# 2023 Kakkonen

The 2023 Kakkonen was the 51st season of Kakkonen, the third-highest football league in Finland. The season began on 21 April 2023 and ended on 8 October 2023. It was the final season of the Kakkonen serving as the third-tier football league in Finland, following its demotion to fourth-tier.
The three groups winners and the highest-ranked runner up qualified for the Kakkonen Championship play-offs, with the winners (PK-35 Vantaa) and runners-up (JIPPO) being promoted to the 2024 Ykkösliiga.
The second, third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams in each group (minus the highest-ranked runner-up) qualified for the Kakkonen play-offs; the five winners (Atlantis, Klubi 04, PK Keski-Uusimaa, RoPS, and VIFK) joined the highest-ranked runner-up (Jazz Pori), the two losing semi-final teams from the Kakkonen Championship play-offs (EPS and OLS), and the two teams relegated from the 2023 Ykkönen (JJK and KPV) in the 2024 Ykkönen.
The bottom two teams in each group (Futura, Hercules, JBK, PIF, SexyPöxyt, and TiPS) were relegated to the 2024 Kolmonen.

## Teams

The league consisted of thirty-six teams (twenty-seven returning from the previous season, six promoted from Kolmonen, and three relegated from Ykkönen), split into three equal groups (A, B, and C).

### Team changes

| Promoted from 2022 Kolmonen | Promoted to 2023 Ykkönen | Relegated from 2022 Ykkönen | Relegated to 2023 Kolmonen |
| Atlantis 2 Elo Kuopio Pallo-Iirot SexyPöxyt TiPS TP-47 | JJK KäPa SalPa | PEPO PIF PK-35 | KaaPo KajHa Komeetat LaPa MuSa PeKa VJS |

### Group A

| Team | Town |
| Atlantis 2 | Helsinki |
| Futura | Porvoo |
| JIPPO | Joensuu |
| Kiffen | Helsinki |
| Klubi 04 | Helsinki |
| NJS | Nurmijärvi |
| PEPO | Lappeenranta |
| PK Keski-Uusimaa | Järvenpää, Kerava and Tuusula |
| PK-35 | Vantaa |
| PPJ | Helsinki |
| Reipas Lahti | Lahti |
| TiPS | Tikkurila |

### Group B

| Team Name | Town |
| Atlantis | Helsinki |
| EPS | Espoonlahti |
| GrIFK | Kauniainen |
| HJS | Hämeenlinna |
| Honka Akatemia | Espoo |
| Ilves 2 | Tampere |
| Ilves-Kissat | Tampere |
| Jazz Pori | Pori |
| Pallo-Iirot | Rauma |
| PIF | Pargas |
| SexyPöxyt | Laaksolahti |
| Tampere United | Tampere |

### Group C

| Team Name | Town |
| Elo Kuopio | Kuopio |
| GBK Kokkola | Kokkola |
| Hercules | Oulu |
| JBK | Jakobstad |
| KuPS Akatemia | Kuopio |
| Närpes Kraft | Närpes |
| OLS | Oulu |
| OTP | Oulu |
| RoPS | Rovaniemi |
| TP-47 | Tornio |
| Vaajakoski | Vaajakoski |
| VIFK | Vaasa |

## League tables
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | JIPPO (P) | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 56 | 19 | +37 | 48 | Qualification for the Kakkonen Championship play-offs and promotion to the Ykkösliiga |
| 2 | PK-35 (C, O, P) | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 49 | 21 | +28 | 48 | Qualification for the Kakkonen Championship play-offs and promotion to the Ykkösliiga |
| 3 | Klubi 04 (O, P) | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 41 | 16 | +25 | 44 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs and promotion to the Ykkönen |
| 4 | Reipas Lahti | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 25 | +6 | 32 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs |
| 5 | PK Keski-Uusimaa (O, P) | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 44 | 39 | +5 | 32 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs and promotion to the Ykkönen |
| 6 | NJS | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 30 | |
| 7 | PEPO | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 45 | 44 | +1 | 30 | |
| 8 | Atlantis 2 | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 32 | −12 | 27 | |
| 9 | PPJ | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 26 | |
| 10 | Kiffen | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 33 | −12 | 26 | |
| 11 | Futura (R) | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 58 | −28 | 19 | Relegation to the Kolmonen |
| 12 | TiPS (R) | 22 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 20 | 76 | −56 | 4 | Relegation to the Kolmonen |
* ↑ Despite losing the Kakkonen Championship play-off final, JIPPO were promoted to the Ykkösliiga after Gnistan were promoted to the Veikkausliiga to replace Honka and KäPa were given a reprieve in the Ykkönen to replace HIFK.

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | EPS (P) | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 50 | 20 | +30 | 48 | Qualification for Kakkonen Championship play-offs and promotion to the Ykkönen |
| 2 | Jazz Pori (P) | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 63 | 31 | +32 | 45 | Promotion to the Ykkönen |
| 3 | Ilves-Kissat | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 53 | 43 | +10 | 43 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs |
| 4 | Atlantis (O, P) | 22 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 54 | 30 | +24 | 41 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs and promotion to the Ykkönen |
| 5 | Tampere United | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 32 | +8 | 37 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs |
| 6 | GrIFK | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 35 | |
| 7 | Honka Akatemia | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 39 | 42 | −3 | 32 | |
| 8 | Pallo-Iirot | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 30 | |
| 9 | Ilves 2 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 28 | 50 | −22 | 20 | |
| 10 | HJS | 22 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 28 | 45 | −17 | 18 | |
| 11 | SexyPöxyt (R) | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 20 | 51 | −31 | 16 | Relegation to the Kolmonen |
| 12 | PIF (R) | 22 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 25 | 58 | −33 | 12 | Relegation to the Kolmonen |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | OLS (P) | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 53 | 22 | +31 | 45 | Qualification for the Kakkonen Championship play-offs and promotion to the Ykkönen |
| 2 | Vaajakoski | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 43 | 17 | +26 | 45 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs |
| 3 | RoPS (O, P) | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 39 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs and promotion to the Ykkönen |
| 4 | KuPS Akatemia | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 33 | 27 | +6 | 37 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs |
| 5 | VIFK (O, P) | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 36 | 31 | +5 | 34 | Qualification for the Kakkonen play-offs and promotion to the Ykkönen |
| 6 | OTP | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 33 | |
| 7 | GBK Kokkola | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 41 | −8 | 31 | |
| 8 | TP-47 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 28 | |
| 9 | Närpes Kraft | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 25 | |
| 10 | Elo Kuopio | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 24 | 39 | −15 | 19 | |
| 11 | Hercules (R) | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 48 | −25 | 19 | Relegation to the Kolmonen |
| 12 | JBK (R) | 22 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 26 | 48 | −22 | 12 | Relegation to the Kolmonen |

## Play-offs
### Kakkonen play-offs

The second to fifth teams in each group (minus the highest ranked runner-up) competed in play-off matches, with the five winners earning promotion to the 2024 Ykkönen.

#### Second leg
### Kakkonen Championship play-offs

The three group winners and highest ranked runner-up competed in a play-off, with the winner earning promotion to the 2024 Ykkösliiga and the rest qualifying for the 2024 Ykkönen.