FC Kuusysi
FC Kuusysi is a football club in Lahti, Finland. Its men's team is currently playing in the fourth tier of Finnish football, and its women's team is playing in Kakkonen. The homeground of FC Kuusysi is Lahden kisapuisto.
Synopsis
The club was founded in 1934 with the name Lahden Pallo-Miehet. It used this name until 1963, when the name was changed into Upon Pallo, having by then a connection with UPO, a white goods company from Lahti. Six years later the name was again changed, into Lahti-69, which soon was moulded into Kuusysi. When this later was adopted as the official name of the club, it was natural that another nickname soon came to be used, this time Kyykkä.The club has won five men's Finnish championships, four times when the top flight was still called Mestaruussarja, and once during Veikkausliiga. It has also twice won the Finnish Cup. Their best result in European competitions is the quarterfinals of the 1985–86 European Cup.
After the 1996 season, the men's team merged with that of Reipas Lahti, giving rise to the current club FC Lahti.
In 9 September, 2024, after signed a merger agreement, whereby the operations of Reipas Lahti and Kuusysi will be transferred to FC Lahti, the club was announced, that it will henceforth be known as FC Lahti/69.
History
Founding of the club
The first club to begin to play football in Lahti was Lahden Ahkera, which started its team in 1908. However, they had little activity during the first years, and the team really picked up only after the independence of Finland in 1917. In 1922, Ahkera played its first official match, in which it lost to the Kouvolan Urheilijat Ball Men, the score being 1–3. In 1931 Ahkera decided to begin a separate section for football, after which football activity in the vicinity began to pick up, when Ahkera played against the other clubs of the town. Three years later the pressure for founding a specialised club for football began to increase, and thus in the spring of 1934 there was a meeting in a café called Häme in Lahti, in which a proper football club was founded. After a meeting that lasted two hours, a new club was founded, with the name Lahden Pallo-Miehet. The newly founded club decided to put special emphasis on football propaganda directed at boys.Lahden Pallo-Miehet played its first official match in July 1934 against Heinolan Isku. It ended in a goalless draw, in front of some 500–600 spectators. In August, the club faced the third team of Helsingin Palloseura of Helsinki and lost to them, the score being 10–1. However, in the next match the club met with its first victory. A year after its founding, the club already had 300 members, although this figure also included those who played bandy, which was the winter sport of the club.
First medal achieved with boys' A team
For the 1936 season, the Pallo-Miehet team was given a face lift, in that it now consisted of younger players than before. Soon the previous dismal results gave way to losses in matches in which the team did have a chance, and it also achieved a few wins. For the 1939 season, it was decided to expand the Suomensarja, or second level of football in Finland, and Pallo-Miehet was accepted into this competition. The club participated in the Western section, group 2, of this competition, where it played 12 matches and finished sixth, second from bottom. In the twelve matches, the team managed to win two, both of them against Heinolan Isku from neighbouring Heinola. After the Winter War, the number of the teams was reduced, and Pallo-Miehet was left outside of the competition.Although the men's team thereafter did not compete in the top level competitions in the country, the club had success in A boys' competition. In the 1948 season, the Finnish championship for this age group was decided in a cup format competition. The team of Pallo-Miehet, called the Maila-Pojat, won its matches in the early rounds against a team from Käpylä, a Helsinki residential neighbourhood, and against Myllykosken Pallo. In the semi-finals, faced HJK Helsinki, a match that they won 1–0 on penalties. The final was played in Pori, against the local club Porin Kärpät. Maila-Pojat already had a 0–2 lead, but in the end they lost with a scoreline of 4–2. The men's team in the meanwhile had found themselves in a play-off match about relegation from the provincial series to a district series, and it was decided to let the A boys' team try their hand, in an attempt to see if they would do better than the men's team. The boys lost by one goal, and thus the Pallo-Miehet men's team was relegated to the a district series.
Pallo-Miehet expected that the A boys would eventually propel the club into success in men's competitions, but this did not happen. The A boys' team soon disintegrated, and the key players joined Reipas Lahti, now relocated from Viipuri, as that club had been promoted into 1950 Suomensarja. However, this turned out to be only a French visit, and ended in relegation, and at the same time, Maila-Pojat were not able to achieve a promotion to the provincial series. However, in 1955 they at last did succeed in this.
Promotion into Suomensarja
The manager of the Finland national football team, Kurt Weinreich joined the coaching team of Pallo-Miehet before the 1957 season. Under Weinreich's influence, less emphasis was put on fielding strikers, and the season began with clear victories. During the last round of matches, Pallo-Miehet faced HPK of Hämeenlinna. HPK only needed a draw in order to gain promotion, whereas only a win would do for Pallo-Miehet. The match ended with 2–1 for the Lahti team, which thus was promoted to 1958 Suomensarja.After the promotion into the Suomensarja, the president of the club announced that the next goal was promotion into the Mestaruussarja, i.e. 'Championship Series.' However, during the following season, the club fielded mostly minors in the men's team, and did not acquire players from any other sources. At the end of the season, the club was left seventh in the series, and was the last team to avoid relegation. However, during the seasons that followed, the Pallo-Miehet was consistently found to be one of the best teams in the series. After the 1959 season, Pallo-Miehet was transferred to the eastern section of Suomensarja, instead of the western section, where their local rivals Reipas Lahti also played. Both teams were among the best in this competition, and at the end of the season Reipas achieved promotion into the Mestaruussarja. In the 1962 and 1963 seasons, Pallo-Miehet came second in the eastern section, but they did not gain promotion into the Mestaruussarja.
