FCI Levadia U18

Estonian Meistriliiga U18
4 Nov 2026
Wednesday
Process
14 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Rafael Santos signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rafael Santos commits to FCI Levadia for another 1 years.

Squad

A falling-out at FCI Levadia

Rafael Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at FCI Levadia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bubacarr Tambedou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

Back issues
13 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Luciano Sanchez gets picked when it counts

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 Luciano Sanchez is on it.

The dugout

A door opens for Kirill Nesterov

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

12 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The decline has begun for Alexandr Karnitskiy

Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for FCI Levadia is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.

Squad

Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bubacarr Tambedou 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Alexandr Zakarlyuka

“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.

Loan watch

Konstantin Pikk has seen enough of Viimsi

“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 FCI Levadia, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Maksimilian Skvortsov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

When it matters, Alexandr Zakarlyuka plays

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.

In brief

11 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Karl Andre Vallner in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Felipe is not the player he was

It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 39 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.

Squad

A row about effort at FCI Levadia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bubacarr Tambedou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

13 new faces, and FCI Levadia 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 watch

Silver Marin counts the days

“I watch every FCI Levadia game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Viimsi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The dugout

Frank Liivak has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at FCI Levadia 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.

In brief

10 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Felipe stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Felipe and FCI Levadia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at FCI Levadia

Karl Andre Vallner and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Willian Gomes is not the player he was

It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kirill Nesterov

“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.

Squad

This league is too small for Felipe

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. FCI Levadia will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

The dugout

Alexandr Karnitskiy gets picked when it counts

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 Alexandr Karnitskiy is on it.

In brief

9 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words exchanged at FCI Levadia

Karl Andre Vallner 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.

Squad

Victory Iboro wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and FCI Levadia know it.

Squad

Bubacarr Tambedou 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.

Squad

Time is catching up with Kirill Nesterov

Everybody at FCI Levadia saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 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.

The dugout

Abu Bakarr Bangura 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.

The dugout

Luciano Sanchez gets picked when it counts

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 Luciano Sanchez is on it.

In brief

8 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bubacarr Tambedou 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.

Squad

Tempers go at FCI Levadia

Joseph Saliste 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 dugout

When it matters, Alexandr Zakarlyuka plays

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.

In brief

7 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets

No thanks: João Costa rejects the move

FCI Levadia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Botafogo-SP, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Market

One of our own: Mihkel Antonov joins the FCI Levadia first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mihkel Antonov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Rauno Sorga steps up from the FCI Levadia academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rauno Sorga has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

FCI Levadia promote Mihkel Kallaste from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mihkel Kallaste has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Squad

13 new faces, and FCI Levadia are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The dugout

Frank Liivak has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at FCI Levadia 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.

In brief

6 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Boardroom

Window shuts: 23 in, 34 out at FCI Levadia

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 23 arrived, 34 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Transfer targets

Mateus Xavier turns down FCI Levadia

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Santos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

FCI Levadia count the cost of losing Abu Bakarr Bangura

17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Transfer targets

Londrina tell FCI Levadia: Crysthyan is not for sale

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.

Squad

Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bubacarr Tambedou 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.

Squad

A step back for Abraham Nwankwo at FCI Levadia

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.

Squad

Enrique Estigarribia has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and FCI Levadia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kristofer Käit

“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 dugout

Alexandr Karnitskiy has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at FCI Levadia 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.

In brief

5 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Frank Liivak runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 44. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

The small margins put FCI Levadia out

Out, 0‑0 to Narva Trans, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Squad

Karl Andre Vallner is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Karl Andre Vallner: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Market

Alexandr Zakarlyuka 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 FCI Levadia can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Filipe Gabriel turns down FCI Levadia

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bragantino keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Transfer targets

FCI Levadia rebuffed over Léo Maná

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Corinthians have kept their man, and FCI Levadia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

A row about effort at FCI Levadia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bubacarr Tambedou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Konstantin Pikk attracts admirers

The name of Konstantin Pikk has come up in conversations FCI Levadia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

The dugout

Abu Bakarr Bangura 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.

In brief

4 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Luciano Sanchez sends FCI Levadia through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Luciano Sanchez obliged against Kuressaare. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is FCI Levadia.

Player ratings

Luciano Sanchez, 21, steals the show — 7.84

Marked 7.84 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Transfer targets

Crysthyan turns down FCI Levadia

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Londrina keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Tempers go at FCI Levadia

Karl Andre Vallner 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 targets

FCI Levadia rebuffed over Rommi Siht

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nomme Kalju have kept their man, and FCI Levadia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The terraces

One of their own: Luciano Sanchez

He is 21 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.

Player ratings

Frank Liivak was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Market

Viimsi watching Silver Marin

The interest is real enough to have reached print. FCI Levadia have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Enrique Estigarribia needs a bigger stage

He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and FCI Levadia know which stage they are at.

In brief

3 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

FCI Levadia through in the cup

A 2‑1 win over FC Tallinn, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Player ratings

What a way to start for Konstantin Pikk — 8.56

1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 8.56 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.

Transfer targets

Crysthyan due for a FCI Levadia medical

Everything agreed with Londrina, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Transfer targets

Ryan Couto will not be coming to FCI Levadia

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Boavista is saying, and nobody at FCI Levadia is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Karl Andre Vallner in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Flora tell FCI Levadia: Rauno Sappinen is not for sale

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.

Squad

A row about effort at FCI Levadia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bubacarr Tambedou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

FCI Levadia supporters have found a favourite in Konstantin Pikk

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 14-year-old it feels ownership of. Konstantin Pikk has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Frank Liivak at his very best

Marked 8.13. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at FCI Levadia.

In brief

2 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Luciano Sanchez arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luciano Sanchez has, at FCI Levadia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Transfer targets

Ryan Couto due for a FCI Levadia medical

Everything agreed with Boavista, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Willian Gomes signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Willian Gomes commits to FCI Levadia for another 2 years.

Market

As if he never left: Bubacarr Tambedou returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Bubacarr Tambedou is a FCI Levadia player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Market

Kirill Nesterov comes home

The shirt still fits. Kirill Nesterov is back at FCI Levadia, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Market

Rasmus Peetson comes home

The shirt still fits. Rasmus Peetson is back at FCI Levadia, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

In brief

1 Edition

The FCI Levadia Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Abraham Nwankwo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abraham Nwankwo and FCI Levadia agree another 4 years.

Market

As if he never left: Karl Andre Vallner returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Karl Andre Vallner is a FCI Levadia player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Squad

Abraham Nwankwo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Home is on Victory Iboro's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; FCI Levadia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Transfer targets

FCI Levadia rebuffed over Andrade

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paide have kept their man, and FCI Levadia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victory Iboro 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.

Market

FCI Levadia and Karl Andre Vallner are talking past each other

“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.

Market

49 months and counting on Abraham Nwankwo

Still no offer on the table, and Abraham Nwankwo’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

Transfer targets

FCI Levadia try to borrow Kristofer Käit

Paide 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.

In brief