From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 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 Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I watch every Jelgava game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ventspils runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Jelgava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimirs Gabovs 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 dugout19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Jelgava will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2027
2‑5 to Skonto, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match7 Apr 2027
The cup run ends for Jelgava
0‑5 against Spartaks, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.05, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces12 Apr 2027
Jelgava are taken apart by Spartaks — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-5. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Squad12 Apr 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market12 Apr 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Jelgava
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match10 Apr 2027
Kristaps Fertovs among the goals in a wild afternoon
7 goals in one match, Kristaps Fertovs on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Jelgava and Skonto.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Apr 2027
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
28 days out for Marcis Ikaunieks after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match5 Apr 2027
Jelgava up to position 3
7 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Suleiman Badaru 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 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 52 days on the sidelines for Gatis Rugins, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match3 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Looking ahead5 Apr 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.
The dugout5 Apr 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 0‑1 Janis Bulvitis left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The plan did not have a place for Ayodele Akinyemi
Nobody at Jelgava is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match27 Mar 2027
0‑1 to Spartaks, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Jelgava know it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Jelgava
Pavels Ciganovs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Vladimirs Gabovs 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.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Jelgava take on the side everybody is chasing
Liepaja arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match20 Mar 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.43, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Marcis Ikaunieks out for 45 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Jelgava know it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Jelgava
Jamiu Sulaimon and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
He is 20 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.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Liepaja to sit and watch. I want to come back to Jelgava and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Janis Bulvitis could afford to be generous.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Jelgava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davis Laizans 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
Squad15 Mar 2027
53 days out for Marcis Ikaunieks after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Jamiu Sulaimon 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 dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Suleiman Badaru
“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 watch15 Mar 2027
“I watch every Jelgava game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ventspils runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Roberts Kamess and Jelgava agree another 3 years.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Jelgava
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Janis Ciganovs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match13 Mar 2027
Point won or two lost for Jelgava?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Metta/LU? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Jelgava
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 Mar 2027
“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; Jelgava are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Jamiu Sulaimon 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 terraces8 Mar 2027
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.
Market8 Mar 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Davis Cauna 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alvis Tarasovs 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Raivis Jagodinskis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Marcis Ikaunieks out for 68 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Jelgava know it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Marcis Ikaunieks out for 75 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Feb 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 Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
27 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Suleiman Badaru 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.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
“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 Jelgava, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Marcis Ikaunieks out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Pavels Ciganovs 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Jelgava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimirs Gabovs 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
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Marcis Ikaunieks out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Jelgava 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.
Squad1 Feb 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 Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Prosper Ibekwe commits to Jelgava for another 3 years.
Market1 Feb 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Jelgava
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prosper Ibekwe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Jelgava sell a favourite for $84.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Roberts Laizans was one of the reasons people came, and $84.0K does not replace that by itself.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A move Chinanu Victor 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. Chinanu Victor is living that version at Jelgava, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Liepaja is saying, and nobody at Jelgava is enjoying the guessing.
Market25 Jan 2027
Roberts Laizans has left for Metta/LU in a $84.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad25 Jan 2027
55 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Jelgava
Jamiu Sulaimon and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Jelgava has been clear about where Vladimirs Zjuzins stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Marcis Ikaunieks out for 115 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A move Jamiu Sulaimon 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. Jamiu Sulaimon is living that version at Jelgava, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jelgava have done the hard part with Liepaja, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Jelgava asked and Liepaja said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Jamiu Sulaimon 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Jelgava know it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Suleiman Badaru 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Janis Cauna and Jelgava agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market11 Jan 2027
Liepaja are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Jelgava will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Janis Cauna
“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 dugout11 Jan 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
“Ambitious players need ambitious projects. Draw your own conclusions.” Marcis Ikaunieks’s representative said it with a smile, and made sure everyone wrote it down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market4 Jan 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 Jelgava, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“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; Jelgava are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Nikita Tarasovs again, and this time the name on the line is Ventspils. Jelgava are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Jelgava
Pavels Ciganovs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Jelgava
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Suleiman Badaru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Dec 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 Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Jelgava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davis Laizans 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
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Pavels Ciganovs 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Too much change too quickly at Jelgava
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Jelgava training over how hard people work
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The dugout
Pam Samuel keeps his manager's vote
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Jelgava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Suleiman Badaru 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Nikita Tarasovs 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
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vladimirs Zjuzins and Jelgava agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Vladimirs Gabovs 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
Squad30 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Davis Laizans 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Marcis Ikaunieks damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Suleiman Badaru was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jelgava lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A muscle injury and 15 days out for Suleiman Badaru
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Jelgava will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Suleiman Badaru 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.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Ventspils to sit and watch. I want to come back to Jelgava and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
Market16 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Marcis Ikaunieks
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jelgava lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Jelgava
Suleiman Badaru 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
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vitalijs Tarasovs commits to Jelgava for another 4 years.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Jelgava game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ventspils runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Marcis Ikaunieks
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jelgava lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Pam Samuel 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. Pam Samuel has, at Jelgava, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad2 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 Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Jelgava, another week without a signature from Pam Samuel.
