From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
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 dugout14 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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 dugout14 Dec 2026
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.
Market14 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gustav Valsvik commits to Valerenga for another 2 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Match25 Nov 2026
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.
Market30 Nov 2026
“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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Valerenga may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Nov 2026
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.
Match25 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Match25 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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 dugout16 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
Market16 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ghayas Zahid and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“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 dugout9 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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 dugout9 Nov 2026
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.
Market9 Nov 2026
The name of Brice Ambina keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Valerenga say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
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.
Market2 Nov 2026
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Gustav Valsvik and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match31 Oct 2026
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 ratings2 Nov 2026
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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 dugout26 Oct 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
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 ahead26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“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 dugout26 Oct 2026
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 ratings26 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
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.
Market19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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 dugout19 Oct 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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 dugout19 Oct 2026
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.
Market19 Oct 2026
“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 ratings19 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ghayas Zahid and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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 terraces12 Oct 2026
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.
Match10 Oct 2026
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 ratings12 Oct 2026
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 dugout12 Oct 2026
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 dugout12 Oct 2026
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 dugout12 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 2026
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 ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Ivan Näsberg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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 ratings5 Oct 2026
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 dugout5 Oct 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Valerenga
A 0‑4 beating by Viking was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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 ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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 dugout28 Sep 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.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match16 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
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.
Market21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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 terraces21 Sep 2026
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“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 ratings21 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
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 ratings14 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Valerenga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
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 dugout14 Sep 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Sep 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Mjondalen, and it could have been more.
Market7 Sep 2026
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 ratings7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ivan Näsberg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match5 Sep 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Valerenga did not have in the autumn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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 dugout7 Sep 2026
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 ratings7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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 dugout31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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 ratings31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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 dugout31 Aug 2026
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
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 dugout31 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
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.
Match19 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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 terraces24 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
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.
Match15 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ghayas Zahid and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
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 ratings10 Aug 2026
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.
Market10 Aug 2026
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 targets10 Aug 2026
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 targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“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 targets10 Aug 2026
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 ratings10 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
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 targets3 Aug 2026
$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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ivan Näsberg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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 targets3 Aug 2026
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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.