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KuPS

Full name	Kuopion Palloseura
Nickname(s)	Keltamusta (The Yellow-black) 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
2024	Veikkausliiga, 1st of 12 (champions)
Website	www.kups.fi
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Kuopion Palloseura, commonly referred to as KuPS, is a Finnish football club based in Kuopio. KuPS competes in Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. The team plays its home matches at Kuopio Football Stadium.

KuPS has won the Finnish championship seven times, the Finnish Cup five times and the Finnish League Cup once. The club is placed fourth in the all-time Finnish Premier League honor table.

History

The club was officially founded on March 16, 1923, at Kuopion Seurahuone. The club was named to Kuopion Palloseura and the abbreviation KPS, which was later changed to KuPS.

The 1920s the club spent mostly by playing friendly games against other local clubs. In the 1930s and early 1940s, the club played second in the highest tier of Finnish football. KuPS was first promoted to Mestaruussarja in 1947 only for a single season. The club was promoted again in 1949 and this time remained in the top tier for 44 seasons.

The first years, KuPS played in black and green shirts with vertical stripes, white pants and black socks. In 1935, the colors were changed to yellow shirt, black pants and yellow and black socks. At the same time, the club's abbreviation changed to KuPS.

The golden decades of KuPS take place between the 1950s and 1970s, when the club won five championships, eight silver and one bronze medal. The club also won its first Finnish Cup championship in 1968.

KuPS played in the top flight without significant success in the 1980s. However, the 1980s ended with the club's second Finnish Cup victory in 1989.

In the 1990s, KuPS was in financial problems and even dropped to the third highest league level. In the early 2000s, KuPS spent seasons in both in the First Division and in Veikkausliiga, where it has played ever since 2008.

In the 2019 season KuPS won its sixth league title, coached by Jani Honkavaara. In 2021 and 2022 the club won its third and fourth Cup titles. In the 2024 season, KuPS won its first-ever double championship, after winning the Finnish Championship and the Finnish Cup titles, led again by coach Honkavaara and captain Petteri Pennanen.

European campaigns

UEFA club competition record

As of 18 July 2023.

Competitions

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Agg.
1959–60	European Cup	Preliminary round		Eintracht Frankfurt	KuPS withdrew
1967–68	European Cup	First round		Saint-Étienne	0–2	0–3	0–5
1969–70	Cup Winners' Cup	First round		Académica de Coimbra	0–1	0–0	0–1
1975–76	European Cup	First round		Ruch Chorzów	0–5	2–2	2–7
1976–77	UEFA Cup	First round		Östers	3–2	0–2	3–4
1977–78	European Cup	First round		Club Brugge	0–4	2–5	2–9
1978–79	UEFA Cup	First round		Boldklubben 1903	2–1	4–4	6–5
		Second round		Esbjerg fB	0–2	1–4	1–6
1980–81	UEFA Cup	First round		Saint-Étienne	0–7	0–7	0–14
1990–91	Cup Winners' Cup	First round		Dynamo Kyiv	2–2	0–4	2–6
2011–12	Europa League	2nd qualifying round		Gaz Metan Mediaș	1–0	0–2	1–2
2012–13	Europa League	1st qualifying round		Llanelli	2–1	1–1	3–2
		2nd qualifying round		Maccabi Netanya	0–1	2–1	2–2 (a)
		3rd qualifying round		Bursaspor	1–0	0–6	1–6
2018–19	Europa League	1st qualifying round		FC Copenhagen	0–1	1–1	1–2
2019–20	Europa League	1st qualifying round		Vitebsk	2–0	1–1	3–1
		2nd qualifying round		Legia Warsaw	0–1	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	5–0	5–1
		2nd qualifying round		Vorskla Poltava	2–2	3–2	5–4
		3rd qualifying round		Astana	1–1	4–3	5–4
		Play-off round		Union Berlin	0–4	0–0	0–4
2022–23	Europa Conference League	1st qualifying round		Dila Gori	2–0	0–0	2–0
		2nd qualifying round		Milsami Orhei	2–2	4−1	6–3
		3rd qualifying round		Young Boys	0–2	0–3	0–5
2023–24	Europa Conference League	2nd qualifying round		Derry City	1–2	3−3	4−5
2024–25	Conference League	1st qualifying round		UNA Strassen	0−0	5−0	5−0
		2nd qualifying round		Tromsø	0−1	0−1	0−2
2025–26	Champions League	1st qualifying round

