Koetzer

March – June 2032 The schedule was tough, still we managed to start with a fully deserved win over Molde (had over 2 xG and should have been scored more than the only late penalty) and defeated Lillestrøm with Heggebø’s hat-trick. Brann took a revenge for that last season game which left them without European football, but it was a good month overall. Ramirez and Zedadka got injured for a month during the international break, but we won three games out of three with young Randby in goal, and when Ramirez returned… typical FM happened, knocking us from the top spot. Unlucky finish of the previous month and tough schedule resulted in a bad league run and repeating the last season cup failure against the same opponents, this time in a shootout. Luckily we could get finish the month with two narrow wins (backup left winger Ardraa is our best goalscorer so far)! Speaking of Sarpsborg and our former stars there – Lawal was injured and Matola missed the cross before the only goal. Extended our win streak to four games and caught Stabæk for the lead with three late goals! Ardraa kept up his great form and I feel a bit sorry for Zedadka who has to wait on the bench (though Ardraa can also play as AMC and scored from this position in the last game, so probably it can be a good decision). Leading on goal difference, though Molde and Bodø/Glimt can overtake us with a game in hand. Our first European opponent will be a Romanian team owned and managed by legendary Gheorghe Hagi (and Rivaldo is one of their directors).

Pre-season 2032 Transfers out So, Lawal wanted to join a bigger club… which just won promotion to the top tier. The deal itself is incredibly good for us, half of it was immediately invested into facilities expansion. Almost two more million came from selling backup defender Kvithyld, several reserve players and activating Matola clause (Sarpsborg now has our two former key players in their squad). Transfers in We could improve the squad more, but unfortunately again couldn’t afford best players’ wages. So only loaned winger Kontos from Stuttgart, signed two new center-backs (Øren and Jelsa) for the bench, rotation striker/AMC Kjønø (good skills for this value) and young Ghanaian left-back Mohammed. Academy upgrades finally paid off, this is surely our best ever intake. Not the best personalities, but goalkeeper Dørre, left winger Stokvik and midfielder Mortensen can develop into first team players. And we got the first player included into the NXGN list, Tarmamade joined us last summer and spends this season on loan in Portuguese second tier. Odds are still low, but we are not predicted bottom at least. He moved to PSG here, has almost no chances in their first team but obviously is a starter for Norway.

August – November 2031 Transfers out Transfers in The first team remained unchanged, better players had higher wage demands than we could afford. So only signed several prospects, mostly from Africa. The only exception is Algerian winger Mohamed Zedadka, who will likely take Lawal's place in the first team next season as he wants to leave. A tough and a bit lucky win over Viking (we didn’t have many chances except that penalty) was a key to regain good form. We drew against Vålerenga (not the best result actually as we had a man advantage for the whole second half) and won three remaining games, closing the gap from two leaders. Good month was followed by another bad one, we only managed to equalize from 0-2 in the last game. In addition to all the problems, in October we missed Ramirez (who went to Pan-American games) and injured Heggebø. Still I hoped for more than the only draw (saved from 1-4 with a last minute penalty) in two home games. At least we finished this month with a win over bottom and already relegated Åsane, where Zedadka marked his first start for us with a goal and assist. Bodø/Glimt scored the winning goal in stoppage time, secured another title and let Brann catch us for 4th place, so this 29th round game was actually a European playoff. Two goals in the first half were enough, and we only needed a draw against Sogndal to qualify! European football comes to its northernmost point next summer! A well-deserved result, we were even better than Vålerenga in xG table. The most shocking result is relegation of Rosenborg, 27 times Norwegian champions lost in the playoffs. Squad stats Jorge Ramirez – despite all disciplinary issues he remains our best player and league leading goalkeeper. Mikal Berg Kvinge – became the league best assistant and set the new club record with 13 assists. Aune Heggebø – scored less than last season, probably due to injuries in the end, still became our best goalscorer. Peder Brekke – provided a decent backup at front with 10 goals, one of them was selected as the best of the season (nothing special actually, just a good free kick). Stanley Lawal – scored nine goals in his last season here, hopefully will bring some good money with his transfer. Brian Carreras – had the most playing time and his personal best season for us so far. Isak Kjelsrud Vik – our captain finished his fifth season here and still remains the best defender. Djavan Sion – returned from loan and had a decent debut season as a rotation player. Our youth team lost in the regional playoffs once again, but won the national cup! Balancing above zero with prize money and transfers. I hope attendances continue to increase and our European debut will be successful enough to boost it further.

