Sillamae Kalev U18

Estonian Meistriliiga U18
3 Oct 2026
Saturday
Process
9 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Marek Igonen out for 85 days

85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sillamae Kalev lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

A falling-out at Sillamae Kalev

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

Loan watch

Erik Sappinen has seen enough of Levadia

“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 Sillamae Kalev, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Mihkel Puri signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mihkel Puri commits to Sillamae Kalev for another 3 years.

Squad

Words at Sillamae Kalev training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karol Vassiljev 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

Ken Igonen has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sillamae Kalev 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

Back issues
8 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Marek Igonen out for 92 days

92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sillamae Kalev lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Loan watch

Liliu Dmitrijev counts the days

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

Squad

A falling-out at Sillamae Kalev

Liliu Kallaste 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 Sillamae Kalev

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

The dugout

Karol Vassiljev has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sillamae Kalev will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout

Mihkel Pikk knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mihkel Pikk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

7 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Marek Igonen damages knee ligaments — 99 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.

Market

Brent Antonov puts it in writing

“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 Sillamae Kalev, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Nikita Sappinen steps up from the Sillamae Kalev academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nikita Sappinen 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

Brent Liivak steps up from the Sillamae Kalev academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Brent Liivak 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

Konstantin Klavan steps up from the Sillamae Kalev academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Konstantin Klavan 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.

Loan watch

Erik Tamm counts the days

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

In brief

6 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Marek Igonen

106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sillamae Kalev lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Mihkel Pikk asks to leave Sillamae Kalev

“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.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 7 signed and 9 gone

That is the business done at Sillamae Kalev 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.

Market

So close: Marek Igonen’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Tammeka moved on, Marek Igonen reports back to Sillamae Kalev, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sillamae Kalev

Nikita Vassiljev 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

A step back for Taijo Klavan at Sillamae Kalev

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.

The dugout

Nikita Vassiljev has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sillamae Kalev 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.

Squad

Alvis Cauna 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 dugout

Ken Kait 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

5 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Marek Igonen out for 113 days

113 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sillamae Kalev lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Konstantin Liivak puts it in writing

“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 Sillamae Kalev, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Sillamae Kalev turn down FCI Tallinn for Karl Liivak

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Tempers go at Sillamae Kalev

Joonas Ojamaa 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.

Market

Marek Igonen attracts admirers

The name of Marek Igonen has come up in conversations Sillamae Kalev were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

The dugout

Liliu Kallaste 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.

Squad

Words at Sillamae Kalev training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erik Vassiljev 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

Erik Marin is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sillamae Kalev has been clear about where Erik Marin stands, which is more than many ever get.

The dugout

Ken Igonen has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Sillamae Kalev 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

4 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Marek Igonen

120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sillamae Kalev lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Marek Igonen puts it in writing

“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 Sillamae Kalev, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sillamae Kalev

Joonas Ojamaa 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

A row about effort at Sillamae Kalev

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

Squad

Hendrik Liivak signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hendrik Liivak and Sillamae Kalev agree another 3 years.

The dugout

When it matters, Karol Vassiljev 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

3 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The cup run ends for Sillamae Kalev

1‑1 against Tulevik, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Market

Sillamae Kalev say no — this time

The offer from Paide for Joonas Ojamaa 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.

Squad

Konstantin Puri wins the shoot-out

1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.

Market

Brent Antonov 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 Sillamae Kalev can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A falling-out at Sillamae Kalev

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

Player ratings

A masterclass from Karol Vassiljev

Marked 8.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Sillamae Kalev caught on 87 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Tulevik scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

Player ratings

Liliu Teniste fails from the spot

Twelve yards and the whole ground holding its breath, and it did not go in. He will put his name down for the next one, which is the only thing to do.

Squad

A row about effort at Sillamae Kalev

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

In brief

2 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Sillamae Kalev turn down Narva Trans for Liliu Kallaste

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Mihkel Pikk asks to leave Sillamae Kalev

“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.

Squad

Nikita Dmitrijev stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikita Dmitrijev and Sillamae Kalev agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Liliu Kallaste 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 Sillamae Kalev this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Kirill Schetinin

Sillamae Kalev asked and Akhmat Grozny said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

One of our own: Hendrik Liivak joins the Sillamae Kalev first team

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

In brief

1 Edition

The Sillamae Kalev Sentinel

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Sillamae Kalev

Liliu Kallaste 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.

Squad

Markus Ainsalu stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Markus Ainsalu and Sillamae Kalev agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

Sillamae Kalev rebuffed over Evgeniy Yudchits

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

Market

Erik Tamm attracts admirers

The name of Erik Tamm has come up in conversations Sillamae Kalev were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

A row about effort at Sillamae Kalev

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

Market

Marek Igonen is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sillamae Kalev has been clear about where Marek Igonen stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief