Marked for Samuel Mathias
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match5 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Rivers United do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aniekeme Okon and Rivers United agree another 4 years.
Market7 Sep 2026
As if he never left: Samuel Mathias returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Samuel Mathias is a Rivers United player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market7 Sep 2026
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad7 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 Rivers United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Stephen Manyo 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 ratings7 Sep 2026
20 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Barau can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Samuel Mathias 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Barau
Moses Mphekgoane 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Bismark Duah 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aliyu Sugau, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adamu Ibrahim and Barau agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Nasarawa United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match26 Aug 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Rivers United scored in the 124th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near David Eke
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Paul Junior at 19 — 8.14
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Paul Junior did not need any: 8.14, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market31 Aug 2026
Paul Junior hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rivers United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aniekeme Okon and Rivers United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match29 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Aniekeme Okon 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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.