Marked for Patrick Pedersen
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Apr 2029
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valur will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Vidar Skulason damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Valur
Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
Patrick Pedersen has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Mar 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vidar Skulason
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets26 Mar 2029
Valur have gone to Vikingur 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Mar 2029
Valur offered $110.0K; Vikingur 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 targets26 Mar 2029
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 dugout26 Mar 2029
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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad26 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luka Senjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Feb 2029
Vidar Skulason damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
Market26 Feb 2029
“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.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2029
Valur offered $110.0K; Vikingur 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 targets26 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Halmstad have kept their man, and Valur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout26 Feb 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market26 Feb 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Jan 2029
The medical room confirms 25 days on the sidelines for Shkelzen Veseli, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Valur
Johann Smarason 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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shkelzen Veseli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market29 Jan 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market29 Jan 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jónatan Ingi Jónsson may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout1 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The medical room confirms 58 days on the sidelines for Shkelzen Veseli, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Frederik Schram 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 dugout1 Jan 2029
Patrick Pedersen has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Valur would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market1 Jan 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market1 Jan 2029
Valur have let the market know Jónatan Ingi Jónsson can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market1 Jan 2029
“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
Steady
Squad18 Dec 2028
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valur will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market18 Dec 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market18 Dec 2028
Gísli Laxdal 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 Valur can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Birkir Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout18 Dec 2028
Frederik Schram has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Dec 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valur will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Patrick Pedersen and Valur agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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 dugout4 Dec 2028
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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
Market4 Dec 2028
“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.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shkelzen Veseli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market4 Dec 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Nov 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Valur will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout6 Nov 2028
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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Samúel Kári Friðjónsson. Valur will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Market6 Nov 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kristján Flóki Finnbogason trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market6 Nov 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Oct 2028
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Valur will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Samúel Kári Friðjónsson commits to Valur for another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kristófer Orri Pétursson has, at Valur, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“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 dugout9 Oct 2028
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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
Market9 Oct 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market9 Oct 2028
Valur have let the market know Jónatan Ingi Jónsson can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Oct 2028
Valur finish in position 6
31 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market2 Oct 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.
Market2 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valur is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Shkelzen Veseli has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Samúel Kári Friðjónsson and Valur agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Oct 2028
David Ekman gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. David Ekman has just signed for Valur, and for once the answer mattered.
Match30 Sep 2028
Three points for Valur, 3‑2 the final word against Stjarnan in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Patrick Pedersen, 36, rolls back the years — 7.90
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market18 Sep 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lúkas Logi Heimisson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Valur's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Valur has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Lúkas Logi Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Match16 Sep 2028
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Jónatan Ingi Jónsson was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Kristján Flóki Finnbogason.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout11 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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 dugout11 Sep 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Samúel Kári Friðjónsson's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Patrick Pedersen has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Valur needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Match11 Sep 2028
Valur in the hunt for Europe
Position 6, 25 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Market11 Sep 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Birkir Heimisson may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Aug 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valur is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market28 Aug 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valur can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Birkir Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vidar Thorsteinsson was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Valur dressing room was either.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valur, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Match26 Aug 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Keflavik defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Aug 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match16 Aug 2028
The small margins put Valur out
Out, 1‑1 to FH, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market21 Aug 2028
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Aug 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
Valur close the window on a squad of their own making
9 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
The deal with Fylkir 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Lúkas Logi Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Aug 2028
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Everybody at Valur saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Valur asked and Helsingborg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match12 Aug 2028
A 2‑1 win over Breidablik, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.21, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 ratings14 Aug 2028
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Aug 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valur can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Aug 2028
14 seasons and 342 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Fee done, terms next for Nenad Lukić
Valur and Mačva Šabac have settled on $50.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market7 Aug 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daði Freyr Arnarsson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Hörður Magnússon commits to Valur for another 2 years.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Frederik Schram 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 targets7 Aug 2028
Valur asked and IA said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
“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
Crisis
Market31 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Valur people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market31 Jul 2028
Gísli Laxdal 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 Valur can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Birkir Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Valur have done the hard part with FH, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 Jul 2028
A bad afternoon for Valur against Fjolnir
1‑2 to Fjolnir, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Jul 2028
No mercy from Valur
IA will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Valur were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market24 Jul 2028
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
Gísli Laxdal: 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.” Valur have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.83, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
A defender's goal wins it for Valur — 7.90
1 for Birkir Heimisson, marked 7.90, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
The offer went to Vikingur this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Lúkas Logi Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match18 Jul 2028
Valur come up short against IBV
IBV left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jul 2028
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match12 Jul 2028
Valur march on in the cup
IA are out and Valur go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson 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.
