From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad11 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Sep 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Sep 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Fiodor Simkus reports back to Utenis with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gregory Asemokhai and Utenis agree another 3 years.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aidas Jankauskas 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Aug 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Aug 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Utenis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Market28 Aug 2028
Zalgiris are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Utenis will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Nobody at Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Aug 2028
Brooklyn Bailey 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
The phone has started ringing about Arvydas Lasickas again, and this time the name on the line is Zalgiris. Utenis are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Market14 Aug 2028
$780.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Brooklyn Bailey damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces14 Aug 2028
Supporters turn on the $780.0K sale of Darius Jankauskas
He is going to Siauliai, the club has $780.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market14 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rokas Paulauskas and Utenis agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Aug 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Brooklyn Bailey
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market7 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Aug 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Utenis have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Market7 Aug 2028
Everyone has stopped pretending: Trakai will make the call about Arvydas Lasickas this week. Utenis have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jul 2028
Brooklyn Bailey damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Market31 Jul 2028
Aidas Sernas 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Jul 2028
Siauliai come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aidas Jankauskas 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.
Market24 Jul 2028
Utenis have made Francisco Brás available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market24 Jul 2028
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Eduardo Simo leaves Utenis the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jul 2028
Donatas Novikovas damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Market17 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Market17 Jul 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Utenis have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jul 2028
Donatas Novikovas damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Market3 Jul 2028
Aidas Sernas 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Calum Hewlett and Utenis agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Darius Jankauskas's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Aidas Jankauskas 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Intake day at the Utenis academy
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bruno Pires, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jun 2028
The name of Eduardo Simo has come up in conversations Utenis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad19 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Nobody at Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Bruno Pires 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Arnas Kazlauskas joins up with his country. Utenis lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
Market12 Jun 2028
Utenis have made Prince Acheampong available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Jun 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
12 appearances, an average of 6.28, and team-mates who have run out of ways to defend him in public. Good footballers go through this; it still ends somebody's job.
Match3 Jun 2028
Zalgiris left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paulius Paulauskas, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Darius Jankauskas's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Marked 4.95. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
A mark of 5.17 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 May 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 May 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad29 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Josh Robinson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings29 May 2028
A mark of 7.36, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad29 May 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Utenis pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Match27 May 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Atlantas leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings29 May 2028
A mark of 5.40 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Marked 5.52, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 May 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 May 2028
Three points for Utenis, 1‑0 the final word against Trakai in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Marked 7.76. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Pires 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.
Squad22 May 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Match13 May 2028
The wait goes on for Utenis
5 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad15 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings15 May 2028
The afternoon belonged to Eduardo Simo
7.70, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Utenis had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match13 May 2028
It needed Eduardo Simo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Stumbras, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad15 May 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 May 2028
Tadas Satkus breaks a bone — 17 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 May 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match6 May 2028
No end in sight to Utenis's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Utenis has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arnas Kazlauskas and Utenis agree another 3 years.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Match6 May 2028
A bad afternoon for Utenis against Suduva
1‑2 to Suduva, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings8 May 2028
An afternoon Aidas Sernas will want back
Marked 5.12. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 May 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 May 2028
Tadas Satkus breaks a bone — 24 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 May 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad1 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aidas Jankauskas 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Siauliai leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings1 May 2028
A mark of 5.61 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Marked 5.65. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings1 May 2028
5.79 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Apr 2028
A hiding for Utenis
Beaten 0‑3 by Kauno Zalgiris, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market24 Apr 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Tadas Satkus breaks a bone — 31 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces24 Apr 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 36 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad24 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Josh Robinson
“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.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
Nobody left the Utenis dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Tadas Satkus breaks a bone — 38 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Paulius Paulauskas falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Francisco Brás
“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.
Match15 Apr 2028
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Zalgiris came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
A mark of 5.46 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
A mark of 5.70 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
5.78 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Apr 2028
The small margins put Utenis out
Out, 1‑2 to Siauliai, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match8 Apr 2028
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Atlantas, and it could have been more.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Tadas Satkus breaks a bone — 45 days out
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
The match ball belongs to Arvydas Lasickas, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Arvydas Lasickas, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.90
A mark of 8.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match10 Apr 2028
Utenis are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 11 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A chastening introduction for Zhaviah Campbell — 5.40
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.40 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrius Slavickas 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
Squad3 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Tadas Satkus out for 53 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 Apr 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match1 Apr 2028
Utenis and Trakai take a point apiece
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market3 Apr 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Aidas Jankauskas has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Utenis.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Utenis sign a deal worth $125.8K a year
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Bruno Pires could not find anything
5.65. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Defensive actions: 52, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Paulius Slavickas could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.35
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.35, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Market27 Mar 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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 terraces27 Mar 2028
At 17 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.
Match25 Mar 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Paulius Slavickas. 1‑0 against Stumbras, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad27 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Vykintas Simkus
“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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Deividas Eliosius and Utenis agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Mar 2028
A hiding for Utenis
Beaten 0‑3 by Suduva, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market20 Mar 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces20 Mar 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 37 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“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; Utenis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Andrius Slavickas 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
Nobody left the Utenis dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Mar 2028
Linas Klimavicius damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Market13 Mar 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Prince Acheampong, and the manager let it.
