PEPO Lappeenranta (abbreviated PEPO) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. 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

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also play ...

(Second Division). The chairman of PEPO is Kari Suninen and the men's first team is managed by Janne Muhli.

History

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

Lappee Lappee is an old parish and a 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 Lappeenranta in 1967 together with Lauritsala ...

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 Nelonen () is a Finnish commercial television channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1990 on the HTV cable network (now part of DNA Welho), and changed its name first to PTV4. On June 1, 1997, the channel expand ...

(Fourth Division) and

Vitonen Vitonen or V divisioona is the sixth 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 Swed ...

(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 fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 104 Finnish football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kolmonen (''Number Three'' in En ...

(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 exam ...

coach

Jukka Vakkila Jukka Keijo Olavi Vakkila (2 April 1951, Joutseno) is a Finnish football manager. He coached FC Haka in 1982–1984, 1986–1987, 1993–1996 and FC Jazz FC Jazz is a football club from Pori, Finland. It plays in the Finnish third tier Kakko ...

, 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 ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands 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 ...

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 (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

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

UEFA Regions' Cup The UEFA Regions' Cup is a football competition for amateur teams in Europe, run by UEFA. It was held for the first time in 1999 and has been played biennially since. The 2019 champions are the Lower Silesia team from Poland. The competition was ...

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

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

(the host country),

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. 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

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) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

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 football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

and SO Soest.

Competition

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

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kakkonen (Finnish for 'Number Two' ...

(Third Division) administered by the

Football Association of Finland The Football Association of Finland ( fi, Suomen Palloliitto, abbr. SPL; sv, Finlands Bollförbund) is the governing body of football in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907. The SPL organises the men's and women's national footb ...

. This is the third highest tier in the

Finnish football league system The Finnish football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Finland. The three highest levels are managed by the Finnish FA while the other leagues are managed by the regional departments of the FA. System As of ...

. 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

History

Season to season

Other sports

Facilities

Youth activities

Competition

Current squad

References and sources

Footnotes