Marked for Noah Lundström
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces10 Jan 2028
Supporters organise against the Gefle board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match10 Jan 2028
Gefle are in real trouble now
Position 15, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market10 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Gefle
Christ Wawa and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Måns Berggren and Gefle agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Eirik Brekke falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Dec 2027
A fracture rules William Hedvall out for 19 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gefle will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Gefle
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Gefle is running low.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Gefle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Måns Berggren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad27 Dec 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Gefle know it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Alen Zahirović
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces13 Dec 2027
The mood at Gefle has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match13 Dec 2027
Gefle are in real trouble now
Position 15, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market13 Dec 2027
Deniz Yaldir hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gefle can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Eric Larsson in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gefle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Brekke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Eric Larsson knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gefle, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market13 Dec 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gefle know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The terraces13 Dec 2027
The stands have heard the Christ Wawa talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Gefle would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gefle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Gefle boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Gefle
Theodor Hansemon and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Brekke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexander Granqvist and Gefle agree another 3 years.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Carl Millard
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alen Zahirović is on it.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Deniz Yaldir knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gefle, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market29 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gefle know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces15 Nov 2027
Anger at Gefle spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match15 Nov 2027
Gefle are in real trouble now
Position 15, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Gefle
Christ Wawa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alem Nezirević is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Gefle would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market15 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gefle know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market15 Nov 2027
Gefle have let the market know Noah Lundström can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Gefle says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Oct 2027
Gefle throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Kalmar FF the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Gefle will enjoy reviewing.
Match25 Oct 2027
The season ends: position 15 for Gefle
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 15 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad25 Oct 2027
The match ball belongs to Noah Lundström, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market25 Oct 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match23 Oct 2027
Beaten 4‑6, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
A performance of 9.95 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Alem Nezirević falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 8.93 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces18 Oct 2027
Anger at Gefle spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match18 Oct 2027
Gefle are in real trouble now
Position 15, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match16 Oct 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Atvidaberg, and it could have been more.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
No sign of nerves from Christ Wawa at 20 — 8.03
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Christ Wawa did not need any: 8.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Yukiya Sugita, 34, rolls back the years — 7.91
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.91 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Eric Larsson in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gefle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Gefle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eirik Brekke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
Gefle supporters have found a favourite in Christ Wawa
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Christ Wawa has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Marked 8.79 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A brace, and Noah Lundström takes the afternoon — 9.04
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Noah Lundström provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match2 Oct 2027
At last: Gefle win one
12 matches without a win, and then this, against Falkenberg. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Market4 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gefle can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yukiya Sugita commits to Gefle for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Gefle
Christ Wawa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Alem Nezirević falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
Gefle supporters have found a favourite in Malïk Mokédé
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Malïk Mokédé has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match2 Oct 2027
A 2‑0 win over Falkenberg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Sep 2027
No end in sight to Gefle's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gefle has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad27 Sep 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Christ Wawa in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gefle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Gefle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eirik Brekke was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match25 Sep 2027
AIK take the points off Gefle
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
No place for Eric Larsson on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Gefle pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jakob Krafth after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Eric Larsson
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Malkolm Moënza
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gefle lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad13 Sep 2027
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match11 Sep 2027
No end in sight to Gefle's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gefle has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Gefle
Eric Larsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alem Nezirević is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match11 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market13 Sep 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alexander Ekdal has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market13 Sep 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marcus Forsberg has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jakob Krafth after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Aug 2027
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gefle lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match28 Aug 2027
Gefle taken apart
2‑6 to Malmo FF, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match28 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Gefle's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gefle has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Aug 2027
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match28 Aug 2027
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Gefle and Malmo FF in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Brekke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Gefle asked and Cukaricki said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Aug 2027
Malkolm Moënza damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
Supporters organise against the Gefle board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match23 Aug 2027
Every point is an argument now for Gefle
Position 15 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Gefle's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gefle has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Aug 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Gefle until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
$80.0K on the table at Atvidaberg. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Match21 Aug 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jul 2027
Malkolm Moënza damages knee ligaments — 90 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 90 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad19 Jul 2027
28 days out for Malïk Mokédé after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gefle will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market19 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gefle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
William Rygaard: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gefle have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Gefle
Eric Larsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match17 Jul 2027
0‑2 to IFK Goteborg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Jakob Krafth to a room that had heard them before.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to GIF Sundsvall: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 May 2027
90 days out for Malïk Mokédé after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gefle will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for Gefle
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market24 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 May 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match22 May 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Gefle
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Gefle
Eric Larsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Brekke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match22 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eric Larsson, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 May 2027
97 days out for Malïk Mokédé after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gefle will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Gefle
1‑6 against Malmo FF, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match15 May 2027
The wait goes on for Gefle
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad17 May 2027
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match15 May 2027
Gefle leaking at the back
6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match15 May 2027
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Gefle and Malmo FF in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad17 May 2027
Eirik Brekke falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Malkolm Moënza, and the manager let it.