April – July 2031 Four out of four, what a start against quite strong opponents! Even when Ramirez decided to explore Trondheim bars instead of football, Rossbach did well to replace him and was supported by outfield players. We almost had a sellout in the opening league game, however the numbers against Vålerenga seems to be more realistic to see throughout the season. After fifth straight win we only managed to save a draw in stoppage time in Haugesund, couldn’t score against Strømsgodset at home and lost in the cup, but then snapped this bad run in an impressive victory over Molde! They heavily outshot us, especially in the end, but couldn’t get anything and this result left us on top. Bodø/Glimt temporarily overtook us but drew the last game while we won 4-0 and returned to the top, still unbeaten. Well, our first league defeat could be predicted, it’s hard to match Bodø/Glimt when they are playing at their best. But it triggered a really bad run, we couldn’t score for almost six hours and fell to 4th place. We still have a great chance for the European debut (especially after Norway improved in the UEFA ranking and gained an extra place), but this form needs to be overturned soon.

Pre-season 2031 Transfers out The most interesting transfer is the one that didn’t happen. PSG made a move for Ramirez, our board accepted but cancelled it after my request! Transfers in Gjøstøl was a decent addition to our squad on loan, so after Rosenborg transfer-listed him I decided to make an offer. Center-back Kvithyld and winger Sorter will be backup options, others were signed for the youth team. Our youth intake is still poor despite a few upgrades, though at least one player looks like a potentially decent center-back here. After barely missing European qualifications we are still predicted bottom with even worse odds. And the most important news – our new stadium was opened and attracted whole Hammerfest population for the first friendly (must be some bug I guess, all other friendlies had around 100 spectators). Still it’s more than we had in Tromsø, so hope to see improvements in league games as well.

July – November 2030 Matola became an expensive backup after Ramirez signing, we needed money and had Rossbach who agreed to sit on the bench for couple more seasons, so sold him for a record fee and 50% future clause. 600k more were earned with selling transfer clauses for Vargas and Ahmed – they both play in reserve teams and don’t progress at all. No first team transfers this summer, only signed a promising Haitian winger. Started this part of season with two wins and moved up to the second place for a bit, but then lost to Viking (expected more after such a dominant performance against them at home). Still a good month overall. We earned away points against Lilllestrøm and Stabæk, our direct rivals in the European places race, but struggled to score. Brekke managed to get a 96th minute winner over likely relegated Jerv, and Heggebø… after an impressive start he can’t score for 4 months now! Eighteen games without a goal, and this finally happened – Aune Heggebø scored two headers to give us another important win! In the next game we had a poor first half almost without any chances, but veteran midfielder Kaasa equalized from a penalty and then scored a late free kick. The European race is still on, we are three points behind 4th placed Stabæk. Bodø/Glimt proved that the last season’s failure was just an accident, securing another title a month before the finish, though we could get a point from them once again (conceded immediately after Wassberg’s equalizer and then had a disallowed goal in stoppage time). However, this defeat was followed by two away wins (Heggebø found his goalscoring form when it was most needed!) so the gap remained the same – three points and three games to go. This should have happened – after a tough win over Odd (I think Heggebø scored only second goal for us with his feet, first one was a penalty) we couldn’t keep our sensational 100% form against Molde. It could end our European dream, but Stabæk drew twice so before the final matchday we were two points behind. The matchup was quite encouraging, Lillestrøm still could overtake Molde for the silver while Haugesund was already safe from relegation. Good, but not enough – we needed to score four (I wish FM could take such situations into account, so players won't get upset when you demand more from them while leading). Bodø/Glimt also won the cup, so this fourth place really went to the Conference League. Still it was an awesome season! Squad stats Ramirez was a great signing, leading the league in clean sheets and claiming the best young player award. He is now wanted by PSG and Benfica, I hope the board won’t sell him without my consent and he’ll play at least two more seasons here. Vik and Norbye helped him with a solid defensive performance. Heggebø became second best goalscorer in the league despite that long drought in summer, while Brekke provided a good backup. Lawal unfortunately missed a lot of games with several injuries, but was playing really well when healthy. Prize money for better results and transfer income helped us to improve finances, at least for now. Waiting for ticket sales at our new home which is almost ready…

March – June 2030 What a start, we had five clear chances and over 4 xG against Viking! Heggebø didn’t score there, but instead got a hat trick in the next game which left us league leaders for a short time. Lillestrøm ended it quickly, our defense was hopeless and Ramirez conceded almost everything after two clean sheets. This is going to be an entertaining season, not sure in what way though We missed two penalties against Jerv, but Heggebø’s second hat trick (all three with headers!) gave us another win. Then came two goalless defeats, and this bad run was snapped by another header from Aune – he already matched our last season’s best goalscorer stats! Only one league win in a derby against Tromsø which attracted more than 4000 spectators (our new record of course), but it’s not bad with this schedule. We got points from Bodø/Glimt (they recovered after last season failure and lead the table again) with a last minute equalizer and will face them again soon in the cup after a record-breaking game (we were 7-1 ahead and simply stopped playing after it). Two biggest teams in Norway couldn’t beat us until this moment. Bodø/Glimt ended this run with a 88th minute goal, but Molde lost again! Their striker surely helped us with a red card in first half, but scoring three even with a man advantage isn’t easy. These results were noticed and I won the first manager of the month award in Eliteserien, while Ardraa (that hat trick in the cup surely gave him confidence) became second player of the month. Only four points from the leaders, we are in the race for European places so far! In other news, we had our first World Cup representative (Suriname lost all three games 2-10 on aggregate and he only had a few minutes from the bench, but still). Lawal was in the shortlist for Nigeria but wasn’t selected into the final squad.

Pre-season 2030 Transfers out None of these players had a first team experience last season, except Celius (a useful backup, but I found a younger alternative). Transfers in Mikal Berg Kvinge – replacement for Kristiansen on the right wing (Tromsø returned to top flight and wanted to keep him). Kjartan Hoseth – will replace club veteran Johansen-Rolland as a backup defensive midfielder. Aune Heggebø – our new starting striker with a lot of top level experience and consistent goalscoring stats for Brann. Jorge Ramirez – I was happy with Matola and Rossbach in goal, but this Colombian keeper was too good to miss his signing. Kenneth Gjøstøl – Leirvang impressed last season, but we needed more depth on his position. Endre Olav Malme – another youngster who actually forced Celius out of the squad. Also we signed couple of players for the youth team and bought Ardraa who was a decent backup on loan last season. Youth intake again didn't bring anyone to be noted. Our odds are a bit better after surviving first season.

August – December 2029 Juliaans moved to Sweden for a record fee, two backup defenders also wanted to go (I already found Norwegian players to replace them so we freed two more foreigner slots). Tobias Norbye is the first ever player we signed for money, he will add depth to the defensive line together with Skuseth. Sion and Bjørnmyr aren't good enough for the first team yet and were sent to the clubs with better facilities. The final signing was Sondre Rossbach, a veteran backup goalkeeper (remember him as a wonderkid in several old versions). Could be a better month overall, but we got points from Bodø/Glimt once again! They have a poor season and likely won’t continue their title streak, but still have the strongest squad in Norway and drawing twice against them in a debut season is a great achievement. Managed to score in the only game this month, but probably in the most important one – Jerv was 14th so this result pushed us away from the relegation playoff spot. Good month for us, we defeated two bottom teams, drew against one of the leaders and almost secured survival (14th placed Sogndal are twelve points behind with four games to go). The final month was a hard test, we only played against teams from the top six. Getting at least couple of points there would have been a nice result, instead we got seven and became the only team to beat the eventual champions Molde twice! Rossbach proved to be a really reliable backup, he made difference in this last game, saving a penalty and several other dangerous shots. Disaster for Bodø/Glimt after four titles (they still had the best xG though)! Molde did the double, Fredrikstad qualified to Europe (and last year we promoted together with the same amount of points)! Squad stats Not much outstanding stats this season. Lawal became the best goalscorer with only 7 goals (and he played on the wing, both strikers had a mostly disappointing year), Kaasa was an amazing summer addition with 7 assists, and Leirvang had the best average rating among the starters (quite a surprise as he’s assessed as the weakest player in first 11). That could be predicted. Playing at this level demands higher wages (for staff as well), we have to pay the stadium loan and and it’s hard to generate income with an average attendance below 1000 (I hope it will increase when we return to Hammerfest after the next season).