Financial difficulties and evolving into Upon Pallo
Although the club had considerable success in sports, it found itself in great financial difficulties. In the autumn of 1963, the debts of the club had reached 11 000 Finnish Marks. This situation grew worse due to the clubs activities in ice hockey, which it had begun at the beginning of that decade, and it was suggested that the club abandon this sport. Pallo-Miehet then turned to the white goods company UPO, and after some negotiations, the company decided to overtake the club in October 1963. In the following month the name of the club was changed into Upon Pallo.The support from UPO made it possible for the club to acquire some well-known names in Finnish football. These included e.g. the Finnish internationals Markku Kumpulampi and Rauno Kestilä. Also some well established players from Suomensarja joined the club. The new club began the 1964 Suomensarja with a 3–0 victory over Pallo-Pojat, and it went on undefeated until the 13th match of the season. This proved to be the only defeat of the season, and the club secured promotion to 1965 Mestaruussarja in September, when it drew against Herttoniemen Urheilijat. Upon Pallo won its section with a 13-point marginal against the second team in the competition, Sudet from Kouvola.
Under the auspices of UPO, the boys' teams attracted many young players, and in consequence some of them made into the national teams of their age groups. The men's team acquired Finnish international goalkeeper Lars Näsman. In the end the club was left to the relegation zone as the last team to be relegated.
For the next season, the club acquired numerous Finnish internationals, e.g. Simo Syrjävaara, Reijo Kanerva, Matti Mäkelä and Pertti Mäkipää. Thanks to these new players, the team won 18 matches and was undefeated, and thus secured promotion back into the Mestaruussarja.
However, the club was being criticised about this policy of acquiring new players. The basis of this criticism was that the club would have found players from its own ranks, and yet new players were imported who might even play in a position in which there was no need for new players. Some of these players did not play for the team but rather displayed their individual skills. In spite of everything, Upon Pallo ended up fourth in the 1967 Mestaruussarja. Reipas Lahti were crowned champions, and the biggest ever crowd of spectators were seen in the match between Upon Pallo and Reipas. This match, which ended in a defeat for Upon Pallo was attended by 8 144 spectators. The following season Upon Pallo had a number of younger players in its team, and some of the international players were transferred elsewhere. The 1967 season saw varying results, but in the end the team finished sixth in the series. In October the club played its last match with the name Upon Pallo, against Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat of Kotka.
A short merger with Reipas
The expenses of Upon Pallo were constantly on the increase, which is why UPO wanted to disband the club. At the same time, Reipas was also experiencing financial difficulties, and this situation caused the two clubs to consider a merger. The working name for the club was Lahti-68. In the end, the people involved in backing Reipas did not like this, and they persuaded CEO, Councillor of Mining Arvi Tammivuori of Asko-Upo to let the name of the new club to remain Reipas. This is what then happened, and many people in Upon Pallo decided not to join the new club, as they felt that the people in Reipas were in fact just trying to get rid of their local rival. The main coach of the new club was Raimo Valtonen. Five players from Upon Pallo joined the new club, but many of their fellow players refused to follow them. These players continued their careers in a new club, which was founded to continue the activities of Upon Pallo. This new club was founded just a month before the 1969 Mestaruussarja began, and it was given the name Lahti-69. In colloquial speech this turned into Kuusysi. This nickname became the official name of the club in 1974.Lahti-69 was given the place of Upon Pallo in top-flight football, and the new club did not have the financial burdens Upon Pallo. Eero Nopsanen became the manager of the new club. Football was now the only sport of this club, as ice hockey was not adopted. However, from the point of view of performance, the first season did not meet the club's expectations. Lahti-69 was only tenth in the series, and the last club to cling onto its place in the Mestaruussarja. After this season, the merger with Reipas was officially dissolved, and Lahti-69 and Reipas were again separate clubs.
The 1971 season was the first one when Kuusysi did better than Reipas. During this season, Kuusysi was not able to field Hannu Hämäläinen ja Urho Partanen, because Reipas demanded a quarantine fee of 20 000 for them, which Kuusysi could not afford to pay. This was first season, when Kuusysi took the lead in the series. However, any hopes of a gold were buried in September, when the club drew with Kokkolan Palloveikot. At the end of the season Kuusysi failed to focus on its matches properly, when they had lost sight of their goal, and in the end they finished sixth.