Squad17 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gefle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gefle can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets29 Mar 2027
Gefle offered $100.0K; Atvidaberg said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets29 Mar 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Yukiya Sugita
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad29 Mar 2027
William Rygaard falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad29 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gefle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets29 Mar 2027
Malmo FF have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets29 Mar 2027
Olympiacos have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Eric Larsson knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gefle, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Mar 2027
Gefle say no — this time
The offer from IF Elfsborg for Eric Larsson was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets22 Mar 2027
The deal with Hammarby is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets22 Mar 2027
Gefle have gone to Atvidaberg with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Gefle
Christ Wawa and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Brekke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets22 Mar 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad22 Mar 2027
5 new faces, and Gefle are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Eric Larsson knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gefle, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Gefle
Position 15 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Gefle may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Gefle
Christ Wawa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Eirik Brekke falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets15 Mar 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. GIF Sundsvall have kept their man, and Gefle go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noah Lundström, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
24 days out for Eric Larsson after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gefle will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Magnus Brøndbo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gefle have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market1 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kalmar FF waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gefle is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
$66.0K settles it between the clubs for Kevin Eriksson
Atvidaberg have accepted the money. What Gefle do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eirik Brekke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
Gefle asked and Hammarby said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
A loan move for Max Croon is in the works
Gefle have made the call to Djurgarden. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Eric Larsson breaks a bone — 54 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Hugo Martins arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Hugo Martins has, at Gefle, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Gefle
Christ Wawa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Gefle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alem Nezirević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Magnus Brøndbo, and the manager let it.
Market1 Feb 2027
Dillan Ismail is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gefle has been clear about where Dillan Ismail stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market1 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Noah Lundström signs something — a contract at Gefle or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Gefle. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market1 Feb 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Gefle, another week without a signature from Hugo Martins.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Eric Larsson out for 83 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gefle will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Gefle may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A move William Rygaard would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. William Rygaard is living that version at Gefle, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Gefle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yukiya Sugita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Alem Nezirević
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Eric Larsson breaks a bone — 97 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mamadou Kouyaté
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gefle lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match21 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Gefle
Position 15 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
111 days out for Eric Larsson after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Gefle will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Mamadou Kouyaté damages knee ligaments — 39 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Gefle
Christ Wawa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Eric Larsson out for 132 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gefle will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gefle is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Alem Nezirević falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Eric Larsson out for 139 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Gefle will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mamadou Kouyaté and Gefle agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Gefle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alem Nezirević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sebastian Claesson has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Oct 2026
Gefle sink to position 15
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mamadou Kouyaté will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gefle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Gefle
Christ Wawa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Gefle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alem Nezirević is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match24 Oct 2026
Kalmar FF left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mamadou Kouyaté, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
A promise honoured for Mbaye Cissé
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gefle told Mbaye Cissé something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Christ Wawa is the weekend's best young player
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Gefle
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match10 Oct 2026
Gefle leaking at the back
12 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market12 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gefle is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The step up is real for Max Croon
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match10 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Gefle against BK Hacken
0‑2 to BK Hacken, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Malkolm Moënza
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
11 matches without a win for Gefle
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Gefle are no longer polite ones.
Match3 Oct 2026
Gefle are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 11 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match3 Oct 2026
Gefle taken apart
1‑4 to Falkenberg, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eric Larsson and Gefle agree another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Gefle
Eric Larsson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Alem Nezirević falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Deniz Yaldir
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Gefle dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Gefle
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Gefle are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match12 Sep 2026
Gefle are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market14 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gefle they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Alem Nezirević falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Magnus Brøndbo, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
A one-man rearguard from Max Croon
There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match15 Aug 2026
Gefle taken apart
1‑4 to Djurgarden, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Gefle out
Out, 0‑2 to Malmo FF, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Theodor Hansemon will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gefle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Window shuts: 12 in, 1 out at Gefle
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Gefle
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Gefle are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Gefle
Eric Larsson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Gefle
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alem Nezirević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.