April – July 2029 Started with a flashback from last season, when we played Odd in the cup, had better stats but lost. The debut home game was more successful with Brekke scoring a winner in stoppage time, after which we managed to hold a draw against Bodø/Glimt (who won four titles in a row)! The final April game could have ended in a better way, but early red card ruined everything. Good thing – we had better stats in all May games. Bad one is quality of our finishing, and despite being third in xG table we are only 11th at the moment. The same problem repeated in the cup, and in addition our backup goalie Juliaans couldn’t save at all. Six goals conceded in two games (the decisive one was simply deflected from his hands), so most likely he won't play for us anymore (his transfer value is quite high and I'd better look for a more reliable backup). A bit of compensation for bad finishing in May, this time we scored from the only shot on target. We made one signing during that break in June – an experienced midfielder Markus Andre Kaasa who was previously released from Lillestrøm and started with two assists in two games for us. Another squad improvement was Petrovic, finally fit to play after a couple of injuries. His assist and a last minute goal gave us this impressive comeback win over second-placed Molde! Still can’t feel completely safe before the second half, but everything should be okay if we improve our finishing.

Pre-season 2029 New year, new level and new PC to run it (still hard to adapt to increased game speed in comparison with the ten year old laptop ) Transfers out Diaz, Vargas and Ahmed also left us after loans. All the players in a list above were backups in a lower tier, so weren’t expected to play here. Transfers in Jonas Torsvik – our new starting left-back, spent his whole career in Brann (mostly in reserves, but has 18 games in the top division too). Daniel Schneider – experienced center-back with decent technical skills, played five previous seasons in Sandnes Ulf (two of them in Eliteserien). Gaute Jørgensen – youngster from Sandefjord, will be a backup for Leirvang. Johan Bakke and Brian Carreras – our loaned central midfielders left, so a former leader of Molde reserves and Paraguayan youth international will take their places. Niklas Jensen Wassberg – a better playmaker with 75 games for Brann on this level. Frederik Ardraa and Yngve Kristiansen – loaned them to provide more depth on the wings. Andrija Petrovic and Peder Brekke – the front line changed completely, young Belgian will be a starter, backed up by a Finnmark native Brekke. Sander Kornbakk and Olander Thomassen – two promising youngsters (unfortunately Thomassen broke his foot in second game on loan). As you can see, our squad core became more Norwegian so foreigner limit wasn’t an issue. We even could afford to register both foreign goalkeepers, and one spot is still vacant. We had our first academy upgrades, but its level is still too low to produce anything better than this. Predicted last, though the ‘key players’ section in preview lists our best players around mid-table.

Yes, it's very strange as some of our key players were previously released from their reserves. August – November 2028 Vikri wasn’t anywhere near his last season’s form and his agent found a good offer from Slovakia. Vargas was unhappy and supported by the team, for some reason his default value was zero but I hope the 50% clause will work in future. Lawal was already presented and I didn’t plan more first team signings (Saboukolou and Tjore are promising youngsters) but suddenly our captain started to complain about lack of depth in goal. We had free budget and a foreigner spot to sign Surinamese international Juliaans so the issue was resolved, but it’s going to be a difficult choice after the season. After two confident wins we faced the leaders Fredrikstad, scored an early goal, could get a 2-0 lead but actually should be happy with a draw – Matola saved a penalty on last minutes. Next two games were quite similar – our huge advantage which we couldn't convert into goals until late strikes from Ahmed, and with six games to go we have 50 points, equalling Fredrikstad and Sandefjord! Couldn’t score from open play for 180 minutes but got all the points and moved to the first place! Fredrikstad and Sandefjord have a game in hand but they play each other so we certainly remain in top two after it. The schedule in October was easy (though teams fighting for survival can be especially hard to beat at this stage of season), and we finally found the goalscoring form. Meanwhile Sarpsborg couldn’t win their last game and this officially secured our promotion! A bit of disappointment in the final game, we missed the title after Juliaans (who made his debut) took a bad goal kick on 88th minute. Well... Fredrikstad deserved it more throughout the season, and we now need to prepare for a tough test on top level. Squad stats Matola won the league’s best player award, though it could easily go to our captain Kjelsrud Vik as well. Bjørgve also needs mentioning, he’s the only local player who can play well on this level (we need four academy graduates in a squad of 25). The biggest change after this season was turning professional, that means a huge improvement of available players pool (so winter is going to be VERY busy). The board also agreed to improve academy coaching and recruitment, and… We are building a stadium which capacity is higher than whole Hammerfest population! Until it’s finished, our home will be in Tromsø. Prize money and new sponsorship deals boosted our finances, hope the incoming loan payments and professional contracts wouldn’t drain it too fast.

April – July 2028 Started with a game against our relegated neighbours, didn’t give them any real chances and took three points with a late penalty. The only defeat came from Sarpsborg, league leaders at the moment, while we are second just one point behind. Could be better, but eight points were enough to stay in the top two. The cup run is easy so far, we beat amateurs and a mid-table team from our division, facing Lyn in the next round (they had an absolute thriller in previous round, from 4-0 to 4-6 and still managed to win)! Same old story from a division below, inability to convert chances cost us some points in the league and ended a potentially great cup run – away game against a top tier team ended around 1-3 in xG! Set pieces work well though, Kjelsrud Vik scored three headers and won the player of the month award. There’s no break in July this season, and we already made one free transfer – Stanley Lawal who looks like a great left winger for our level (though has no knowledge of this position yet). His debut goal couldn’t save us from a derby defeat, still this form is enough to stay in the promotion race (the last game and late long shot from Diaz can be crucial as we almost closed the gap). Kjelsrud Vik leads the league in average rating and Matola shut out 12 games, but goalscoring needs improvement if we want to go higher. Quite an unexpected income. We got this clause before the season, and it became a very good deal – with these attributes he’s very unlikely to be sold for 350k or higher. And we finally managed to get a facilities upgrade after it!

Pre-season 2028 Transfers out Finally we are able to sell players for higher fees. Diaz and Ahmed will stay here for this season, and both have 50% clauses included in their transfers. Transfers in Svein Morten Leirvang – surprised to see him released from Tromsø. He’s already good enough to be our starting right-back at 18! Ulrik Celius – will be our first choice playmaker, while Bjørgve moves to the right wing. Jesper Gregersen – a decent backup midfielder. Youth intake was poor once again, though we got a rare model citizen player. A good debut season lifted our reputation, so we aren’t predicted to finish bottom now.

August – November 2027 Offloaded Jama to the team from Santa Claus hometown as we needed to register new foreigners. David Vargas – a good Costa Rican midfielder who was signed a year ago, but we needed to wait until he turned 18. Isak Kjelsrud Vik – a well balanced center-back released from Tromsø reserves. Christian Brauzmann – retraining this Kyrgyzstan international to the left IWB role (his crosses are too bad for a full-back), though he can be a good center-back too. Also I’m eager to see how his long throws will work with the new set pieces system. Samuel Ahmed – Da Silva is in good form, but we needed more competition at front. Elias Langmo – loaned for more squad depth in midfield. Valerio – after Sao Tome, South Sudan and Kyrgyzstan here comes a midfielder from Macau (born and raised in Brazil though)! The start of second half was great, we saved a draw in Aalesund, defeated three bottom teams and knocked Sandnes Ulf from the top spot! Our lead didn’t last long, though even after two defeats promotion is possible. I mentioned Brauzmann’s long throws, and they can really make difference. Both goals against Start came from them and helped us to end the bad run. Other set pieces also work well, but open play goals are rare – our best goalscorer after summer break is new center-back Kjelsrud Vik! With four games to go we moved up to second place, Åsane can overtake us with a postponed game but then we have a head-to-head match at home. Scored first against Åsane, but couldn’t keep the lead and this loss effectively ended our chances for direct promotion. However, no one could overtake us for third place (which means skipping first two playoff rounds), a great result in our debut season! Suddenly this rule appeared in playoffs, a very annoying bug that forced me to leave two regular starters outside the squad. Still we were a bit better in this game (though neither team created enough chances to score), and then Matola made the only and decisive save in shootout! Now we need to win the only game for promotion. Non-EU rule disappeared again, but even our strongest squad is much weaker than Brann (who should have been a mid-table team in Eliteserien). Anyway we tried our best, scored from a corner in the first half and almost equalized in stoppage time (unfortunately there was a tight offside). Squad stats Matola finished the season with the highest average rating, that says a lot about our season. Vikri had excellent stats before the summer break but couldn’t keep this form for the whole year. Vargas and Ahmed don't look like good signings so far, but I hope they can improve next season. We earned around 700k of prize money and cleared all debts, so our chairman immediately started to plan a new stadium! The capacity is a bit ambitious though, our current record attendance is 400

