KTP’s previous season at the highest league level even spawned threats from the fans towards the team. The goal for next season is to stay in the Veikkausliiga.
Olli-Pekka Toivanen,
Maija Tuunila,
Aleksi Taponen
KTP secured their return to the Veikkausliiga in last Sunday’s match. The team defeated Mikkeli Ballolijat 5–0.
KTP is promoted to the Veikkausliiga for the third time in a few years from the second highest league level. Last season, the team was relegated from the Veikkausliiga at the end of a losing streak.
– Maybe the third time will tell the truth, that we will stay in the Veikkausliiga this time, says KTP’s director of sports Niko Ikävalko.
According to Ikävalko, the only goal for next season is that KTP also stays in the Veikkausliiga.
A simple plan for next season
Ikävalko thanks both the team and the team’s head coach Jonas Nyholmia for this “great job”.
– Nyholm has made the team weld together well. We have players who have been playing together for a long time. We were able to complete this frame so that, as a whole, we were the best in the series.
KTP’s poor success last season made angry supporters even send personal threats to the team’s management.
It is descriptive that last season’s head coach Juha Malinen arrived at the final match of the previous regular season escorted by security guards.
Ikävalko believes that he now knows better what is required for the team to stay in the Veikkausliiga.
– When building the team, we focus on different things than before. We are trying to build a strong middle lane. We need experience and the right types.
A KTP fan hopes that the team has learned from its mistakes
KTP fan To Timi Roka the promotion of the team to the Veikkausliiga is already a recurring tradition every second autumn.
interviewed Rokka last Friday, before KTP’s return to the Veikkausliiga was confirmed.
– It is difficult to stay in the Veikkausliiga, because the level difference between the League and the First League is growing all the time. Staying in the league requires a huge investment in the team, says Rokka.
KTP’s background company Kotkan Futis oy is going through a share issue, with 2,000 shares for sale at a price of one hundred euros each.
Chairman of KTP Jukka Mustonen said on Monday morning that 1,600 shares have already been traded.
– Now that there has been a successful share issue, the team should be invested in such a way that it stays in the league and learns from previous mistakes, Rokka commented.
In recent weeks, the club’s owners have been joined by president Sauli Niinistö and the Kotka striker of the Finnish national football team Huuhkajie Teemu Pukki.
Rokka is a KTP shareholder himself.
– It’s nice to go to the general meeting. He doesn’t know if he would sit at the same table with Niinistö and Puki, he laughs.
In the last game, records will be broken
KTP is promised half a million euros from the Veikkausliiga for next season. Getting the economy to balance after being relegated from the league is challenging, says Niko Ikävalko.
– However, we have always been able to accumulate euros, which have enabled us to build a competitive team. Hopefully we will be able to increase the budget so much that we will not be at the tail end of the League.
According to Ikävalko, the team composition for next season is already underway. Head coach Jonas Nyholm continues in his position.
The team is also looking for new players. Some of the candidates have already been contacted.
– The goal for next season’s starting line-up is for 3-4 players to be locked up and another 2-3 players to be added to the team in February-March 2025, says Ikävalko.
In its last match of the regular season, KTP will meet TPS at Arto Tolsa Arena on October 19. The team goes into the match with the goal of breaking the First League series record, Ikävalko reveals.
– We have scored 74 goals this season. Haka scored 76 goals recently, so we are going to hunt for three goals.