Laajasalon Palloseura

Laajasalon Palloseura (abbreviated LPS) is a football club from Laajasalo, Helsinki in Finland. The club was formed in 1978 and their home ground is at the Laajasalon urheilupuisto. The men's first team currently plays in the Kolmonen (Third Division). The Chairman of LPS is Timo Viheriäranta.

Background

The club held their inaugural meeting on 11 September 1978 and 14 people attended who were interested in football. For the early part of their history LPS spent many seasons in the lower divisions of the Finnish football league. In 2003 LPS won their Kolmonen section and subsequently played 10 consecutive seasons in the Kakkonen (Second Division), the third tier of Finnish football from 2004 before being relegated in 2013. The most successful season was in 2007 when LPS finished fourth in their section.

The club finished 5th, 4th and 5th in the first three years back in Kolmonen. 2017 was looking to be another frustratingly inconsistent year after picking up 7 points from the first 4 games only to go on an incredible run of 16 consecutive wins, which saw them go into the penultimate round of the season on October 1, 4 points ahead of league rivals and second place NJS, who were the last team to stop them winning in a 0–0 draw on May 12. A shock 4–0 defeat against TuPS still had them 1 point ahead, with the final match a home tie against Reipas who ended up finishing a distant 3rd, 19 points behind LPS.

LPS trailed 2–0 at half-time but managed to recover to 2–2 in the 84th minute, only to have a man sent off a minute later and unable to find the third goal to win the game and win the league. LPS were promoted to the Kakkonen in 2nd place but would return to the Kolmonen immediately, finishing bottom of the league. Upon return to the Kolmonen, the highest league finishes were third in 2019 and 2022, but both some way off the league winners, 15 and 10 points away respectively.

Season to season

Club Structure

LPS currently has 4 men's teams for competitive soccer and 2 men's teams for hobbysoccer. For women LPS has one competitive soccer team and one team for hobbysoccer. In addition there is a junior section with at least 2 boys teams per age group and girls teams from 2011 down, providing football for approximately 900 youngsters. The club runs a soccer school at summer and a school for juniors to improve their soccerskills.

The most successful junior team is the 2010 Boys team that plays at the second highest level in Finland, in 1st Division (Ykkönen) starting Spring 2025.

Lower Level Teams

The second ranked men's team is Höna who play in the Nelonen (4th Division). The Kuninkaat who currently play under the flag of LPS play in the Vitonen (5th Division) as well as the Reservi, formed in 2024, which acts as an Under 20 and reserve team to the main First Team. In their first season, they won promotion to the Vitonen, remaining undefeated through the whole season.

2025 season

LPS Men's Team are competing in Group C of the Kolmonen (Third Division) administered by the Helsinki SPL. This is the fifth highest tier in the Finnish football system.

LPS / 2 are participating in Group 3 of the Nelonen (Fourth Division) administered by the Helsinki SPL.

LPS / Kuninkaat are participating in Group 4 and LPS / Reservi in Group 5 of the Vitonen (Sixth Division) administered by the Helsinki SPL.

Current Squad for the 2012 season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

References and sources

• Finnish Wikipedia

Footnotes