Match15 Jul 2028
Stjarnan left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
“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.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
In brief
-
Match
Halfway: Valur sit in position 4
-
Player ratings
The kick that got away from Gísli Laxdal
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Jun 2028
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Lúkas Logi Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Jun 2028
A bad afternoon for Valur against FH
0‑2 to FH, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gísli Laxdal, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.94, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.89 for the rest of it.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Jun 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Birkir Heimisson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Valur.
Match17 Jun 2028
No time for Keflavik to settle
The goal that put Keflavik ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Valur equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lúkas Logi Heimisson, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Vidar Thorsteinsson, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Jun 2028
There were 86 minutes on the clock and Breidablik had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Valur did not stop to explain themselves.
Market5 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.86, and nobody on the pitch better.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valur may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Frederik Schram 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.
Match3 Jun 2028
Breidablik made Valur work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“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.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Valur.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings29 May 2028
7.71, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad29 May 2028
Tempers go at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Malte Tiderman is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout29 May 2028
This is not rotation. Lúkas Logi Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 May 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match27 May 2028
Fylkir made Valur work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings29 May 2028
A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout29 May 2028
“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 dugout29 May 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Vidar Thorsteinsson on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 May 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.
The dugout22 May 2028
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Match20 May 2028
A bad afternoon for Valur against Fjolnir
1‑2 to Fjolnir, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout22 May 2028
“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.
Squad22 May 2028
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 May 2028
“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 dugout22 May 2028
Albin Skoglund is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad22 May 2028
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 May 2028
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against IA, and it could have been more.
Player ratings15 May 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.96, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market15 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 May 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match13 May 2028
At last: Valur win one
6 matches without a win, and then this, against IA. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Johann Smarason and Valur agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout15 May 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Vidar Thorsteinsson could afford to be generous.
The dugout15 May 2028
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 Hörður Magnússon is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout8 May 2028
“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.
Market8 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valur is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match6 May 2028
6 matches without a win for Valur
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Valur are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 May 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Patrick Pedersen and Valur agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom8 May 2028
5 academy graduates step up at Valur
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad8 May 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 May 2028
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 May 2028
Tempers go at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
The dugout1 May 2028
This is not rotation. Lúkas Logi Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 May 2028
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout1 May 2028
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout1 May 2028
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 Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle is on it.
Squad1 May 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Valur would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market1 May 2028
10 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Market1 May 2028
Valur have made Birkir Heimisson available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Apr 2028
Valur up to position 2
39 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market17 Apr 2028
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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 targets17 Apr 2028
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 dugout17 Apr 2028
Markus Nakkim is still paying for one afternoon at Valur
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Rasmus Flügge knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rasmus Flügge trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Apr 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.
Market10 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
Transfer targets10 Apr 2028
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Terlević and Valur agree another 4 years.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“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 dugout10 Apr 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market10 Apr 2028
The name of Patrick Pedersen keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Valur say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Mar 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Valur people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match20 Mar 2028
Valur refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 39 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market20 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valur is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets20 Mar 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Sofia have kept their man, and Valur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Adam Ægir Pálsson 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
Markus Nakkim is still paying for one afternoon at Valur
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Patrick Pedersen has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Valur. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Mar 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets13 Mar 2028
Vikingur wanted more than $840.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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 targets13 Mar 2028
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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rasmus Flügge and Valur agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“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 dugout13 Mar 2028
Hörður Magnússon has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market13 Mar 2028
The name of Patrick Pedersen keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Valur say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Feb 2028
Valur refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 39 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Frederik Schram 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 targets21 Feb 2028
Valur asked and Botev Plovdiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Feb 2028
The medical room confirms 33 days on the sidelines for Stefan Gunnarsson, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Markus Nakkim is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Patrick Pedersen has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shkelzen Veseli, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valur, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
Malte Tiderman is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Frederik Schram was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Valur asked and FC Fredericia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Valur
Albin Skoglund 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.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Botev Plovdiv 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 targets14 Feb 2028
A loan move for Ousseynou Seck is in the works
Valur have made the call to FC Copenhagen. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
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 Hörður Magnússon is on it.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Albin Skoglund asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Jan 2028
Valur up to position 2
39 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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 dugout24 Jan 2028
Markus Nakkim is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Patrick Pedersen has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Valur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Elias Forsberg
“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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Valur will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stefán Þór S. Ágústsson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valur may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Valur
Ingimar Torbjörnsson Støle and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristján Flóki Finnbogason, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
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 Hörður Magnússon is on it.
