Valerenga U20

19 Dec 2026
Saturday
Process
20 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Valerenga

Gustav Valsvik was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Elias Hoff Melkersen gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Kevin Tshiembe falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

When it matters, Ivan Näsberg plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Ole Sæter question follows Valerenga around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ole Sæter’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

Meliga Promise wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Valerenga will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

In brief

Back issues
19 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gustav Valsvik signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gustav Valsvik commits to Valerenga for another 2 years.

Squad

Ivan Näsberg in a row with a teammate

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

Squad

A row about effort at Valerenga

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

Squad

Elias Hoff Melkersen: “I am not a substitute”

“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Valerenga will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

The dugout

No hiding place for Magnus Westergaard

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Magnus Westergaard, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Ole Sæter has become a man the manager trusts

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

In brief

18 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Oscar Hedvall wins the shoot-out

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

Match

Valerenga bow out of the cup

Rosenborg go through and Valerenga go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Market

Mathias Grundetjern puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Valerenga, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Håkon Sjåtil keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valerenga may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Only the photograph left for Magnus Westergaard

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Magnus Westergaard will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valerenga the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

The wait goes on for Valerenga

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Ghayas Zahid in a row with a teammate

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

Match

The goals have deserted Valerenga

4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Valerenga can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Gustav Valsvik 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.

In brief

17 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Sebastian Jarl says Valerenga went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Valerenga

Ghayas Zahid was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Valerenga

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

In brief

16 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Only the photograph left for Magnus Sjøeng

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Magnus Sjøeng will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valerenga the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Valerenga

Ivan Näsberg was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Valerenga

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Elias Hoff Melkersen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Magnus Westergaard has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Valerenga 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.

Market

The Ole Sæter question follows Valerenga around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ole Sæter’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

15 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Valerenga

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

Squad

Gustav Valsvik falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Håkon Sjåtil stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Håkon Sjåtil and Valerenga agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Mathias Grundetjern

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Valerenga

Something was said to Carl Lange and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout

Mohamed Ofkir gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohamed Ofkir is on it.

Market

Brice Ambina linked with a move away

The name of Brice Ambina keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Valerenga say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Gustav Valsvik has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Gustav Valsvik has written the date down.

Market

Still no ink between Valerenga and Magnus Sjøeng

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Valerenga, another week without a signature from Magnus Sjøeng.

In brief

14 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The longest week starts now for Valerenga

Beaten 0‑1 by Lillestrom in the one fixture that is never just a fixture. Work, school, the corner shop — there will be no getting away from this one.

Market

Magnus Westergaard is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valerenga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Valerenga

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

Match

The goals have deserted Valerenga

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Valerenga can tell you which week it ends in.

Player ratings

Dennis Gjengaar beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

No hiding place for Kevin Tshiembe

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kevin Tshiembe, and the manager let it.

Squad

A row about effort at Valerenga

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

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Martin Berge left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Ole Sæter has become a man the manager trusts

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

In brief

13 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Words exchanged at Valerenga

Ivan Näsberg and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Gustav Valsvik falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Gustav Valsvik 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Valerenga against Molde

0‑2 to Molde, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Looking ahead

The neighbours are next for Valerenga

Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Lillestrom on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.

Squad

Valerenga are still strangers to each other

11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

Martin Berge faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martin Berge after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Oscar Hedvall gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Oscar Hedvall is on it.

Player ratings

Ole Sæter beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

12 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Dennis Gjengaar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Only the photograph left for Magnus Sjøeng

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Magnus Sjøeng will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Valerenga the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Valerenga

Ivan Näsberg was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Valerenga

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

The dugout

Elias Hoff Melkersen gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Mohamed Ofkir reaches 200 appearances

200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Mohamed Ofkir

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Valerenga told Mohamed Ofkir something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Market

Vegar Eggen Hedenstad is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Valerenga has been clear about where Vegar Eggen Hedenstad stands, which is more than many ever get.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Kolbeinn Birgir Finnsson

7.23, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Valerenga had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

In brief

11 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Mohamed Ofkir beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A falling-out at Valerenga

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

Squad

A row about effort at Valerenga

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

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Dennis Gjengaar

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Dennis Gjengaar sends Valerenga past Stabaek

It finished 1‑0, and it was Dennis Gjengaar’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Valerenga.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Dennis Gjengaar

Marked 8.07 — 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.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Martin Berge kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

Mohamed Ofkir gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohamed Ofkir is on it.

The dugout

Kevin Tshiembe 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 Kevin Tshiembe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

10 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Magnus Westergaard has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valerenga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dennis Gjengaar

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A falling-out at Valerenga

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

Squad

Stian Sjøvold is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A row about effort at Valerenga

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

Player ratings

Mohamed Ofkir was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.08. 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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Mathias Grundetjern

“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.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Valerenga had all but put away. Stromsgodset will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

Market

Still no ink between Valerenga and Gustav Valsvik

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Valerenga, another week without a signature from Gustav Valsvik.

