Kuopio Palloseura’s attendance record can be broken when the team plays for the men’s Finnish football championship in Kuopio on Saturday.
If KuPS beats HJK, it will surely celebrate its seventh SM gold. Even a draw or a loss is enough if Tampereen Ilves does not win its own final match.
In this article, we will tell you how KuPS plans to safely bring up to 9,000 people to a stadium with less than 5,000 spectators.
The situation is exceptional. The average audience for KuPS’ home matches this season is just under 3,200 people. At most, there have been more than 4,100 spectators in a single match.
KuPS’s current audience record was set in October 2021, when there were 7,890 spectators in the KuPS-HJK final match of the season. KuPS then had to settle for silver.
By Wednesday afternoon, more than 6,600 tickets had been sold for Saturday’s match.
Can the match be sold out?
KuPS has not yet made a decision on how many people can be admitted to the stadium. Some kind of pain point is the club’s sales and marketing manager To Tero Taipale around 9,000 viewers.
– However, the ceiling has not been set yet. Ultimately, that conversation will be with the police.
How has the safety of the spectators been taken care of?
More stewards have been recruited for the match than ever before in KuPS home matches. The exact number of supervisors is not made public.
KuPS has defined the match as a so-called high-risk match. The reasons are the large number of spectators, the game day on the weekend and the opponent HJK.
The risk of disorder is somewhat reduced by the fact that HJK no longer has a game-like contribution to the match. It wins the bronze, no matter how the match ends.
According to KuPS’s current information, approximately 100–200 HJK supporters will arrive for the game, compared to, for example, around 450 three years ago.
Eastern Finland’s police have also reserved resources for investigating possible traffic and order disturbances caused by the match.
Which stands can you still get tickets for?
The seats in the central court, i.e. the main stand, the end stand and the wooden sun stand, were sold out weeks ago.
Tickets are still available for the stands opened for Saturday’s match at the end of the scoreboard and in front of the sunstand.
Where can you get sausage, coffee or beer? And where can I go to the bathroom?
There are more kiosks, refreshment points and baja houses than usual.
– Bajajajos are prepared to order even more, if necessary, so that there is no snake exhibition, says Tero Taipale.
The basic principle is that the viewer would get the services they need from the area where they are watching the match.
You should still be prepared for queues – especially if you’re hungry, thirsty or have a bathroom emergency at halftime of the match.
– I believe that the service level is at least reasonable, if not even a reasonable plus, says Tero Taipale.
KuPS’s own points of sale will not be enough, and according to Taipalee, stall holders have been asked, even market vendors.
– I have sent a message to entrepreneurs who have a similar stall that they could bring it here.
How early should you arrive at the stadium and where can you get in?
KuPS recommends arriving at the match in good time. The gates open at 4 p.m., that is, two hours before the start of the match.
If possible, you should leave your car at home or park it further away, as there are limited parking spaces near the stadium.
KuPS also organizes bus transportation from the city center to the match.
Due to the construction work around the central field, the stadium has only used the main entrance this season, but now there is a separate entrance on the side of the sunstand. The away supporters have their own way from the end towards the scoreboard.
Is it possible to watch the match for free somewhere?
You can watch the match live on tv2 or Areena.