Season to season

Current squad

As of 4 December 2024. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  AUT Johannes Kreidl 4 DF  CPV Kristopher Da Graca (on loan from Sirius) 6 DF  FIN Saku Savolainen 7 MF  FIN Jerry Voutilainen 8 MF  FIN Petteri Pennanen 9 FW  FIN Jonathan Muzinga 10 FW  BRA Lucas Rangel 11 FW  SWE Ousmane Diawara (on loan from SCR Altach) 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

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF  FIN Seth Saarinen 19 DF  FIN Samu Koistinen 21 FW  FIN Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba 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 — MF  FIN Samuel Pasanen — MF  FIN Eemil Tanninen — DF  FIN Arttu Lötjönen

Out on loan

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

Management

As of 1 May 2023

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 22 October 2024

Name Role Tomi Erola CEO Ari Lahti President Sixten Boström Sporting director

• 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 (7): 1956, 1958, 1966, 1974, 1976, 2019, 2024
  • Runners-up (13): 1950, 1954, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2010, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Third place (3): 1953, 2018, 2020
• Finnish Cup
  • Champions: 1968, 1989, 2021, 2022, 2024
  • Runners-up: 2011, 2012, 2013
• Finnish League Cup
  • Champions: 2006
  • Runners-up: 2024
• Ykkönen (second tier)
  • Champions: 2000, 2004, 2007
• Kakkonen (third tier)
  • Champions: 1998

Managers

• Aaro Heikkinen (1945–57)
• Imre Nagy (1947)
• Martti Kosma (1958)
• Reino Miettinen (1959)
• Veijo Pehkonen (1960)
• Asser Väisänen (1960)
• Aaro Heikkinen (1961–65)
• Gunnar Boman (1966–68)
• Veikko Jokinen (1969–71)
• Unto Nevalainen (1969–71)
• Martti Räsänen (1972–79)
• Matti Terästö (initial term) (1980)
• Jarmo Flink (final season) (1980)
• Ari Savolainen (1981)
• Matti Väänänen (1982)
• Bogusław Hajdas (1983–85)
• Jouko Pasanen (1986)
• Jouko Pasanen (1987)
• Aarre Miettinen (July 1987)
• Heikki Turunen (1988)
• Aarre Miettinen (1988)
• Heikki Turunen (1989)
• Markku Hyvärinen (May 1989)
• Olavi Rissanen (May 1989)
• Martti Räsänen (1990–91)
• Olavi Rissanen (1990–91)
• Martti Räsänen (1992)
• Jouni Jäntti (Sept 1992)
• Markku Hyvärinen (Sept 1992)
• Keijo Voutilainen (Jan 1, 1993 – Dec 31, 1994)
• Hannu Turunen (1995–96)
• Atik Ismail (1995–96)
• Jouni Jäntti (1997–98)
• Ensio Pellikka (1998)
• Heikki Turunen (1999)
• Esa Pekonen (Jan 1, 2000 – Dec 31, 2001)
• Jari Pyykölä (Jan 1, 2002 – June 6, 2003)
• Ismo Lius (June 2003)
• Juha Malinen (Jan 1, 2005 – Dec 31, 2006)
• Kai Nyyssönen (Jan 1, 2007 – June 13, 2009)
• Esa Pekonen (June 14, 2009 – April 24, 2014)
• Marko Rajamäki (May 2, 2014 – 2016)
• Jani Honkavaara (2017–2019)
• Arne Erlandsen (2020)
• Simo Valakari (2021–2023)
• Pasi Tuutti (Jan 19, 2023 – April 20, 2023)
• Jani Honkavaara (April 21, 2023–)

References

1. "Finnish League Premier Division All-Time Tables 1930–2007". rsssf.org Archived 28 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. (March 12, 2008)
2. ^ Karjalainen, Markus & Huttunen, Jouni (2005). Kuopion Palloseura 1923–2004. Kuopion Palloseura.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. ^ "Historia & Saavutukset". KuPS - Kuopion Palloseura (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 April 2024.
4. "Tilastot ja taulukot". KuPS - Kuopion Palloseura (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 April 2024.
5. "Finland – List of League First Level Tables". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
6. "Finland – List of League Second Level Tables". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
7. KuPS. "KuPS miehet edustusjoukkue 2023". kups.fi. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
8. Edustusjoukkueen rakennus etenee, on aika kiittää pois lähteviä pelaajia
9. "KuPS miehet edustusjoukkue 2021" (in Finnish). KuPS. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
10. "Simo Valakari on KuPS:n uusi päävalmentaja". kups.fi. Retrieved 5 November 2020.

External links

• Official website (in Finnish)
• Banzai – Supporters of KuPS, club's website (in Finnish)

• Kuopion Palloseura
• Association football clubs established in 1923
• Football clubs in Finland
• Sport in Kuopio
• 1923 establishments in Finland