KuPS
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| Full name | Kuopion Palloseura |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) |
Keltamusta (The Yellow-blacks) Kanarialinnut (The Canaries) |
| Founded | 1923 |
| Ground |
Savon Sanomat Areena Kuopio |
| Capacity | 5,000 |
| Chairman | Ari Lahti |
| Manager | Jani Honkavaara |
| League | Veikkausliiga |
| 2015 | 9th |
| Website | Club home page |
Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the 8th most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. 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.
KuPS has won the Finnish championship 5 times, the Finnish Cup 2 times and the Finnish League Cup once. KuPS also holds the Finnish club record of the most consecutive seasons in the top flight, from 1949 to 1992. The team is placed fourth in the all-time Finnish premier league honour table.
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 16th 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.
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