Editing Simo Valakari (section)

==Playing career==
===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, Helsinki|Kontula]]-based club [[FC Kontu Itä-Helsinki|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 F.C.|Motherwell]] in 1996. After four seasons in Scotland, he was off to [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] in the [[FA Premier League|Premier League]].

Valakari failed to become a first team regular at [[Pride Park Stadium]] and decided to join [[Dallas Burn]] for the 2004 [[Major League Soccer|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]].<ref>Carrick, Buzz. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120206022611/http://3rddegree.matchnight.com/thirdindex.cfm?page=article&show=20192 "FCD to Cut Ties with Simo Valakari"], ''3rd Degree'', 15 December 2006, Retrieved 15 December 2006.</ref>

Valakari decided to return to Finland for the 2007 [[Veikkausliiga]] season, where he signed for [[Turun Palloseura|TPS]], managed by [[Mixu Paatelainen]]. He retired from playing in 2009 after several injuries.

===International===
Valakari was a regular with the [[Finland national football team|Finnish national team]] during his stay in Europe. He made a total of 32 caps for his country.