April – July 2027 That wasn’t a warm greeting, we got the highest rated team in the first game and the only rest day after it. Still we survived it, ending the month with three wins in a row! The main concern so far is our strikers’ performance – Da Silva and Næss have zero goals and average rating around 6.5. Da Silva finally scored in seventh game, and this goal gave us a surprising win over Sandnes Ulf who hadn’t dropped a single point before it. The month ended with a record-breaking victory (we never scored eight in an official game!) which moved us to the third place and Vikri becoming the league’s top goalscorer with a hat-trick. Our cup run could end early, but two goals from a reserve center-back Bonful equalized the score before Molla saved two penalties in shootout and scored the winning one himself! Could have been a perfect record in the league, but after scoring on 92nd minute against Sarpsborg we conceded a penalty on 94th and remained on third place. The best cup run so far ended in a polar derby with Tromsø, an even game before their first goal actually. Missed a chance to move into the promotion spots, still it’s an incredibly good debut for our squad. According to xG, we should have been a mid-table side but certainly made a good choice signing Matola. So far he has the highest average rating in division, saved two penalties and a lot of other good chances from our opponents. Da Silva recovered after a poor start and now has 10 goals in the league. Don’t think this form will last for the whole season, but can see us staying in playoff spots with some improvements (especially full-backs and maybe one more striker).

Pre-season 2027 It seems that work permits are not an issue in this division (at least our San Tomean youngster on loan got it immediately), but there is a limit of 9 non-HG players in the squad so foreigners have to be picked carefully. Transfers out Unfortunately, Shaw only wanted a full-time contract which we couldn’t offer. Saveljevs promotion clause made his wage too high for his ability, and Konradsen was loaned out as we couldn’t afford to have two foreigners on the same position with these rules. Two last remaining players from the 2023 squad, Balto and Svarups, also left. Transfers in Egy Maulana Vikri – an Indonesian star (surprisingly started his career in Poland!) to improve our attacking line. Ale Diaz – offered by his agent, looks like a great choice both for center-back and midfield positions. Emil Sandberg – a decent backup from Honningsvag (that’s even farther north than us!) Hannes Bordal – backup right defender, started in Rosenborg so counted as home-grown. Jose Matola – I didn’t plan to sign a goalkeeper but Molla wanted to leave for a bigger club (will join Catania in July) and the starting goalie of Mozambique was available for free. We also signed some youngsters as usual, both from Norway and abroad (the most promising player here is from South Sudan)! No wonders from the youth intake, probably Tiedemann can develop into a decent wing-back. Of course we are predicted to finish bottom (two last teams are relegated, 14th place goes to playoffs).

August – November 2026 Offloaded some fringe players to neighbours from lower leagues (yes, Alta also relegated last season so we are now the highest rated team in Finnmark). Tony Biakolo – young and already good center-back with an experience in Ligue 1 (7 games for Toulouse). Thomas Bjørgve – a great player for our level, he can cover any position in midfield and attack. And I didn’t notice that before signing, but he’s a Hammerfest native and played for HIF-Stein in 2018-19 before moving to Tromsø! Kristian Holsbø – another versatile midfielder for the bench. Luis Soares – one of a few youngsters signed for loan development and future sale (or maybe becoming useful players for us, not sure how work permits will work in higher divisions). Others will join next year after turning 18. What a perfect way to start the second half, we regained the lead and extended it to five points after a comeback win over Lyn! Bjørgve started to make difference immediately, 2+1 and a lot of good chances coming from his set pieces. I HATE reserve teams! Viking 2 not only snapped our good run, but also injured five players (including Bjørgve for a month). Luckily, other teams didn’t exploit our losses, we still have a gap of two points and a postponed game (international window moved to the end of September for some reason). Svarups settled on the bench this season and most likely won’t stay in the team, but his efforts in first two games of October were crucial. That goal against Fram in a postponed game increased our lead to seven points, so we only needed to win two games of the remaining four. But that couldn’t happen so easy, right? Two draws and a potential loss against Sarpsborg 2 would have scratched all this advantage, and there came Bjørgve – his goal and assist overturned this game and officially made us champions! No pressure on us in the last game, and despite Mjøndalen was fighting for a playoff spot we finished the season with a win. The final goal was scored by Kaspars Svarups, his 56th and last for us before returning to Latvia in winter. An absolutely deserved promotion according to this table. Squad stats Da Silva and Bjørgve proved to be excellent signings. Swaleh replaced Opgård as the first choice left winger and best assistant (I hope we’ll be able to keep him and our best center-back Shaw as they still don’t want to negotiate new contracts). Our youth also had a breakthrough season! Lost around 20k in a year, not too bad comparing to previous seasons. We will be renting a 1250-seated arena in Alta next season, I hope our fans won’t mind traveling 140 km for home games.

