From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AC Oulu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at AC Oulu
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julius Körkkö was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Niklas Jokelainen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AC Oulu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Mihailo Bogićević 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at AC Oulu
Matias Ojala and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at AC Oulu
Miguel Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at AC Oulu
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihailo Bogićević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juha Pirinen and AC Oulu agree another 1 years.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Lietsa, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at AC Oulu than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Market7 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jetmir Haliti signs something — a contract at AC Oulu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Oulu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Kalifa Jatta 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
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 Santeri Silander is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Miguel Santos 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at AC Oulu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihailo Bogićević 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mihailo Bogićević’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at AC Oulu
Miguel Santos 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Mihailo Bogićević 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rasmus Karjalainen signs something — a contract at AC Oulu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at AC Oulu
Miguel Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Niklas Jokelainen and AC Oulu agree another 4 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Kalifa Jatta 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jetmir Haliti signs something — a contract at AC Oulu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market9 Nov 2026
The clock does Lamine Ghezali’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee AC Oulu could ask drops and the wages Lamine Ghezali can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Niklas Jokelainen and AC Oulu agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at AC Oulu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matias Ojala 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AC Oulu, another week without a signature from Niklas Jokelainen.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Sampo Ala-Iso
“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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Santeri Silander has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at AC Oulu 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Elias Kallio’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Oulu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AC Oulu may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at AC Oulu
Mihailo Bogićević 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and AC Oulu are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AC Oulu, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at AC Oulu
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julius Körkkö was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 2026
Lamine Ghezali has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AC Oulu they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Adramane Cassamá is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at AC Oulu
Miguel Santos 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at AC Oulu
Miguel Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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.
Market12 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jetmir Haliti signs something — a contract at AC Oulu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Oulu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Oulu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Santeri Silander and AC Oulu agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at AC Oulu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julius Körkkö 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs AC Oulu money.
Market5 Oct 2026
AC Oulu have made Lamine Ghezali available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Lamine Ghezali 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
The name of Santeri Silander keeps appearing in other people's back pages. AC Oulu say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Oulu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Miguel Santos 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and AC Oulu are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I did not go to TPS to sit and watch. I want to come back to AC Oulu and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Lamine Ghezali knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AC Oulu, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market28 Sep 2026
The Elias Kallio story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Elias Kallio signs something — a contract at AC Oulu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Sep 2026
Lamine Ghezali has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AC Oulu they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at AC Oulu
Miguel Santos 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tuomas Kaukua signs something — a contract at AC Oulu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Oulu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.77. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Julius Körkkö 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Paulus Uronen after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at AC Oulu would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market14 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AC Oulu, another week without a signature from Lamine Ghezali.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AC Oulu they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at AC Oulu
Mihailo Bogićević and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at AC Oulu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julius Körkkö 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Alex Lietsa slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Alex Lietsa is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Rasmus Karjalainen is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AC Oulu, another week without a signature from Niklas Jokelainen.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Niklas Schulz, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
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.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Matias Ojala’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and AC Oulu needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
AC Oulu out of the cup
KuPS ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Oulu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Miguel Santos 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vejle have kept their man, and AC Oulu go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match29 Aug 2026
AC Oulu get the job done against KTP
A 1‑0 win over KTP, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Alex Lietsa 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 7.92 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, AC Oulu had the best player on the pitch.
In brief
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Squad
8 new faces, and AC Oulu are still learning each other
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Player ratings
A defender's afternoon for Julius Paananen
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Miguel Santos: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match19 Aug 2026
AC Oulu through in the cup
A 0‑0 win over Ilves, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Sami Sipola beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AC Oulu is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Niklas Jokelainen has agreed terms with TPS for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at AC Oulu
Miguel Santos 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 targets24 Aug 2026
AC Oulu offered $78.0K; IF Gnistan 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 targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. RWDM have kept their man, and AC Oulu go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
$300.0K — a new record at AC Oulu
No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.
Market17 Aug 2026
The unthinkable, invoiced: Otto Kemppainen sold
Ilves arrived with $340.0K and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Otto Kemppainen has gone, the accounts have $340.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Market17 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Julius Körkkö
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Julius Körkkö will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AC Oulu the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Window shuts: 16 in, 2 out at AC Oulu
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Julius Körkkö has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to IF Gnistan 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
AC Oulu say no — this time
The offer from HJK for Lamine Ghezali was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with HJK, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $180.0K — a club that wants Otto Tiitinen enough to be asked twice.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Lamine Ghezali has agreed terms with TPS for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rasmus Karjalainen and AC Oulu agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Ilves 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Miguel Santos 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.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
HJK will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Lucas Lingman has pre-agreed a move to AC Oulu, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Sampo Ala-Iso
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sampo Ala-Iso will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AC Oulu the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Sampo Ala-Iso has agreed terms with SJK for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tuomas Kaukua and AC Oulu agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Oulu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Adam Vidjeskog has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means AC Oulu have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at AC Oulu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rasmus Karjalainen 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 targets3 Aug 2026
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.
Match1 Aug 2026
IF Gnistan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Tuomas Kaukua's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.