Kuopion keskuskenttä

Before there was football at Kaartokatu, there were horses. The site opened as a racing track in 1906, and a pitch was only laid across it in 1931; the central sports field itself followed in 1939, built by the City of Kuopio. The trotting heritage did not disappear when the football took over — the King's Races returned here in 1959 and again in 1967, and the ground had already taken a share of the 1952 Summer Olympics football programme.

What stands today is largely the work of the 2003–2005 rebuild, drawn up by Arkkitehtuuritoimisto Seppo Valjus Oy and costed at roughly 5.9 million euros — 4.3 million of that in the stands alone, 1.6 million in the pitch. The reconstruction brought an artificial surface, heated for the Savo winter, and a capacity of 4,778: 2,700 seats in the main stand, 500 behind the goal. The first match on the new ground drew 4,416. The playing surface has been relaid twice since, in 2009 and in 2020, each time to keep pace with what UEFA asks of a venue that hosts Europa League and Conference League qualifiers.

The record crowd came much later than the rebuild. In October 2024, on Veikkausliiga final day, 8,543 packed in for KuPS against HJK — well beyond the seated capacity the 2005 stands were built to hold. KuPS share the ground with Pallokissat; Koparit and Elo played here before them. The name has moved with its backers: Magnum Areena from 2009, Savon Sanomat Areena from 2011, and Väre Areena since 2021.