April – July 2026 Started with a disappointing defeat (third game without win against Moss), but bounced back with three impressive results including 5-1 over pre-season favourites Bryne! Da Silva scored his debut goal against Grorud as a substitute and continued with a hat-trick in the next game, so far taking the starting spot from more experienced Svarups. It’s also interesting that almost half of our goals in April were scored by defensive players. Climbed to the top with a win over Lyn, but failed to defeat two reserve teams and dropped back. The cup draw put us against a top division team immediately, we tried our best and actually had better stats but couldn’t score. The only narrow win and three draws were enough to finish the month on top, though only two points ahead of fifth place. Two classic FM games, at first we conceded from the only shot on target, then scored three from three first attempts despite being heavily outshooted overall. Best goal difference and xG, but not enough quality to get needed results in all games. Bryne and Fram Larvik are at risk of second straight relegation! Some good financial news, that doesn’t cover all our debt but any income is important. And time to unveil our new kits then:

Pre-season 2026 New year started with this surprising offer. HamKam actually finished third in Eliteserien and will play in the Conference league this summer! Not going to move anywhere but this could be a massive improvement. Transfers out Manneh, what a legend. Played zero games for our club, but became an AFCON runner-up as a regular starter for Gambia, won the best African youngster award and was sold for a record fee (yes, couldn't hope for better offers with our reputation) with a potential future clause. Martynenko also refused to sign a new contract without work permit and moved to Italy almost for free, but can bring us a half of his next transfer. Fantoft was overpaid for his ability, others just stuck in reserves. Tor Mienna, our veteran backup during last two seasons, retired and became a good coach for this level. Transfers in Omar Jama – Somalian international, born and spent all his career in Finland, will be our first choice playmaker. Filip da Silva – half-Brazilian striker, played in Irish and Swiss lower leagues before joining us. Also signed three youngsters released from Tromsdalen, Erik Gjøs is the most promising of them. Youth intake was really poor this time, goalkeeper Ivanovski has the best potential but I hardly can imagine him being our future starter. Still predicted last among the senior squads, but our odds are twice better than last season.

August – November 2025 Opgård joins a bigger club (Sandnes Ulf is currently 2nd in second tier), but stays with us on loan for this season. Olofinjana (second choice left-back) for some reason was wanted by a top division team and our squad was unhappy with his sale but he doesn’t have any good potential actually. Also had to loan out Martynenko and Manneh once again, I hope they will get the work permits if we earn promotion. Aleksejs Saveljevs – a Latvian international who spent half a year without a club but had really impressive stats in his home league before. Will replace Martynenko in the first team. Mathis Konradsen – a rotation option for right-back position. Sondre Laugsand – adding more depth as a center-back. Andy Harwood – an urgent free loan to replace Olofinjana (still not enough to satisfy our captain). Good form after resuming the season, we only lost to leading Viking 2 (who can’t gain promotion so our 4th place is effectively 3rd with small gap from a playoff spot). Two comeback wins (despite playing shorthanded since 21st minute against Hønefoss!) and a late strike from Harwood in his second game put us on top (well, technically it’s second place but potentially giving a direct promotion). Still, the three leaders are separated by the only point and will play each other in remaining five games. Despite this poor run of form we stayed ahead on goal difference, though a trip to Arendal on the final matchday is going to be very tough. This crisis couldn’t strike in a worse time. Mjøndalen had a poor finish too but still got one point more, and we stay in this division despite winning the xG table Squad stats Opgård’s stats were scratched after transfer, he had 5+8 for us overall. Svarups defended his top goalscorer title despite not being an uncontested first choice at front. Our U19 team won the regional Finnmark division with almost a perfect record, but lost to Skeid in playoffs. Not bad for only a basic academy. Finances are predictably getting worse, need a tycoon to buy us and build a normal stadium