Market2 Nov 2026
Jelgava shop where it costs nothing
Pam Samuel signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Metta/LU to sit and watch. I want to come back to Jelgava and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 7 matches say the rest.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Jelgava
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Davis Laizans was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Loan watch19 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 Jelgava, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Jelgava
Vladimirs Gabovs 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
Squad12 Oct 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jelgava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Vitalijs Tarasovs is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Ventspils to sit and watch. I want to come back to Jelgava and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vladimirs Zjuzins commits to Jelgava for another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Jelgava
Vitalijs Tarasovs 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
Squad28 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Janis Laizans out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jelgava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Vitalijs Tarasovs 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Davis Laizans 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Vitalijs Tarasovs 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Vladimirs Gabovs 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 dugout21 Sep 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 Kristaps Fertovs is on it.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Squad21 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 Jelgava would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market21 Sep 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Roberts Laizans’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Vladimirs Gabovs 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 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartaks have kept their man, and Jelgava go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Jelgava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davis Laizans 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 targets14 Sep 2026
The clock did what Spartaks would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Loan watch14 Sep 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 Jelgava, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Market14 Sep 2026
Uchechi Okoye is 20, and Jelgava have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
$20.0K settles it between the clubs for Vykintas Kazlauskas
Spartaks have accepted the money. What Jelgava do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Jelgava until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Spartaks keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Jelgava asked and Spartaks said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Davis Laizans 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 Sep 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 Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Jelgava than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Market7 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jelgava know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market7 Sep 2026
The window shut and Roberts Laizans is still in the building
Jelgava spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jelgava people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Jelgava have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The offer went to Spartaks 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Olegs Oss has left for Ventspils in a $66.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartaks have kept their man, and Jelgava go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Vladimirs Gabovs 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 targets31 Aug 2026
A loan move for Pavels Kamess is in the works
Jelgava have made the call to Spartaks. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Arturs Jurkovskis 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Roberts Laizans has his answer from Jelgava; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Metta/LU waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Jelgava is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market24 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jelgava can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
No thanks: Gábor Király rejects the move
Jelgava had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ujpest, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Jelgava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davis Laizans 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.
Squad24 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 Jelgava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arturs Jurkovskis and Jelgava agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match12 Aug 2026
Jelgava bow out of the cup
Spartaks go through and Jelgava go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market17 Aug 2026
Liepaja come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Jelgava did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Kristaps Fertovs, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Vladimirs Gabovs and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Davis Laizans 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Roberts Laizans has come up in conversations Jelgava were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jelgava lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market10 Aug 2026
Jelgava say no — this time
The offer from Liepaja for Alvis Bulvitis was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Liepaja, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aleksandrs Oss and Jelgava agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Vladivostok have kept their man, and Jelgava go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Vladimirs Gabovs 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Jelgava
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Davis Laizans was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Jelgava
Pavels Rugins 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marcis Ikaunieks commits to Jelgava for another 1 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Mory Cissé is in the works
Jelgava have made the call to Liepaja. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Aleksandrs Oss 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 Jelgava, and both men came out saying it was fine.