Ilmari Niskanen

Ilmari Niskanen was part of the Finland squad at UEFA Euro 2024. He played in the qualification playoffs and in the group-stage matches. His international career began on 3 September 2020 with a UEFA Nations League match against Wales. By mid-2025 he had won 25 caps and scored once.

The route there ran through Kuopio. Niskanen started out at Kiuruveden Palloilijat and PK-37, then joined KuPS in 2013. Early on he went out on loan, first to PK-37, where he scored nine goals in 22 appearances, and later to KuFu-98. He stayed with KuPS until 2020 and made 186 appearances for the senior side, scoring 26 goals. In 2019 he won the Veikkausliiga with the club. He was named the league's Player of the Month in August 2019 and again in July 2020.

He left Finland in September 2020 for FC Ingolstadt 04, who paid €350,000, and played 20 times for them. In August 2021 he moved to Scotland and joined Dundee United for the same fee. He played 53 matches there and scored twice.

Exeter City signed him on 15 August 2023. He made 119 appearances and scored five goals. In his first season he won the club's Community Champion award. His best stretch came in the autumn of 2024. He was Exeter's Player of the Month in October, then took both Player of the Month and Goal of the Month in December. That month he was also nominated for the Sky Bet League One Player of the Month.

Exeter released him at the end of the 2025–26 season. On 1 July 2026 he joined Blackpool on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract with an option for a third year.