Järvenpään PalloseuraGround: Järvenpään keskuskenttä Visits: 1 Date: 5th July 2024 Match: JäPS - KTP 0-0 (Ykkösliiga) Attendance: 732 In recent years I have made several trips to Finland and as soon as fixtures for 2024 were released I looked at possible dates for a trip. My main target would be the redeveloped Tammelan Stadion in Tampere. When I discovered Ilves were hosting HJK 6 July I planned the trip around this game. The match in Tampere was played on Saturday afternoon and Friday evening I decided to go to Järvenpää for JäPS v KTP in Ykkösliiga (level 2). I would then finish off the trip with a visit to Kuopio on Sunday. 08.45 on Friday morning my Finnair flight departed Copenhagen airport and 11.15 I was at Helsinki airport. Using the airport train I was then in central Helsinki at 12.30 where I was able to check in early at my hotel. As I was leaving for lunch and some sightseeing, heavy rain was pouring down but I could borrow an umbrella at the hotel. Down the harbour there was an impressive number of ships taking part in Tall Ships Race 2024.I then went back to my hotel for a rest before setting off for the ground. Järvenpään Palloseura (JäPS) are based in the suburb of Järvenpää (Träskända) and in 2021 the club was promoted to Ykkönen for the first time ever. Ykkönen was last season level 2 in the Finnish league pyramid btw but due to a league restructure Ykkönen is now level 3. JäPS managed to stay at level 2 though and from 2024 onwards that league is called Ykkösliiga. JäPS play at Järvenpään Keskuskenttä which is a ground with running tracks. There was only one small open stand at the ground but two weeks ago a new main stand with 1,500 seats was inaugurated and the game tonight against KTP was only the second match with the new stand open. The train journey from central Helsinki to Järvenpää takes 30 minutes. Once there I noticed there was a jazz/blues festival in the city centre with plenty of people in attendance. I continued down to the lake before making it to the ground. Once there it was obvious the new stand was only just about ready and more work has to be done to complete the redevelopment. The new main stand is impressive though and will serve JäPS well. At this match I (finally) met up with Finnish groundhopper Jari and he gave some insights about Finnish football. With KTP being top of the table I was expecting them to win easily but that was not to be the case as the match ended 0-0. A goalless match is of course a bit disappointing, not much I can do about it though. ![]() Lake Lake Entrance West Stand, rear West Stand West Stand West Stand North End East side South End Players and officials entering Orchestra Kick-off View of Järvenpään keskuskenttä View of play West Stand KTP fans |