Joel Perovuo

Joel Iljits Perovuo (born 11 August 1985) is a Finnish football coach and a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently an assistant coach of Honka. Besides Finland, he also played in Sweden and Poland.^[1]

Joel Perovuo

Perovuo with Honka in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Joel Iljits Perovuo
Date of birth	(1985-08-11) 11 August 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth	Helsinki, Finland
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Honka (assistant coach)
Youth career
0000–2004	EPS
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2009	Honka	100	(10)
2010–2011	Djurgården	33	(1)
2011–2013	HJK	58	(4)
2014	Jagiellonia Białystok	4	(0)
2014	Jagiellonia Białystok II	7	(0)
2014	HJK	10	(0)
2015–2019	Honka	117	(12)
2020	Gnistan	15	(1)
Total		344	(27)
International career
2010	Finland	2	(0)
Managerial career
2025–	Honka (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Perovuo with Djurgården in 2011

Perovuo began his career with Espoon PS in the youth side, before moving to FC Honka. He gradually became an important player in the Honka team. In December 2009, Djurgården announced that Perovuo had signed with the Swedish team.^[2]

On 12 August 2011 it was announced that Perovuo had signed for the reigning Finnish champions, HJK, for 2+1⁄2 years. He made his debut for HJK on 18 August as he came on as a substitute in a 2–0 home victory over Schalke in the Europa League playoff-round.

In 2015, Perovuo returned to FC Honka after the team was relegated to Kakkonen due to financial problems.

International career

On 11 October 2009, Perovuo was called up by the Finland national team. He made his first appearance for Finland at senior level in a 0–2 friendly loss against South Korea on 18 January 2010. He was in the starting line-up, but was replaced by Paulus Arajuuri in the 84th minute.^[3]

Career statistics

As of 1 September 2024.^[4][5]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup[a]		League cup[b]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Honka	2004	Ykkönen	6	1	–		–		–		6	1
	2005	Ykkönen	13	0	–		–		–		13	0
	2006	Veikkausliiga	21	0	–		–		–		21	0
	2007	Veikkausliiga	15	3	1	0	–		4[c]	0	20	3
	2008	Veikkausliiga	20	2	3	0	–		6[d]	0	29	2
	2009	Veikkausliiga	25	4	2	2	6	0	4[e]	1	37	7
	Total		100	10	6	2	6	0	14	1	126	13
Djurgården	2010	Allsvenskan	23	1	1	0	–		–		24	1
	2011	Allsvenskan	10	0	1	0	–		–		11	0
	Total		33	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	35	1
HJK Helsinki	2011	Veikkausliiga	11	1	1	0	0	0	2[e]	0	14	1
	2012	Veikkausliiga	25	1	1	0	8	1	6[f]	1	40	3
	2013	Veikkausliiga	21	2	2	0	4	1	2[g]	0	29	3
	Total		57	4	4	0	12	2	10	1	83	7
Jagiellonia Białystok	2013–14	Ekstraklasa	4	0	2	0	–		–		6	0
Jagiellonia Białystok II	2013–14	III liga	7	0	–		–		–		7	0
HJK Helsinki	2014	Veikkausliiga	10	0	2	0	0	0	5[e]	0	17	0
Honka	2015	Kakkonen	24	6	1	0	–		–		25	6
	2016	Kakkonen	21	0	4	1	–		–		25	1
	2017	Ykkönen	28	6	5	0	–		–		33	6
	2018	Veikkausliiga	23	0	5	0	–		–		28	0
	2019	Veikkausliiga	23	0	5	0	–		–		28	0
	Total		119	12	20	1	0	0	0	0	139	13
Gnistan	2020	Ykkönen	15	1	5	0	–		–		20	1
Career total			345	28	41	3	18	2	29	2	433	35

1. Includes Suomen Cup, Svenska Cupen and Polish Cup
2. Includes Finnish League Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
4. Appearances in UEFA Cup
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
7. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

HJK^[6]

• Veikkausliiga: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
• Finnish Cup: 2011, 2014