KuPS

Full name	Kuopion Palloseura
Nickname(s)	Keltamusta (The Yellow-blacks) Kanarialinnut (The Canaries)
Founded	1923; 101 years ago (1923)
Ground	Väre Areena Kuopio
Capacity	5,000 (2,700 seated)
Chairman	Ari Lahti
Manager	Jani Honkavaara
League	Veikkausliiga
2023	Veikkausliiga, 2nd of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club based in Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga.

KuPS has won the Finnish championship six times, the Finnish Cup 4 times and the Finnish League Cup once. KuPS holds the Finnish club record of the most consecutive seasons in the top flight, from 1949 to 1992. In addition, KuPS holds the Veikkausliiga club record streak of 33 games without losses, achieved in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.^[1] The team is placed fourth in the all-time Finnish Premier League honour table.^[2]

The team plays its home matches at Savon Sanomat Areena. Until June 2005, KuPS used to play at an aged track and field stadium in Väinölänniemi, which is said to be one of the most beautiful sporting places in Finland. Väinölänniemi is a cape surrounded by a local lake, Kallavesi.

History

1923–1949 Early History

One of the first sports clubs in Kuopio to adopt football was Kuopion Reipas who made the sport an official part of their program in 1915. Reipas was a general athletic society which competed in a wide variety of sports like track and field, gymnastics, skiing as well as team sports like bandy. After the Finnish Civil War of 1918 the differing interests of the disciplines began to cause friction within the club which resulted in the club gradually breaking apart during the 1920s. Among the clubs that emerged from Reipas was KuPS, officially founded on March 16, 1923, at Kuopion Seurahuone. Ali Rautakorpi was elected as the club's first chairman. Other sports participated in by the club during its early years were pesäpallo, tennis and bandy.

The 1920s KuPS spent mostly by playing friendly games against other local clubs. First major breakthrough came in 1930 when KuPS won the Savo district championship thereby earning promotion to B-sarja, the second tier of Finnish football at the time, where they remained until 1947 when they were promoted to Mestaruussarja for the first time. KuPS's first stint in the Finnish top division lasted only a single season, but they were promoted again in 1949 and this time remained in the top division for 44 seasons.

Season 2005

KuPS returned to the top flight for the 2005 season after a year in the First Division (Ykkönen). They finished the 2005 season in 10th place, easily avoiding the relegation play-off (13th place) and direct relegation (14th place).

Season 2006

On 1 April 2006 KuPS beat reigning Veikkausliiga champions, MyPa 1–0 in the semi-final of the Finnish League Cup and secured a place in the Finnish League Cup Final. On 12 April 2006 in Finnair Stadium, Helsinki KuPS beat FC KooTeePee 2–1 in the League Cup Final and ended their 17-year run without titles. However, the club ended the 2006 season in last place, and was once again demoted to Ykkönen for the 2007 season. This resulted in manager Juha Malinen being replaced by his former player/assistant manager Kai Nyyssönen.

Reserve team, KuPS Akatemia (tr: KuPS Academy) played in the Second Division Group A (Kakkonen lohko A), but the team was terminated in December 2006 to cut costs and as a replacement, an agreement with Kings Kuopio, which plays also in the Second Division was signed.

In December 2006, it was revealed that the team was heavily in debt and about to go bankrupt. KuPS fans held their breath, until a Helsinki-based CEO of an Investment bank ICECAPITAL, also a former chairman of the Board of the Veikkausliiga, Ari Lahti increased his stake at the club to ca. 95% and saved the club.

Season 2007

After escaping imminent destruction, season 2007 began with reasonably low expectations. A target to achieve promotion back to top flight in two years was set.

Manager Kai Nyyssönen lured his former team-mate Harri Ylönen back to strengthen the team and to serve as an assistant manager. The duo lured in Roope Reinikainen, Ilja Venäläinen and Miikka Turunen, who also returned to their former home club. Jussi Hakasalo from JJK Jyväskylä and Tero Mäkäläinen from MyPa were new names.

Because of relegation KuPS lost its prized assets, Sierraleonese players, Patrick Bantamoi to FC Inter Turku and Medo to HJK. KuPS and Ghanaian midfielder Seth Ablade parted their ways earlier, with Ablade terminating his contract.

Season 2007 started well with mostly local players. The team suffered a run of draws in the mid-season, but by winning their last six games with their main opponent RoPS of Rovaniemi at the same time losing its lead, KuPS won the league Ykkönen and went straight back. RoPS also achieved a promotion, by winning a promotion play-off against 13th-place finisher of Veikkausliiga, FC Viikingit.

2010-present

KuPS qualified for the UEFA Europa League after finishing second in the Veikkausliiga. They were drawn against Romanian side Gaz Metan Medias in the second qualifying round. Ilja Venäläinen gave KuPS a 1–0 lead going into the second leg in Romania, but the Finnish side fell 2–0 in Mediaș, ending their first European run in 21 years.

In the 2012-13 season, KuPS once again qualified for the Europa League. They beat Welsh side Llanelli in the first qualifying round, before pulling off a shock win against Maccabi Netanya. They fell in the next round to Turkish side Bursaspor, in what was the club's most successful European campaign ever.

KuPS solidified themselves as a mid-table Ykkonen side during the mid 2010s, and began to push for European places again towards the end of the decade, returning to the Europa League in the 2017 season, although their campaign ended almost immediately, with a loss to Copenhagen in the first round.

