KuPS – big emotions and football

Competing in the men’s and women’s premier division of football in Finland, Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS) has recently delivered many exciting sports moments for football fans in Kuopio. The women's KuPS team is the twotime reigning Finnish champion and the men's team has secured its place among the top teams of Veikkausliiga, Finland’s premier football league, and has won the Finnish Cup twice in a row. Thanks to their success, both teams have also had a chance to play on international fields.

Football romantics get hyped up ahead of the game whenever KuPS plays on its home turf at Väre Areena. When it comes to football, the fan culture in Kuopio goes back a long way and is growing stronger by the year. One of the team’s supporters is Jouni Nuutinen who says that KuPS has been a part of his life already for four decades.

“Back in the 80s when hardly any of the matches were televised, I started following KuPS through Urheiluruutu. When I moved from Pielavesi to Kuopio in the early 90s, I became an even more active supporter,” says Nuutinen.

Nuutinen does not follow football only as a spectator, but also has experience playing football as a hobby, watching his son's games from field side and coaching KuPS’s neighbourhood team.

“My son now plays on the KuPS 09 team, and football is a big part of our life as a family. We used to go and see KuPS play with my son, but as kids grow up, they don’t want to spend so much time with their dad anymore,” says Nuutinen with a laugh.

Local fan culture and match events have gradually evolved, according to Nuutinen. People living in the region are interested in the local team, which also includes players and personalities who come from the same region. Match days are a social event that people do not want to miss.

“Crowds are drawn in by the atmosphere created by the supporters’ group KPO Crew in the fan section of the stands, which now also has an alcohol license. Folks are singing and the atmosphere gets better year by year. KuPS has given us joyous moments of triumph, as well as big disappointments, but getting to experience and share these feelings with others is just wonderful,” says Nuutinen.

Former Chair of the Board of KuPS Oy Antti Haapakorva agrees. Haapakorva believes that it is the traditions, the community and the joy of sport that encourage people to come and see the matches.

“Whenever KuPS has a home match, the whole family knows that dad will be at the stadium. Few things evoke such a wide range of emotions. True, there have been many disappointments, but the silver in 2010 and the championship in 2019 were such emotional achievements that they were enough to make a grown man tear up. Those are moments I’ll never forget,” says Haapakorva, looking back at recent successes.

This year, KuPS is celebrating its 100-year journey as a sports club. In honour of the anniversary, writer Lasse Lehtinen, who has also held several positions of responsibility in politics and football, has written an anniversary publication that relates the story of KuPS through people and phenomena. According to Lehtinen, KuPS has laid the foundation for its current success over the past years. Things have been done right and the results can now be seen both in the stands and on the field.

“A sports club has to have a soul and a history, a meaning for the people in its home city. Volunteer work and traditions form the basis for more success, if such is in the offing. KuPS has had all this, and that is why the locals of Kuopio have embraced the club and made it their own. To those who have not been to a single KuPS match, my condolences. You have missed out on something beautiful and valuable,” says Lehtinen.