April – July 2025 Almost a perfect start, similar to last season but this time our attacking performance was key to it – we outshoot every opponent and have a solid lead in xG. Let’s hope we can keep this form for long. Marco Molla suffered an injury against Hødd, and his backup’s poor kick ended with a late equalizer. Then we lost for the first time, not goalkeeper’s fault at all but clearly our squad isn’t the same without him. The cup draw was kind to us, two wins over lower league teams and a home fixture against second tier Sandefjord next. Bad month. Conceded twice in the last 10 minutes of cup game, hit a winless run in the league and in addition lost our best goalscorer Svarups for at least three weeks. One more unexpected blow – Martynenko, who played for us without any issues for season and a half, suddenly became unavailable and needed a work permit, so I guess we need another central midfielder At least Svarups got healthy and let us finish the first half with a much needed win. We stayed in a big leading group and certainly shouldn’t be concerned about survival, though should have been on top according to xG table!

Pre-season 2025 Transfers out Mayounga was unhappy with squad depth and had one year left on contract, so at least we got some money for him. Signing Poma last season was a mistake, the New Caledonian defender didn’t justify his regular starter wage. Others only played a few minutes and were offloaded to free some funds. Transfers in Henrik Johnsgård – a replacement for Mayounga, played for Tromsdalen a level above us last season (quite poorly, but I hope his ability would be enough for this division). Kurt Shaw – now we have a center-back from another small European nation to replace retired Lima. He never played outside Malta before. Gabriel Colin Davidsen – a backup defender from Tromsø. Kent Malic Swaleh – will be a rotation option for Opgård who is wanted by some bigger clubs and may leave soon. Already has 17 games and a goal for Tromsdalen in second tier. Abel Næss – will mostly use him as a backup striker (Svarups was great last season but doesn’t get younger), though he can cover both wings as well. Abdoulie Manneh – one of those Africans who couldn’t get a work permit last summer. He didn’t get it now either, but agreed to sign anyway and was loaned to Belgium. At least we’ll be able to sell him later. Askil Flaat – young midfielder with good potential. The youth intake was actually better than its preview, with left winger Chen-Bjerkestrand and center-back Gusev (the only foreigner all the way from Kamchatka!) having first team potentials. Better odds, but still predicted last (these two reserve teams actually make things harder as you never know when they would have better players available).

August – November 2024 No transfers during summer – simply couldn’t find any suitable player with EU passport and two young Africans failed to get work permits. Conceded penalties in every game and couldn’t take our own chances. Promotion is hardly possible now, but at least we still have four points gap from relegation. Two eight-goal games and a decent overall result, keeping us above the danger zone. With five more goals Svarups leads the scoring and average rating charts. Lost to the eventual league winners Fram Larvik, but managed to get an extremely important away win over Hønefoss (Lima became our oldest ever goalscorer, a record that would be hard to beat) and could officially secure survival in the next game but blew a 2-0 lead. Got a needed draw in Notodden to survive and gave fans a good performance on the last matchday (and a farewell to retiring Ildefons Lima). Positive goal difference, 5th on xG – we certainly should have finished higher this season! Squad stats Our players lead the league in all main charts (Svarups with 23 goals, 7.37 average rating and 6 POTM awards, Rødsand with 9 assists)! The most concerning thing so far, our 200-seated arena simply can’t generate any income.

April – July 2024 Perfect defensive performance, and we finished the first month as joint leaders! This included an away win over predicted league winners Mjøndalen who had Wanderson (the Bulgarian one) and world champion Shkodran Mustafi in their squad (he assisted our backup striker for a second goal ) Couldn’t score before the cup game, which we lost anyway but at least broke this bad form. Mathisen made his debut from the bench against Grorud, almost immediately assisted to Svarups and missed a great chance to score in stoppage time, awesome start for a youngster! A month of comebacks: from 0-2 in first two games (one was spoiled by a late goal conceded) and from 1-4 against Fram Larvik where Mathisen became our youngest ever goalscorer! Then we lost to Arendal, a team sitting bottom despite probably an excellent squad (Crisetig, Ante Coric, Jarstein play for them among others). The biggest win and quite a disappointing 95th minute equalizer to end this part of the season, the next game will be in a month. Two leaders have a small advantage, but nothing is set. We are closer to relegation zone in points, though still can dream about promotion.