Football Season Guide

KuPS finally became champions again in 2024 after finishing as runner-ups in the previous 3 years. Had the fewest defeats during the regular season, only 4 in 22 rounds, and entered the play-offs with a single point lead at the top. Secured 4 play-off wins in 5 matches and this was enough to lift the trophy. It was a year of high-risks high-rewards. KuPS opted to trust several 17-year-olds with key starting roles during the entire season and this worked for them. Matias Siltanen was one of those young stars. He was hugely impactful in midfield. Unfortunately, this winter he left. Followed the title-winning head coach Jani Honkavaara to Sweden. Replaced the head coach that brought them the title with Jarrko Wiss. He took last year off, this after being sacked by Inter Turku in 2023. Before that Wiss managed Ilves for 5 consecutive years. The new manager had to rebuild his entire front line. None of the strikers from last season are still in the team. Going forward the new arrivals Sadiku and Toure will be the main hope up front. Both are young but promising players. Vidjeskog’s departure, as well as that of Siltanen, open issues in midfield. Arifi and Pasanen were signed as replacements. Neither is very good at creating chances though so KuPS might give Jaakko Oksanen and Jerry Voutilainen much larger roles in the middle of the park this season. Added 3 new defenders from their academy in Ghana. All are young players and usually at least one such player becomes a pleasant surprise. The early rounds should see all of them given chance to impress. KuPS still have a solid team but they are short on numbers in attack. Also, it is yet to be seen how the balance between domestic matches and European qualifying matches will be managed once these fixtures begin in June.