PEPO Lappeenranta (abbreviated PEPO, earlier Uus-Lavolan Peli-Pojat) is a Finnish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club from Uus-Lavola,

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

. The club was formed in 1958 and their home ground is at the Kimpinen Sports Centre. The men's first team currently plays in the

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. Until the end of 2023, ''Kakkonen'' was the third-highest level in Finland, but after the creation of new second-t ...

. The chairman of PEPO is Kari Suninen and the men's first team is managed by Tero Nieminen .

History

PEPO's inaugural meeting was held at the Lavola School in

Lappee Lappee is an old parish and a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland in the South Karelia region, originally in the Viipuri Province and after the Second World War, the Kymi Province. It was consolidated with Lapp ...

municipality on 12 November 1958. The name of the club was chosen as Uus-Lavolan Peli-Pojat at the first annual general meeting of the club held on 30 November 1958. The first official match played by the club was at the Vanha kenttä against Lauritsalan Pallokerho on 10 May 1959. During the 1970s and 1980s PEPO played in the lower divisions of the Finnish football system in the Nelonen (Fourth Division) and

Vitonen Vitonen or V divisioona is the seventh level in the Finnish football league system and comprises 228 teams. The V divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Vitonen (''Number Five'' in English and ''Femman'' in ...

(Fifth Division). Between 1973 and 1975 the club also ran a women's team. In 1987 the men's team were promoted to the

Kolmonen Kolmonen or III divisioona is the fifth level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 108 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mi ...

(Third Division) but their visit lasted only one year. In the mid-1990s PEPO changed league several times playing in the Nelonen in 1994, Kolmonen in 1995, Kakkonen (Second Division) in 1996 before returning to the Kolmonen again in 1997. The 1996 season proved a big disappointment in the Kakkonen when despite a good start with three wins and a draw there followed a downturn, which not even the former

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

coach Jukka Vakkila, who came to coach Markku Timonen's aid, could stop. PEPO played their second season in the Kakkonen in 2001 in the Eastern Group and finished in the tenth position which was the final relegation position. In 2002 the club reached the sixth round of the

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League ...

which was the highest attained by a club playing in Kolmonen or below. PEPO lost 5–0 at home to Premier Division side

Haka Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the f ...

but the reward for their achievement was to be Finland's representative in the

UEFA Regions' Cup The UEFA Regions' Cup is a association football, football competition for Amateur sports#Association football, amateur teams in Europe, run by UEFA. It was held for the first time in 1999 UEFA Regions' Cup, 1999 and has been played biennially sinc ...

, an amateur tournament, in which they faced the teams from

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

(the host country),

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. PEPO lost their three tournament games with a goal difference of 3–12. In January 2009 PEPO merged with the Rakuunat youth organisation Rakuunat Juniorit. As a result of the merger also the Rakuunat Juniorit women's team playing in the Kakkonen (Second Division) moved under the auspices of PEPO. In 2009 the men's team again tasted success by winning their Kolmonen group and gaining promotion back to the Kakkonen.

Season to season

http://www.finlandfootball.net/ *2 seasons in ''

'' *9 seasons in ''

Other sports

PEPO selected

as the main sporting activity soon after the establishment of the club. However, the club played

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

for 39 years until 1999 when the ice hockey section was relocated to PEPO Hockey.

Facilities

The club's training centre is located in Sammonlahti, a western district of Lappeenranta. The training centre provides grass and artificial turf pitches. Since 2009 the men's team has played their home games at the Kimpinen Sports Centre in the Kimpinen district. A heated artificial turf pitch next to the South Karelia Vocational School in the Lepola district and the Sammonlahti Sports Hall are used during winter. Until the 2000s PEPO's home ground was in Tapavainola.

Youth activities

PEPO has a strong youth section. This position was further strengthened by the merger with Rakuunat Juniorit at the beginning of 2009, which has created one of the biggest soccer teams in the area administered by the South-East regional office of the Football Association of Finland. In addition to the men's and women's teams PEPO currently has 8 boys' teams and 3 girls' teams. Another important constituent is the close association with Lappee JK, a sister club that fields PEPO's reserve team in the Nelonen (Fourth Division) and an under-17 team. PEPO has received numerous recognitions including the Seal of the Young Finland Association for the quality of their youth work. The club has employed a full-time youth head coach since 2002 and a youth director since 2009. The club has extended its international links with cooperation ties with

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; ) is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was establi ...

and SO Soest.

Competition

PEPO's men's team are competing in Group C of the

(Third Division) administered by the

Football Association of Finland The Football Association of Finland (, SPL; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football and futsal in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907. The SPL organises the Finland national football team, men's and Finland women's ...

. This is the third highest tier in the Finnish football league system. In 2009 PEPO finished in first position in the South-East group of the

(Fourth Division). PEPO's women's team are competing in Group A of the Kakkonen (Second Division) administered by the

Current squad

References and sources

Official WebsiteSuomen Cup

Footnotes

{{Reflist Football clubs in Finland Sport in Lappeenranta 1958 establishments in Finland Association football clubs established in 1958