2016 Finland U18 9 (0)
2015–2017 Finland U19 7 (0)
2017–2020 Finland U21 18 (0)
Medal record
HJK Helsinki
Third place Veikkausliiga 2015
Second place Finnish Cup 2016
Second place Veikkausliiga 2016
First place Finnish Cup 2017
First place Veikkausliiga 2017
Leeds
Third place EFL Championship 2019
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 October 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:00, 17 November 2020

Aapo Ilmari Halme (born 22 May 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer who most recently played as a centre-back for Veikkausliiga club HJK. He has also represented the Finland national under-21 football team from 2017 to 2020. Halme was born in Helsinki, Finland. He began his senior club career playing for Honka, before signing with HJK Helsinki at age 17 in 2015. He would go on to win the 2017 Veikkausliiga and 2016–17 Finnish Cup.

Formerly an international at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 level. Halme was nominated to Finland´s preliminary UEFA Euro 2020 team but he did not make it to the final squad.

Club career

Early career

Halme started his youth career at FC Honka, making 1 senior appearance before joining Klubi-04, where he made 15 appearances and scored once.

HJK Helsinki

The winners of the 2015 Finnish League Cup HJK Helsinki brought in Halme from Klubi-04 on a three-year deal expiring at the end of the 2018 season as stated in his contractual obligation. He made 29 league appearances over three seasons with the club, scoring once.

Leeds United

On 3 January 2018, Halme signed for Leeds United on a four-year contract for an unknown fee, reported to be around £500,000. He became the fourth Finnish player to sign for Leeds after Sebastian Sorsa, Mika Väyrynen and Mikael Forssell.

However, Halme picked up a serious foot injury during one of his first training sessions at Leeds in January, which was to rule him out for the remainder of the season. After nearly nine months out injured, on 27 August 2018, Halme made his first appearance for the club representing Leeds Under 23's against Queens Park Rangers' Development squad. On 23 November 2018, Leeds' first-team head coach Marcelo Bielsa gave Halme special praise after returning from his long injury layoff. He made his debut the next day in the EFL Championship against Bristol City in a 2–0 win, after being named in the starting lineup after an injury to Pontus Jansson and long-term injuries to Luke Ayling and Gaetano Berardi.

He scored his first goal for Leeds on 6 January 2019 during a 2–1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers in the third round of the FA Cup.

Halme was regularly named as an unused substitute on the bench for the first team squad in the Championship, but still featured regularly for Carlos Corberán's under 23's side that won the 2018-19 Professional Development League Northern Section. They then became the national Professional Development League champions by beating Birmingham City in the final.

Barnsley

On 3 July 2019, Halme joined Championship club Barnsley for an undisclosed six-figure fee. He made his debut for Barnsley on 13 August in a EFL League Cup match against Carlisle United. He scored his first goal for Barnsley in a 2–2 draw with Derby County on 2 October 2019.

Return to HJK

On 25 July 2022 it was announced that Halme had signed a contract with HJK until the end of 2024. He left the club after his contract expired at the end of November 2024.

International career

Finland youth teams

Halme has represented Finland at U16, U17, U18 and U19 levels. He made his debut for Finland U21's on 8 June 2017 against Ukraine U21's. On 23 March 2019, Halme captained Finland U21 to an 8–3 victory against Norway U21.

Finland first team

Halme was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021 but he remained as an unused substitute.

Career statistics

As of match played 25 October 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Honka 2014 Veikkausliiga 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Klubi 04 2015 Kakkonen 15 1 0 0 — — 15 1
HJK 2015 Veikkausliiga 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2016 Veikkausliiga 14 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 18 0
2017 Veikkausliiga 13 0 1 0 — 1 0 15 0
Total 29 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 35 0
Leeds United 2018–19 Championship 4 0 1 1 0 0 — 5 1
Barnsley 2019–20 Championship 32 4 1 0 1 0 — 34 4
2020–21 Championship 18 0 0 0 2 0 — 20 0
2021–22 Championship 5 0 1 0 1 0 — 7 0
Total 55 4 2 0 4 0 0 0 61 4
HJK 2022 Veikkausliiga 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 5 1
2023 Veikkausliiga 7 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 15 0
2024 Veikkausliiga 18 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 23 2
Total 27 3 0 0 1 0 15 0 43 3
Career total 131 8 5 1 7 0 17 0 161 9
  1. Includes Suomen Cup and FA Cup
  2. Includes Finnish League Cup and EFL League Cup
  3. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League
  5. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Conference League

Honours

Club

HJK

References

  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Leeds United" (PDF). English Football League. p. 21. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  2. "Aapo Halme career stats, height and weight, age".
  3. "Aapo Halme - Nieuws, foto's en statistieken".
  4. "Aapo Halme" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  5. "Leeds news: Aapo Halme to complete Elland Road transfer in 'next few days'". Daily Express. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  6. "Huuhkajien leiriryhmään uusi pelaaja" [A new player at the Eagle Owl´s training camp] (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  7. "Aapo Halme ja HJK pitkään jatkosopimukseen". Sportti.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  8. "Aapo Halme jatkaa Klubissa pitkällä sopimuksella" [Aapo Halme and HJK enter into a long-term extension agreement] (in Finnish). HJK. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  9. "Aapo Halme jatkaa Klubissa pitkällä sopimuksella" [Aapo Halme will stay at the Club with a long contract]. urheiluuutiset.com (in Finnish). 2 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  10. "Aapo Halme signs for Leeds United". Leeds United F.C. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  11. Lee Sobot (3 January 2018). "Leeds United: Whites sign up Finland Under-19s centre-back". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  12. "Leeds defender Aapo Halme reveals foot injury is reason for absence". Yorkshire Evening Post. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  13. "U23 report: Leeds United 1-1 Queens Park Rangers". Leeds United. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  14. "Marcelo Bielsa drops Aapo Halme hint with defender 'ready' to make long-awaited Leeds United debut". Yorkshire Evening Post. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  15. "Leeds United vs Bristol City". Leeds United. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  16. "QPR 2–1 Leeds United". BBC Sport. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  17. "'True leader' – Leeds under-23 captain Hugo Diaz impresses the fans once again". The Boot Room. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  18. "Carlos Corberan on what the future can hold for Leeds United's PDL champions". Yorkshire Evening Post. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  19. "Aapo Halme makes Barnsley move". Leeds United F.C. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  20. "'Send him back to Leeds' Barnsley fans fuming after Aapo Halme's nightmare debut in cup upset". LeedsLive. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  21. "Barnsley 2-2 Derby County". BBC Sport. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  22. "Aapo Halme pitkällä sopimuksella Klubiin" [Aapo Halme has signed a long contract with Klubi] (in Finnish). HJK Helsinki. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  23. Aapo Halmeen ja HJK:n sopimus päättyi - toppari ei ole mukana ainakaan joulukuun otteluissa, veikkausliiga.com, 2 December 2024
  24. "Leeds United defender captains international side in huge victory". The72. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  25. "Aapo Halme Huuhkajien mukaan" [Aapo Halme joins the Eagle Owls] (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  26. ^ "A. Halme". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  27. "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  28. "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  29. "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  30. "Games played by Aapo Halme in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 November 2021.

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