Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat (abbreviated as KTP) 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 based in

Kotka Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...

, and currently competing in Finland's top-tier, the

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

. The club was founded in 1927 and its colours are green and white. Immediately after its formation the club joined the

Finnish Workers' Sports Federation The Finnish Workers' Sports Federation (, ''TUL'', , ''AIF'') is a Finland, Finnish amateur sports organization founded in 1919. In addition to the competitive sports, TUL focuses on youth activities and youth education as well as offering activit ...

, to which it still belongs. KTP play its home matches at

Arto Tolsa Areena Arto Tolsa Areena is a football stadium in Kotka, Finland. It is the home stadium of Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat (KTP). The stadium holds 4,780 and was inaugurated in 1952 for the Helsinki Olympics. The stadium's record attendance was made du ...

History

KTP had a long football traditions centred on its golden age in the early 1950s when the club won two Finnish championships in 1951 and 1952. They also won 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 ...

four times, the most recent occasion being in 1980. The club, playing in the renamed

, were participating in the

as recently as 2000, but were relegated to

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for 'Number One'; , previously I divisioona) is the third highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga and Ykkösliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. Until ...

and finally went into bankruptcy. The club re-formed and played in the lower divisions before gaining promotion to 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 ...

in 2007. They spent two seasons in the Kakkonen but were relegated in 2009. In 2010, the club are playing in 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 ...

and was promoted to Kakkonen where they played 2011–2013. 2593b8dabe8e3cc9aa35cb764e0d9f76-d33kxzc

Season 2014, KTP finished second in Ykkönen, and promoted to Finnish top league Veikkausliiga in season 2015. However, after a difficult 2015 Veikkausliiga season, club finished 11th in the league, and had to play a promotion play-off against PK-35. After two disappointing performances, the club lost on aggregate 3–2, and were relegated back to Ykkönen. The all-time Championship appearances and leading goal scorer of KTP is

Arto Tolsa Arto Vilho Tolsa (9 August 1945 – 30 March 1989) was a Finnish footballer. Career Tolsa started his career in his hometown of Kotka, playing for Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat. He was promoted to first team as a 16 year old for 1962 second ...

with 126 goals in 201 matches.

Formation of FC KTP

During December 2013 a merger took place, as part of which

FC KooTeePee FC KooTeePee was a Finnish football club. History Originally, FC KooTeePee was founded as a reserve team of Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat (KTP, founded 1927). In the year 2000, it became an independent club. At that time, Kotkan Työväen Pal ...

adopted the name of FC Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat. As of the 2014 season the merged club were allowed to retain

's place in the

. Since the start of 2022, a former KTP forward

Niko Ikävalko Niko Ikävalko (born 24 April 1988) is a Finnish retired footballer who played as a forward. He is currently the sporting director of Ykkösliiga club Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat (KTP).sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

of the club's first team.

Supporters and rivalries

KTP is one of the most supported clubs in Finland. Closest rival is MYPA. Distance between the two cities is little over 30 kilometres. However, when MYPA went bankrupt, the two clubs have not faced each other for many years. During December 2017 and January 2018, KTP sold 2273 season tickets, which is the all-time record in the Finnish First Division.

Stadium

The home venue of the KTP is Arto-Tolsa Arena. It was opened in 1952 and was known as the Kotkan Urheilukeskus, but in 2000 the full renovation of the stadium, the name was changed to the Arto Tolsa Arena. At the beginning of the 2015 season, the pitch was converted to an artificial playing surface. In fall 2023 KTP started demolish the old wooden stand and replace it with a new modern seated stand. The renovation was completed at the beginning of 2024 season.

Honours

European campaign

KTP have played in Europe on one occasion in the Cup Winners' Cup in the 1981–82 season, having won the Finnish Cup in 1980.

Divisional Movements since 1930

Top Level (25 seasons): 1948–58, 1963–69, 1979–83, 1999–2000, 2015
Second Level (15 seasons): 1943/44, 1959–62, 1970–72, 1978, 1984, 1994–98, 2014, 2016, 2018-
Third Level (16 seasons): 1973–77, 1985–93, 2008–09, 2011–2013, 2017
Fourth Level (7 seasons): 2002–07, 2010
Fifth Level (1 season): 2001

Season to season

Club records

* Most Championship (SM-sarja) matches:

, 201 games between 1963 and 1981 * Most goals in Championship (SM-sarja):

, 126 goals in the years 1963–1981 * Most goals in one season in Championship (SM-sarja) league matches: Arto Tolsa, 26 goals in season 1964 * Home Match attendance record: 6,325 spectators in a match in 1981 against

Kuopion Pallotoverit Koparit (originally Kuopion Pallotoverit, or KPT for short) was a football club from Kuopio, Finland. It was founded in 1931 and disbanded in 1990. The club played a total of 21 seasons in the Finnish premier division Mestaruussarja between 1938 ...

* Biggest win a Championship (SM-sarja) match: 8–0 home to Valkeakosken Haka in 1952 * Biggest defeat in a Championship (SM-sarja) match: 1–8 away to

Turun Palloseura Turun Palloseura, commonly known as TPS, is a professional association football, football club based in Turku, Finland. Since 2024, the men's team competes in Ykkösliiga, the second highest tier. Nicknamed "''Tepsi''", the club was founded i ...

in 1969

Attendances since 1994

Current squad

On loan

Management and boardroom

Management

Boardroom

First team managers since 1980

References

External links

* *

Finnish Wikipedia The Finnish Wikipedia () is the edition of Wikipedia in the Finnish language. With articles, it is currently the -largest Wikipedia and the largest Wikipedia in a Uralic language. Wikipedia is the only encyclopedia in Finnish which is still upda ...

Suomen Cup
(archived 4 January 2009)
KTP Fans Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotkan Tyovaen Palloilijat Football clubs in Finland Tyovaen Palloilijat 1927 establishments in Finland Association football clubs established in 1927 Sport in Kymenlaakso