Tue 06 July 2021, 17:00
Tottenham HotspurWe are delighted to announce the signing of Tinja-Riikka Korpela.
The goalkeeper has signed a contract with the Club that will run until 2022, with the option to extend for a further year, and will wear the number one shirt for Spurs Women.
The 35-year-old joins after two years with Everton, where she made 21 appearances and helped the Toffees to the 2020 Women’s FA Cup Final.
Born in Finland, Tinja-Riikka began her senior playing career with SC Raisio before joining FC Honka, where she lifted three consecutive league titles between 2006 and 2008. A move to Norway followed in 2010 where she represented Kolbotn and then LSK Kvinner, winning the league title with the latter in 2012, before a spell at Swedish side Tyreso FF in the early part of 2014, where she helped the Stockholm-based outfit reach the Women’s Champions League Final.
Signing for Bayern Munich in the summer of 2014, she claimed two Frauen-Bundesliga titles during three-and-a-half years in Germany before returning to Norway and joining Valerenga in 2018, prior to her move to Merseyside in 2019.
Vastly experienced at international level, Tinja-Riikka has 98 caps for Finland to her name and, having represented them at two European Championships in 2009 and 2013, she has played an important role in their qualification for the next tournament in 2022.
I hope to use my experience from different clubs around Europe and the Finnish national team to help the squad achieve our targets.
Tinja-Riikka said: “I’m very excited to join Spurs, such a big and famous club. I hope to use my experience from different clubs around Europe and the Finnish national team to help the squad achieve our targets. It’s the everyday quality of work that will take us to where we aim to be and I’m very much looking forward to taking part in that. I can’t wait to get started!”
Head Coach Rehanne Skinner said: “We’re really pleased to have ‘Tinni’ with us. She has gained a significant amount of experience both domestically and internationally, and played a huge part in Finland’s qualification for the Euros next year, which is very exciting for them. She is a hard-working, diligent professional who has played in different countries, enabling her to bring a breadth of experience and knowledge to her game. She’s going to add some strong competition to our goalkeeping department and we’re excited to have her on board.”
