Atski Lehtonen played center forward for Helsingin Ponnistus from 1931 until 1933, at which point he switched to local rival Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (HJK). It was with this club that he developed into an excellent forward, winning the scoring title of the championship series for five consecutive years, 1935-39. In 1936 and 1938 he won two football championships with HJK, while in 1937 he scored 25 goals in 14 matches. During his career Lehtonen scored 109 goals in the Finnish League Championship. The 1936 Olympic match at Berlin was his first for the national team, in which, contrary to his normal position, he played left wing. Lehtonen also played two qualifiers for the 1938 World Cup, and through 1941 earned 19 caps, scoring 7 goals and finishing his career in 1947, after which he became coach of the Finnish national team. During the last two years with HJK he had already acted as player-coach. Lehtonen remained national coach until 1955, leading the team in 51 matches including the 1952 Olympics. From 1956-58 he coached his previous club HJK, while in 1959 he was brought up as national coach again and was responsible for the team for an additional 19 matches.
In addition to football. Lehtonen played bandy for HJK, winning the 1937 Finnish championship. He also excelled in handball (also for HJK) and basketball (for Karhun Pojat). After his career he lived in Hyvinkää, renowned for its railway tradition, where Lehtonen worked for the railway company from 1956-77. He also wrote for the weekly sports magazine Urheilulehti and translated books on football coaching into the Finnish language. He was inducted into the Finnish Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Finland