Match11 Mar 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Siauliai defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Marked 5.48. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
5.72 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
5.74 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Klimavicius
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match4 Mar 2028
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Utenis scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Market6 Mar 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match4 Mar 2028
Utenis cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Karolis Girdvainis commits to Utenis for another 3 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Graduation day at Utenis
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market6 Mar 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrius Vaitkunas 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
Upbeat
Squad28 Feb 2028
Linas Klimavicius damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Market28 Feb 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Feb 2028
Linas Klimavicius damages knee ligaments — 40 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Upbeat
Squad14 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Klimavicius
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market14 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
-
Squad
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
-
Squad
Vykintas Simkus has become a man the manager trusts
-
Market
The window shut and Bruno Pires is still in the building
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Feb 2028
Arvydas Barauskas damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Match7 Feb 2028
Utenis refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market7 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Andrius Slavickas 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 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fiodor Simkus commits to Utenis for another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Klimavicius
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market31 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Jan 2028
Linas Klimavicius damages knee ligaments — 70 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Upbeat
Squad17 Jan 2028
Linas Klimavicius damages knee ligaments — 77 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Jan 2028
Linas Klimavicius damages knee ligaments — 84 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 84 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match10 Jan 2028
Utenis refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market10 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Paulius Paulauskas 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
Upbeat
Squad3 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Klimavicius
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 Jan 2028
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Utenis will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad27 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Klimavicius
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market27 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Klimavicius
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market20 Dec 2027
Diogo Belo 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Klimavicius
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match13 Dec 2027
Utenis up to position 1
27 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market6 Dec 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Upbeat
Squad29 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Darius Jankauskas commits to Utenis for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
Silverware for Utenis
They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad22 Nov 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Utenis will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Paulius Paulauskas 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
Upbeat
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match15 Nov 2027
Utenis up to position 1
27 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Nov 2027
Haza Shehab 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrius Slavickas and Utenis agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Nov 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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
Upbeat
Squad25 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Oct 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Upbeat
Match18 Oct 2027
Utenis refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market18 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Jankauskas out for 44 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Oct 2027
Haza Shehab 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Upbeat
Squad4 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 Oct 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad27 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Jankauskas out for 60 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Upbeat
Match20 Sep 2027
Utenis up to position 1
27 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Jankauskas out for 67 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market20 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Jankauskas out for 74 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market13 Sep 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Modestas Kuklys commits to Utenis for another 4 years.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Eduardo Simo 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
The window shut and Eduardo Simo is still in the building
Utenis 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
Upbeat
Squad6 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Jankauskas out for 81 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market6 Sep 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Sep 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Loan watch6 Sep 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 Utenis, and 4 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Nobody at Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market30 Aug 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I watch every Utenis game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kauno Zalgiris runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Aug 2027
Utenis up to position 1
27 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo Simo 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Vykintas Simkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market16 Aug 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Utenis may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 2027
Eduardo Simo 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Aug 2027
Atlantas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Aidas Sernas commits to Utenis for another 3 years.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I watch every Utenis game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zalgiris runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Mantas Kuklys out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market2 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Utenis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Jul 2027
Utenis refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Mantas Kuklys out for 24 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Jul 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Mantas Kuklys out for 31 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Vykintas Simkus: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Utenis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market19 Jul 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Jul 2027
Arvydas Barauskas damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Mantas Kuklys out for 38 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Jul 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jul 2027
Arvydas Barauskas damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Mantas Kuklys breaks a bone — 46 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market5 Jul 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market5 Jul 2027
Aidas Satkus has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Utenis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 48 days on the sidelines for Eduardo Simo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Upbeat
Squad28 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Arvydas Barauskas
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match28 Jun 2027
Utenis are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 27 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Mantas Kuklys breaks a bone — 53 days out
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Darius Dubickas out for 16 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Upbeat
Squad14 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Darius Dubickas out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arnas Kazlauskas and Utenis agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Darius Dubickas out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Paulius Paulauskas falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Jun 2027
56 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match5 Jun 2027
Zalgiris made Utenis work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Darius Jankauskas was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.44. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Loan watch7 Jun 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 Utenis, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Market7 Jun 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Aidas Novikovas has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Utenis.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match31 May 2027
Utenis are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 24 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match29 May 2027
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Darius Jankauskas decided nobody was going anywhere. Atlantas had no time left to answer.
Player ratings31 May 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 7.99, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market31 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 May 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Match29 May 2027
Three points for Utenis, 2‑1 the final word against Atlantas in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad31 May 2027
Nobody at Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces24 May 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 39 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market24 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Match22 May 2027
A bad afternoon for Utenis against Trakai
1‑2 to Trakai, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josh Robinson, and the manager let it.
Squad24 May 2027
Andrius Slavickas falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings24 May 2027
5.37 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Marked 5.54, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match15 May 2027
Still nobody has beaten Utenis
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market17 May 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.