Market17 Jan 2028
The name of Patrick Pedersen keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Valur say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Dec 2027
Valur up to position 2
39 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad27 Dec 2027
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Valur will quote 18 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Valur
Markus Nakkim 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
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Albin Skoglund
“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 dugout27 Dec 2027
Markus Nakkim is still paying for one afternoon at Valur
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lúkas Logi Heimisson, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Albin Skoglund knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Albin Skoglund trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market20 Dec 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Valur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad6 Dec 2027
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2027
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valur have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Valur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frederik Schram 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 dugout22 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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
The dugout22 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match4 Nov 2027
1‑1 against Kocaelispor, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Patrick Pedersen was at the centre of the description.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Bjarni Mark Duffield has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Valur
Markus Nakkim 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Frederik Schram 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 ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Birkir Heimisson, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Birgir Óliver Árnason and Valur agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Oct 2027
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match21 Oct 2027
A European lesson for Valur
0‑2 against Kocaelispor. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 7.04 on 15 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Valur
Adam Ægir Pálsson 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.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Frederik Schram, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vidar Thorsteinsson after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Birkir Heimisson will call it something else in private.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Oct 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 Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Gísli Laxdal 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 dugout18 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kristján Flóki Finnbogason has written the date down.
Market18 Oct 2027
Valur have let the market know Adam Ægir Pálsson can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Oct 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Match30 Sep 2027
0‑3. There is a level at which football is played every single week by clubs that have been doing it for fifty years, and an evening like this is what it feels like to arrive there without having done it.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Continental nights are coming to Valur
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
Match4 Oct 2027
Valur are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 39 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad4 Oct 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Valur will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Patrick Pedersen and Valur agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Inquest at Valur
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Sep 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
Match27 Sep 2027
Full time on the season at Valur
Position 2 on 39 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A brace, and Patrick Pedersen takes the afternoon — 8.68
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Patrick Pedersen provided it, and the 8.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match25 Sep 2027
Three points for Valur, 2‑0 the final word against Stjarnan in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“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 dugout27 Sep 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Kristján Flóki Finnbogason will call it something else in private.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gísli Laxdal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Sep 2027
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Valur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match11 Sep 2027
A hiding for Valur
Beaten 1‑4 by Leiknir, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
This is not rotation. Lúkas Logi Heimisson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Valur is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson 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.
Looking ahead13 Sep 2027
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Valur
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bjarni Mark Duffield was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bjarni Mark Duffield, and the manager let it.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Doors closed at Valur
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vidar Thorsteinsson after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Aug 2027
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Aug 2027
Three points for Valur, 2‑1 the final word against FH in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad30 Aug 2027
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.79 on the card, and the Valur support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Aug 2027
136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Valur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Valur 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Malte Tiderman is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Frederik Schram 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 targets23 Aug 2027
Valur asked and Vikingur said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad23 Aug 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 Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Vidar Thorsteinsson left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Aug 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 152 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.
Match9 Aug 2027
Valur refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 32 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market9 Aug 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 Valur, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Valur
Hörður Magnússon 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.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
Valur spend $420.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $420.0K for Kristján Flóki Finnbogason, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Maribor have kept their man, and Valur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market9 Aug 2027
Kristján Oddur Haagensen has left for IBV in a $18.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Match7 Aug 2027
Breidablik left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
314 appearances across 13 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valur may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market2 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Valur have gone to FH 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A move Elias Forsberg 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. Elias Forsberg is living that version at Valur, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Valur
Jónatan Ingi Jónsson 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.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Valur asked and IA said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Adolf Daði Birgisson 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Jul 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 Valur can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Frederik Schram 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
Vikingur left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Valur have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Valur told Lúkas Logi Heimisson something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Valur
Allan Purisevic 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 Jul 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.62 for the rest of it.
Squad28 Jun 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 Valur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Jun 2027
Three points for Valur, 2‑1 the final word against Leiknir in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Looking ahead28 Jun 2027
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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 dugout28 Jun 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Vidar Thorsteinsson could afford to be generous.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Chances created: 11. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Gísli Laxdal gets it from the manager
“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
Upbeat
Match19 Jun 2027
Valur are at home on the road
7 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Frederik Schram 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
Valur find a way past FH
FH made Valur work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lúkas Logi Heimisson, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.63 on the card, and the Valur support went home talking about one name.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout21 Jun 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 Patrick Pedersen is on it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Valur lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
Looking ahead21 Jun 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Leiknir in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 Jun 2027
Valur are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 16 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Patrick Pedersen, 35, rolls back the years — 7.98
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.98 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match12 Jun 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 9 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Valur
Albin Skoglund 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Keflavik left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Looking ahead14 Jun 2027
Top-of-the-table clash for Valur
FH next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
The dugout14 Jun 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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Jun 2027
Whatever happens, Valur do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Patrick Pedersen, 35, rolls back the years — 7.84
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.84 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match5 Jun 2027
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for Valur. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hörður Magnússon and Valur agree another 2 years.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Valur
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match5 Jun 2027
Three points for Valur, 1‑0 the final word against KR in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Bjarni Mark Duffield 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Gísli Laxdal slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Gísli Laxdal is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Vidar Thorsteinsson on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.