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. Relegation from top flight During the 1972 and 1973 seasons the most important players of the club either ended their careers or transferred to other clubs, and Kuusysi was not able to acquire adequate replacements. In the autumn of 1973 the management of the club decided to let almost all of the players go, except for their biggest star, Raimo Saviomaa. It was decided instead to bring promising but inexperienced young players from its own ranks into the men's team. During the whole of the ensuing 1974 season, Kuusysi stayed near the bottom of the table. Before the last matches, they faced the situation, in which their best prospect was a possible replay about staying in the series, guaranteed only by a win in an away game. However, the season ended in a defeat in the hands of Mikkelin Palloilijat, 1–0, and thus Kuusysi was relegated to 1. Division. The following season in the second tier did not begin well, since the best players had abandoned the club, and only Saviomaa and the younger players were left. The club was not able to acquire new good players, when the numbers of the spectators at the same time dwindled. However, the various boys' teams of the club did well, as two of them won the Finnish championship in 1975. Now, when Reipas was the only top-flight club in Lahti, Kuusysi contemplated even abolishing its men's team in the autumn of 1976. This, however, did not happen. Towards the end of the 1970s, the various boys' teams of the club won several medals in their competitions. The C-boys (U–16) team even won gold in 1979. Promotion into the Mestaruussarja under Voutilainen In the autumn of 1979, the club acquired a new manager, Keijo Voutilainen. Prior to this, he had achieved promotion into the Mestaruussarja with Kuopion Pallotoverit of Kuopio. Under Voutilainen, Kuusysi became known for being a young team that passed the ball skilfully and beautifully. However, the results were disappointing at first, and after six matches in the 1980 season, the club was at the bottom of the table. Voutilainen was already wanting to quit, but the management of the club succeeded in persuading him to stay. After the