Career
Haapala has previously played for Football Club Lahti (2000-2003) and MyPa (2004-2005) in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. After an excellent 2005 season, Haapala was invited for a trial with Manchester City. After two weeks at the club, manager Stuart Pearce decided to offer him a contract to the end of the 2005-2006 season.
However, Haapala failed to break into the first team, and made only reserve team appearances.
After his long try-out in Manchester he signed for Sandefjord Fotball. In August 2007 he joined HJK Helsinki.
After three seasons with HJK, Haapala joined Tampere United for the season 2010, which was his last year as a professional football player. Haapala played his first game for the Finnish national team on 12 October 2005 against Estonia.