Squad17 May 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad17 May 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.
Loan watch17 May 2027
“I watch every Utenis game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zalgiris runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.74 on the card, and the Utenis support went home talking about one name.
Match15 May 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match8 May 2027
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Modestas Valskis decided nobody was going anywhere. Suduva had no time left to answer.
Match8 May 2027
Whatever happens, Utenis do not lose
11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings10 May 2027
No sign of nerves from Modestas Valskis at 19 — 8.02
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modestas Valskis did not need any: 8.02, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Paulius Paulauskas 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 terraces10 May 2027
At 19 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.
Match8 May 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Modestas Valskis’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Utenis.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match3 May 2027
Utenis are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 17 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match1 May 2027
10 unbeaten for Utenis
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Utenis did not have in the autumn.
Market3 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 May 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 May 2027
Siauliai made Utenis work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrius Slavickas 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Prince Acheampong, and the manager let it.
Player ratings3 May 2027
A mark of 5.71 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match24 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, Utenis do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market26 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrius Slavickas, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Aidas Jankauskas: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Utenis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match17 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, Utenis do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josh Robinson, and the manager let it.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I watch every Utenis game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zalgiris runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match17 Apr 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Zalgiris leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A mark of 5.56 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Apr 2027
Modestas Valskis wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Modestas Valskis found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Atlantas went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
No sign of nerves from Modestas Valskis at 19 — 8.01
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Modestas Valskis did not need any: 8.01, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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
Still nobody has beaten Utenis
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad12 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Apr 2027
A 2‑1 win over Atlantas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces12 Apr 2027
At 18 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Pires 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Bruno Pires gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Mar 2027
The cup run ends for Utenis
0‑0 against Zalgiris, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match5 Apr 2027
Utenis up to position 2
9 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
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Karolis Girdvainis: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Modestas Valskis: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Utenis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Apr 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
6 unbeaten for Utenis
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Utenis did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Paulius Paulauskas falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match3 Apr 2027
Utenis get the job done against Trakai
A 1‑0 win over Trakai, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 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.
Squad29 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match27 Mar 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Vykintas Simkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Mar 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 8.10 — 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Bruno Pires falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Too much change too quickly at Utenis
17 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.
Loan watch22 Mar 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 Utenis, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Match20 Mar 2027
Honours even between Utenis and Suduva
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
5.59 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
A chastening introduction for Arvydas Vaitkunas — 5.45
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.45 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Karolis Girdvainis, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad15 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 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; Utenis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Darius Jankauskas’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Utenis.
Match13 Mar 2027
Siauliai blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Siauliai tried to reorganise, Utenis did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
A mark of 7.94, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vykintas Simkus and Utenis agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Graduation day at Utenis
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tomas Slavickas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrius Satkus 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tadas Satkus 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josh Robinson, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrius Slavickas 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.
Squad1 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Feb 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Paulius Paulauskas 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
Market15 Feb 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.
Squad15 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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
Market8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Andrius Slavickas 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Haza Shehab and Utenis agree another 3 years.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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
Squad1 Feb 2027
Francisco Brás gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Francisco Brás has just signed for Utenis, and for once the answer mattered.
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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eduardo Simo and Utenis agree another 3 years.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Paulauskas 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Francisco Brás is 20, and Utenis 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
He is 16, and nobody at Utenis signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Satkus out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market25 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Squad18 Jan 2027
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Satkus out for 27 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market18 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Jan 2027
Utenis say no — this time
The offer from Stumbras for Arnas Girdvainis 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.
Squad18 Jan 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrius Slavickas 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
Squad11 Jan 2027
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 Jan 2027
Suduva come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Satkus out for 34 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bruno Pires gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bruno Pires has just signed for Utenis, and for once the answer mattered.
Market11 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Josh Robinson 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
Squad4 Jan 2027
Paulius Paulauskas damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Aidas Satkus out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Josh Robinson and Utenis agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Jan 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Arvydas Lasickas has come up in conversations Utenis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market4 Jan 2027
Still no offer on the table, and Josh Robinson’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Paulius Paulauskas damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Aidas Satkus out for 48 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Darius Jankauskas 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
Squad21 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Aidas Satkus out for 55 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market21 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrius Slavickas 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
Market14 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Modestas Kuklys commits to Utenis for another 4 years.
Squad14 Dec 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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
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Squad
Tempers go at Utenis
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Linas Klimavicius commits to Utenis for another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrius Slavickas 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
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Vykintas Simkus 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aidas Jankauskas 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Aidas Satkus 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 Aidas Satkus trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Žygimantas Baltrūnas 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
Marko Capan 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Vykintas Simkus 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Andrius Slavickas 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
Squad9 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Marko Capan 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.
Squad9 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Karolis Girdvainis damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Capan 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
Squad26 Oct 2026
Karolis Girdvainis damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market26 Oct 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Žygimantas Baltrūnas 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
Squad19 Oct 2026
Karolis Girdvainis damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Squad19 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Capan 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.