Riihimäki Cocks

Finnish handball club

Riihimäen Cocks

Full name| Käsipalloseura Riihimäen Cocks
Short name| Cocks
Founded| 1973; 51 years ago (1973)
Arena| Cocks Areena, Riihimäki
Capacity| 2,500
President| Jari Viita
Head coach| Bojan Županjac
League| SM-liiga
Club colours|
Website
Official site

Riihimäki Cocks (Finnish: Riihimäen Cocks) is a Finnish professional handball club from Riihimäki. The club is playing in the Finnish Handball League (SM-liiga), and play their home matches in Cocks Areena.

Riihimäki

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Location of Riihimäki Cocks

## History[edit]

Riihimäki Cocks were founded in 1973 when the club decided to separate from RiPS. The newly founded team gained promotion to Finnish Handball League during the following season. The team won their first Championship medals in 1978, when the team finished second in the championship. Riihimäki Cocks got their first Finnish handball championships in 2007 and repeated the success in 2008. Cocks also won the Finnish Cup in 2007 and 2008, winning the double two times consecutively. So far, the club is a total of 12 champions and 11 cup winners.

## Crest, colours, supporters[edit]

### Kit manufacturers[edit]

Period  | Kit manufacturer

|

\- 2011  |  Puma
2011 - 2017  |  Adidas
2017 - 2018  |  Hummel
2018 - present  |  Macron

### Kits[edit]

HOME

2010–11

2011–13

2013–14

2017–18

## Sports Hall information[edit]

Home hall: Cocks Areena

* Arena: \- Cocks Areena
* City: \- Riihimäki
* Capacity: \- 2500
* Address: \- Hj. Elomaan katu 4, 11130 Riihimäki, Finland

## Team[edit]

### Current squad[edit]

Squad for the 2023–24 season[1]
Riihimäki Cocks

Goalkeepers

* 33  Eetu Nokkala
* 55  Gergő Miklós
* 87  Vitalii Shitsko

Left Wingers

* 09  Niko Hållman
* 15  Teemu Tamminen (c)
* 26  Julius Kemppainen
* 32  Joona Tamminen

Right Wingers

* 03  Nuno Miguel Santos
* 72  Vili Mattila

Line Players

* 17  Yury Lukyanchuk
* 25  Santeri Vainionpää
* 44  Davor Basarić

Left Backs

* 06  Jaka Špiljak
* 08  Dániel Fekete
* 84  Miika Kaukoranta

Central Backs

* 21  Albin Järlstam
* 34  Kemal Hamzić
* 51  Roope Ahlgren

Right Backs

* 23  Vitalie Nenita
* 24  Urho Viita
* 99  Pavel Duda

|

### Technical staff[edit]

* Head coach:  Bojan Županjac
* Coach:  Kai Elomaa
* Physiotherapist:  Timo Heino
* Masseur:  Tero Masalin

### Transfers[edit]

Transfers for the 2023–24 season

Joining

* Kemal Hamzić (CB) from  ADC Guadalajara
* Gergő Miklós (GK) from  Fejér B.Á.L. Veszprém[2]
* Dániel Fekete (LB) from  NEKA[3]
* Jaka Špiljak (LB) from  Anorthosis Famagusta H.C.
* Albin Järlstam (CB) from  Junior Fasano

Leaving

* Igor Mandić (LB) to  Sélestat Alsace Handball
* Oreste Vescovo (RW) to  Sélestat Alsace Handball
* Edson Imare (LB) to  Villeurbanne Handball
* Nicolas Gauthier (GK) to  JS Cherbourg
* Luka Brkljačić (CB) to  Grand Besançon Handball
* Dmitrii Kholmov (GK) to  Grand Besançon Handball
* Teimuraz Orjonikidze (LB) to  GRK Ohrid
* Piotr Rybski (CB)

|

## Previous squads[edit]

2018–2019 Team

Shirt No  | Nationality  | Player  | Birth Date  | Position
2 |  Belarus | Viktar Zaitsau |  (1992-08-27) 27 August 1992 (age 31) | Left Back
8 |  Finland | André Udd |  (1996-06-05) 5 June 1996 (age 27) | Left Back
9 |  Ukraine | Oleksandr Kyrylenko |  (1986-06-21) 21 June 1986 (age 37) | Central Back
15 |  Finland | Teemu Tamminen |  (1987-08-27) 27 August 1987 (age 36) | Left Winger
17 |  Belarus | Yury Lukyanchuk |  (1990-01-05) 5 January 1990 (age 34) | Line Player
18 |  Serbia | Bojan Županjac |  (1983-10-16) 16 October 1983 (age 40) | Left Winger
19 |  Finland | Roni Syrjälä |  (1995-03-28) 28 March 1995 (age 28) | Right Winger
20 |  Russia | Andrei Novoselov |  (1986-08-25) 25 August 1986 (age 37) | Right Winger
22 |  Finland | Nico Rönnberg |  (1992-04-14) 14 April 1992 (age 31) | Left Back
23 |  Moldova | Vitalie Nenita |  (1987-06-04) 4 June 1987 (age 36) | Right Back
29 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | Saša Puljizević |  (1989-12-22) 22 December 1989 (age 34) | Central Back
30 |  Finland | Kalle Alander |  (1995-06-13) 13 June 1995 (age 28) | Goalkeeper
31 |  Russia | Victor Kovalenko |  (1982-01-13) 13 January 1982 (age 41) | Central Back
32 |  Lithuania | Giedrius Morkunas |  (1987-11-07) 7 November 1987 (age 36) | Goalkeeper
33 |  Finland | Theo Westerlund |  (1996-07-30) 30 July 1996 (age 27) | Right Back
44 |  Serbia | Davor Basarić |  (1990-11-03) 3 November 1990 (age 33) | Line Player
55 |  Belarus | Aliaksandr Tsitou |  (1986-10-28) 28 October 1986 (age 37) | Line Player
87 |  Russia | Vitalii Shitsko |  (1987-09-09) 9 September 1987 (age 36) | Goalkeeper
2015–2016 Team

Shirt No  | Nationality  | Player  | Birth Date  | Position
3 |  Finland | Jani Tuominen |  (1992-01-30) 30 January 1992 (age 31) | Left Winger
4 |  Finland | Antti Valo |  (1983-12-28) 28 December 1983 (age 40) | Right Winger
5 |  Russia | Kiril Morozov |  (1988-03-11) 11 March 1988 (age 35) | Goalkeeper
7 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mirza Mimič |  (1988-06-11) 11 June 1988 (age 35) | Right Back
9 |  Finland | Kristian Jansson |  (1986-04-14) 14 April 1986 (age 37) | Central Back
11 |  Moldova | Gheorghe Safronii |  (1986-01-21) 21 January 1986 (age 37) | Left Back
15 |  Finland | Teemu Tamminen |  (1987-08-27) 27 August 1987 (age 36) | Left Winger
17 |  Belarus | Yury Lukyanchuk |  (1990-01-05) 5 January 1990 (age 34) | Line Player
18 |  Finland | Andreas Rönnberg |  (1983-12-27) 27 December 1983 (age 40) | Central Back
19 |  Finland | Roni Syrjälä |  (1995-03-28) 28 March 1995 (age 28) | Right Winger
20 |  Russia | Andrei Novoselov |  (1986-08-25) 25 August 1986 (age 37) | Right Winger
21 |  Finland | Robin Sjöman |  (1992-08-25) 25 August 1992 (age 31) | Line Player
22 |  Finland | Nico Rönnberg |  (1992-04-14) 14 April 1992 (age 31) | Left Back
23 |  Moldova | Vitalie Nenita |  (1987-06-04) 4 June 1987 (age 36) | Right Back
30 |  Finland | Kalle Alander |  (1995-06-13) 13 June 1995 (age 28) | Goalkeeper
31 |  Russia | Victor Kovalenko |  (1982-01-13) 13 January 1982 (age 41) | Central Back
47 |  Belarus | Andrei Kaliarovich |  (1993-08-18) 18 August 1993 (age 30) | Left Back
85 |  Finland | Niko Leikama |  (1985-09-24) 24 September 1985 (age 38) | Left Winger
87 |  Russia | Vitalii Shitsko |  (1987-09-09) 9 September 1987 (age 36) | Goalkeeper

## Retired numbers[edit]

BK-46 retired numbers

N°  | Nationality  | Player  | Position  | Tenure
4 |  | Antti Valo | Right Winger | 2002–2017

## Honours[edit]

* Finnish Handball League: 12
* Gold: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
* Silver: 1978, 1979, 2005, 2011, 2023
* Bronze: 1998, 2000, 2006, 2012, 2022

* Finnish Cup of Handball: 11
* Gold: 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023

* Baltic Handball League : 4
* Gold: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
* Silver: 2010, 2013, 2015
* Bronze: 2014

## EHF ranking[edit]

As of 6/12/2023[4]
Rank | Team | Points

|
|

82 |  HC Zubří | 69
83 |  Põlva Serviti | 69
84 |  Chekhovskiye Medvedi | 64
85 |  Riihimäki Cocks | 63
86 |  CB Ademar León | 63
87 |  CSM Constanta | 62
88 |  Drammen HK | 61

## Former club members[edit]

### Notable former players[edit]

* Nico Rönnberg (2013–2020)
* Roni Syrjälä (2012–2022)
* Teemu Tamminen (2004–)
* Antti Valo (2002–2017)
* Igor Mandić (2022–2023)
* Aliaksandr Bachko (2016–2018)
* Yury Lukyanchuk (2015–)
* Aliaksandr Patsykailik (2018)
* Evgeny Semenov (2019–2021)
* Aliaksandr Tsitou (2016–2021)
* Viktar Zaitsau (2017–2019)
* Nikola Kedžo (2021–2022)
* Marius Aleksejev (2013–2015)
* Stefano Arcieri (2020-2021)
* Nils Kreicbergs (2019–2020)
* Ignacy Bąk (2020–2021)
* Piotr Rybski (2022–2023)
* Mircea Muraru (2007–2009)
* Aleksandar Gugleta (2019–2020)
* Ivan Mošić (2020–2021)
* Mykhaylo Krivchikov (2014–2015)

### Former coaches[edit]

Seasons | Coach | Country

|
|

2001–2003  | Jan Rönnberg |
2003–2004  | Pekka Peper |
2004–2006  | Markku Tuomi |
2006–2011  | Raivo Laast |
2011–2012  | Toni Kallio |
2012–2016  | Kaj Kekki |
2016–2020  | Gintaras Savukynas |
2020  | Kaj Kekki |
2020  | Boris Dvoršek |
2021  | Kaj Kekki |
2022  | Lasse Boesen |
2022–2023  | Christophe Viennet |
2023–  | Bojan Županjac |

## References[edit]

1. ^ https://ehfec.eurohandball.com/men/2023-24/clubs/details/0vFrzVk046SVZW0al590Tg/riihimaen-cocks/
2. ^ https://24.hu/sport/2023/05/09/miklos-gergo-kezilabda-riihimaen-cocks-atigazolas/
3. ^ https://szegedma.hu/2023/05/fekete-daniel-a-finn-elvonalban-folytatja
4. ^ "Eurotopteam, classement européen des clubs de Handball".

## External links[edit]

* Official website
* Riihimäki Cocks on Facebook