In the 2019 season KuPS won their first Finnish top-flight title since 1976. They played in the Champions League for the first time in their history next season.

European campaigns

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Score	Agg.
1959–60	European Cup	Preliminary round		Eintracht Frankfurt	KuPS withdrew
1967–68	European Cup	First round		Saint-Étienne	0–2, v 0–3	0–5
1969–70	Cup Winners' Cup	First round		Académica de Coimbra	0–1, v 0–0	0–1
1975–76	European Cup	First round		Ruch Chorzów	0–5, v 2–2	2–7
1976–77	UEFA Cup	First round		Östers	3–2, v 0–2	3–4
1977–78	European Cup	First round		Club Brugge	0–4, v 2–5	2–9
1978–79	UEFA Cup	First round		Boldklubben 1903	2–1, v 4–4	6–5
		Second round		Esbjerg fB	0–2, v 1–4	1–6
1980–81	UEFA Cup	First round		Saint-Étienne	0–7, v 0–7	0–14
1990–91	Cup Winners' Cup	First round		Dynamo Kyiv	2–2, v 0–4	2–6
2011–12	Europa League	2nd qualifying round		Gaz Metan Mediaș	1–0, v 0–2	1–2
2012–13	Europa League	1st qualifying round		Llanelli	2–1, v 1–1	3–2
		2nd qualifying round		Maccabi Netanya	0–1, v 2–1	2–2 (a)
		3rd qualifying round		Bursaspor	1–0, v 0–6	1–6
2018–19	Europa League	1st qualifying round		FC Copenhagen	0–1, v 1–1	1–2
2019–20	Europa League	1st qualifying round		Vitebsk	2–0, v 1–1	3–1
		2nd qualifying round		Legia Warsaw	0–1, v 0–0	0–1
2020–21	Champions League	1st qualifying round		Molde	0–5
	Europa League	2nd qualifying round		Slovan Bratislava	1–1 (4–3 p)
		3rd qualifying round		Sūduva	2–0
		Play-off round		CFR Cluj	1–3
2021–22	Europa Conference League	1st qualifying round		Noah	0–1, v 5–0	5–1
		2nd qualifying round		Vorskla Poltava	2–2, v 3–2	5–4
		3rd qualifying round		Astana	1–1, v 4–3	5–4
		Play-off round		Union Berlin	0–4, v 0–0	0–4
2022–23	Europa Conference League	1st qualifying round		Dila Gori	2–0, v 0–0	2–0
		2nd qualifying round		Milsami Orhei	2–2, v 4−1	6–3
		3rd qualifying round		Young Boys	0–2, v 0–3	0–5
2023–24	Europa Conference League	2nd qualifying round		Derry City	1–2, v 3−3	4−5
2024–25	Conference League	1st qualifying round

UEFA club competition record

As of September 17, 2022.

Season to season

^[3][4]

Current squad

As of 23 January 2024. ^[5][6] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUT Johannes Kreidl 2 DF  NED Justin Bakker 6 DF  FIN Saku Savolainen 7 MF  FIN Jerry Voutilainen 11 FW  FIN Pyry Lampinen 12 GK  FIN Aatu Hakala 13 MF  FIN Jaakko Oksanen 15 DF  CIV Ibrahim Cissé 16 DF  FIN Samuli Miettinen 17 MF  FIN Arttu Heinonen 18 DF  FIN Seth Saarinen 19 DF  FIN Samu Koistinen

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 FW  FIN Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba 23 FW  NGA Paul Okungkoya 24 FW  FIN Onni Viljamaa 25 DF  GHA Clinton Antwi 26 MF  FIN Axel Vidjeskog 28 MF  FIN Matias Siltanen 30 MF  FIN Lauri Sahimaa 31 DF  FIN Tatu Hukkanen 33 DF  FIN Taneli Hämäläinen 34 MF  FIN Otto Ruoppi 38 DF  FIN Tony Miettinen — FW  FIN Jonathan Muzinga

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Management

As of 1 May 2023^[7][8]

Name Role Jani Honkavaara Head coach Sixten Boström Assistant coach Joonas Pöntinen Goalkeeping coach Mika Lähderinne Conditioning coach Viki Savonen Analyst Joonas Ojantie Physiotherapist Janne Pesonen Doctor Sami Miettinen Kit Manager

Boardroom

As of 28 September 2019

Name Role Jarmo Heiskanen CEO Jonne Lindblom Sporting director Ari Lahti President

• 
  Ilja Venäläinen trailed by Klubi-04's Sakari Mattila (2007)
• 
  Jonni Heikkinen escapes from a PK-37 player in Finnish Cup 5th Round, 2006
• 
  Miikka Turunen near the corner flag in Finnish League Cup, 2008
• 
  Arto Lindberg trying to keep Tuomas Haapala away

Honours

• Mestaruussarja/Veikkausliiga
  • Champions (6): 1956, 1958, 1966, 1974, 1976, 2019
  • Runners-up (10): 1950, 1954, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2010, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023
• Finnish Cup
  • Champions: 1968, 1989, 2021, 2022
  • Runners-up: 2011, 2012, 2013
• Finnish League Cup
  • Champions: 2006
• Ykkönen (second tier)
  • Champions: 2000, 2004, 2007
• Kakkonen (third tier)
  • Champions: 1998

Managers