Vaasan Palloseura

Ground: Hietalahden jalkapallostadion (Lemonsoft Stadion)

Visits: 1

Date: 10th July 2026

Match: VPS - SJK 1-0 (Veikkausliiga)

Attendance: 3 718

The biggest match on my trip to Finland was the Veikkausliiga clash between Vaasan Palloseura (VPS) and Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (SJK). With both clubs being based in Österbottem it was kind of a derby and a decent attendance was expected. I was in Vaasa last year and on my way to Kamratvallen, the home of Vasa IFK, I actually walked past the ground so at least I would have no problems finding it. Hietalahden jalkapallostadion is called Sandvikens Fotbollsstadion in Swedish but the official name nowadays is Lemonsoft Stadion. When I was in Vaasa last summer it was my only missing ground in Veikkausliiga but since then Jaro has moved to a new ground

Having travelled all day yesterday I slept late and then set off for a sightseeing tour in central Vaasa. As it was quite warm and sunny with a temperature of around 25 ℃ I took it easy though and rested several times in the shade by the waterfront. I had a delicious late lunch next to the sea before making it back to my hotel.

Kick-off was 19.00 and at 16.30 I once again met up with Danish groundhopper Michael from Odense. We had dinner together before making our way to the ground. The capacity of the ground is 4,700 nowadays. The west stand has a capacity of 1,349 but the stand is closed for safety reasons and cannot be used. Since it is listed as a protected building it cannot be demolished either. For this derby 3,718 spectators showed up and both home and away supporters had a tifo as the players entered the ground. The visitors also lit a few flares and apart from a missed penalty that was what happened in the 1st half. The 2nd half was much more exciting and after only a few minutes VPS scored to make it 1-0. VPS then had several really good chances and should have killed the game. In the last 10 minutes SJK suddenly started to create chances and it was only thanks to some heroic defending that VPS held on to all three points.