In brief

9 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Chastening afternoon for Valerenga

A 0‑4 beating by Viking was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

8 saves: Oscar Hedvall was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Player ratings

Dennis Gjengaar was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Match

After 9 games, Valerenga finally taste it again

The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Viking; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.

Squad

Tempers go at Valerenga

Ghayas Zahid was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustav Valsvik is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

Oscar Hedvall 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.

Boardroom

Inquest at Valerenga

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Valerenga

10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout Oscar Hedvall has become a man the manager trusts
  • The dugout Somebody else is better right now than Vegar Eggen Hedenstad
8 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dennis Gjengaar

Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Valerenga march on in the cup

Viking are out and Valerenga go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Valerenga

The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Market

Magnus Sjøeng is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valerenga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at Valerenga

Ghayas Zahid and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustav Valsvik 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 terraces

One of their own: Elias Hoff Melkersen

He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

The dugout

No hiding place for Elias Hoff Melkersen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elias Hoff Melkersen, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Ole Sæter in the eights

A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

7 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Dennis Gjengaar beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 41. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Brice Ambina goes up and wins it — 7.92

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.92 for the rest of it.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Valerenga

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.

Squad

Gustav Valsvik in a row with a teammate

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

Squad

Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ghayas Zahid 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.

Match

Valerenga get the job done against Haugesund

A 1‑0 win over Haugesund, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The dugout

Kevin Tshiembe gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Martin Berge, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

The dugout

Elias Hoff Melkersen asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

6 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Valerenga tear Mjondalen apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Mjondalen, and it could have been more.

Market

Magnus Westergaard has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valerenga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Player ratings

Brice Ambina pops up at the right end — 7.96

7.96, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

A falling-out at Valerenga

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

Match

6 unbeaten for Valerenga

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Valerenga did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustav Valsvik is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Gustav Valsvik

“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 ratings

A masterclass from Mohamed Ofkir

Marked 8.38 — 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.

Squad

A muscle injury and 17 days out for Lucas Ravn-Haren

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Valerenga will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

In brief

5 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dennis Gjengaar

Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Valerenga

Ghayas Zahid was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Mohamed Ofkir gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Kevin Tshiembe 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 ratings

One of those days for Ole Sæter

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Valerenga

11 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.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Carl Lange'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.

Match

Honours even between Valerenga and Odd

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Martin Berge was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Valerenga dressing room was either.

In brief

4 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Dennis Gjengaar was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 52. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Match

Valerenga march on in the cup

Stabaek are out and Valerenga go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Squad

Oscar Hedvall decides it from twelve yards

1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.

Market

Mathias Grundetjern’s move to Stromsgodset falls through

The deal that would have taken Mathias Grundetjern to Stromsgodset has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Valerenga with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Market

Magnus Sjøeng has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Valerenga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Boardroom

Valerenga to lose Magnus Sjøeng for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Magnus Sjøeng has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

Squad

Tempers go at Valerenga

Ivan Näsberg was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Valerenga training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ghayas Zahid 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 terraces

Valerenga supporters have found a favourite in Dennis Gjengaar

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Dennis Gjengaar has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

In brief

3 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dennis Gjengaar

Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Valerenga march on in the cup

Sarpsborg 08 are out and Valerenga go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Squad

Oscar Hedvall decides it from twelve yards

1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.

Market

Valerenga pay Stromsgodset $1.8M for a proper upgrade

Stromsgodset did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.8M for Elias Hoff Melkersen, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 7 in, 0 out at Valerenga

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Market

Eyes on Mathias Grundetjern again

The phone has started ringing about Mathias Grundetjern again, and this time the name on the line is Stromsgodset. Valerenga are listening politely and promising nothing.

Match

4 matches without a win for Valerenga

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Valerenga are no longer polite ones.

Boardroom

Valerenga to lose Magnus Westergaard for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Magnus Westergaard has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

Squad

A falling-out at Valerenga

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

In brief

2 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Transfer targets

Valerenga agree $1.8M for Elias Hoff Melkersen

The clubs have shaken hands with Stromsgodset; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Player ratings

Dennis Gjengaar was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Market

Magnus Westergaard is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Valerenga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Transfer targets

Élohim Kaboré will not be coming to Valerenga

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

Transfer targets

Valerenga bid $170.0K for Gustav Valsvik

The offer went to Stromsgodset this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

Tempers go at Valerenga

Ghayas Zahid was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Oscar Hedvall stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Oscar Hedvall and Valerenga agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Sory Diarra

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

Player ratings

The game went through Petter Strand — 6.72

Marked 6.72 on 12 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.

In brief

1 Edition

The Valerenga Gazette

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Dennis Gjengaar beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

Valerenga make their move for Elias Hoff Melkersen

$1.6M on the table at Stromsgodset. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Brice Ambina stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Brice Ambina and Valerenga agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Valerenga

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

Squad

A row about effort at Valerenga

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

Transfer targets

Valerenga rebuffed over Daniel Adu-Adjei

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

Match

Aalesund take the points off Valerenga

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Nobody at Valerenga has picked up the phone to Mohamed Ofkir

36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

Squad

9 new faces, and Valerenga are still learning each other

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

In brief