Marked for Brayan León
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mamelodi Sundowns, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Mamelodi Sundowns training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan León 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.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kabelo Sibande and Mamelodi Sundowns agree another 5 years.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
Lwandiso Radebe’s loan is measured in nothing happening
12 clean sheets from 16 appearances at Tusker. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Something was said to Abu Kamara and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Match30 Oct 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Oct 2027
Abubeker Nasir has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Ronwen Williams and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Mamelodi Sundowns training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Allende 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
A 1‑0 win over Platinum Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad18 Oct 2027
50 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
The afternoon belonged to Brayan León
A mark of 7.98, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Loan watch18 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Real Bamako to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Oct 2027
Only the photograph left for Tebogo Moreri
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tebogo Moreri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mamelodi Sundowns the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Ronwen Williams 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Mamelodi Sundowns training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan León 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Mamelodi Sundowns can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Jody Ah Shene
“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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Marcelo Allende has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“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 Mamelodi Sundowns will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match18 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Marcelo Allende was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Kabelo Sibande is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Mamelodi Sundowns training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan León 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.
Market20 Sep 2027
Brayan León is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mamelodi Sundowns has been clear about where Brayan León stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad20 Sep 2027
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Loan watch20 Sep 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mamelodi Sundowns, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mamelodi Sundowns people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market6 Sep 2027
Nuno Santos 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 Mamelodi Sundowns can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Sep 2027
The bid was some way short and Mamelodi Sundowns did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Themba Zwane has been here 15 seasons
329 appearances across 15 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Mamelodi Sundowns close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 44 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market6 Sep 2027
The deal that would have taken Matías Esquivel to SuperSport United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Mamelodi Sundowns with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Ronwen Williams 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Marcelo Allende 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Mamelodi Sundowns know which stage they are at.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rangers International waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market30 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad30 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market30 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Mamelodi Sundowns have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Brayan León 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Mamelodi Sundowns asked and Ascoli 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 ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mamelodi Sundowns have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market9 Aug 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market9 Aug 2027
Medeama come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mamelodi Sundowns did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Ronwen Williams 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.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
6 academy players handed senior numbers at Mamelodi Sundowns
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan León was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lusitânia Lourosa have kept their man, and Mamelodi Sundowns go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mamelodi Sundowns people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market5 Jul 2027
Once Caldas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mamelodi Sundowns did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mamelodi Sundowns have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Jul 2027
The name of Keanu Cupido has come up in conversations Mamelodi Sundowns were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Mamelodi Sundowns training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Allende 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Mamelodi Sundowns will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 May 2027
53 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market17 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 May 2027
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcelo Allende was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Grant Kekana
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch17 May 2027
The goals keep arriving from Gomolemo Kekana’s exile
8 goals in 26 games at Djoliba — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mamelodi Sundowns updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout17 May 2027
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.
Market17 May 2027
The Brayan León talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mamelodi Sundowns know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout17 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mamelodi Sundowns, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Apr 2027
53 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Liam Marthinus: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mamelodi Sundowns have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market19 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mamelodi Sundowns they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Ronwen Williams 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Grant Kekana was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I did not go to AFC Leopards to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 10 appearances in 34 matches say the rest.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mamelodi Sundowns, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
The goals keep arriving from Gomolemo Kekana’s exile
8 goals in 26 games at Djoliba — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mamelodi Sundowns updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match6 Mar 2027
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
9 seasons and 164 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ronwen Williams and Mamelodi Sundowns agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mamelodi Sundowns know it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nuno Santos. 1‑0 against SuperSport United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Nuno Santos at his very best
Marked 8.08. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mamelodi Sundowns.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Feb 2027
Position 3, 47 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.86, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market22 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Ronwen Williams 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Zeke Felix is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcelo Allende was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Brayan León beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. 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
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Orlando Pirates, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market25 Jan 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market25 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Mamelodi Sundowns did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ronwen Williams 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Mamelodi Sundowns have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Golden Arrows have kept their man, and Mamelodi Sundowns go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Ronwen Williams
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ismaily waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.01 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market18 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Mamelodi Sundowns did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Ronwen Williams and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market18 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Mamelodi Sundowns have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Mamelodi Sundowns training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Allende 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Brayan León beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad14 Dec 2026
48 days out for Themba Zwane after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mamelodi Sundowns will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Themba Zwane, 37, rolls back the years — 7.94
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.94 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match12 Dec 2026
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Brayan León. 2‑1 against University of Pretoria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Mamelodi Sundowns training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grant Kekana 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Grant Kekana
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Themba Kekana could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ronwen Williams 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Mamelodi Sundowns did not have in the autumn.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thapelo Morena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Brayan León at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mamelodi Sundowns.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Themba Kekana could afford to be generous.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mamelodi Sundowns this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Marcelo Allende 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 dugout16 Nov 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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against SuperSport United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 Antonio Van Wyk is on it.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
The goals keep arriving from Jody Ah Shene’s exile
4 goals in 12 games at University of Pretoria — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mamelodi Sundowns updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
The goals keep arriving from Siyanda Ndlovu’s exile
4 goals in 8 games at Tusker — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mamelodi Sundowns updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Arthur Sales 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 Arthur Sales trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.02, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ronwen Williams 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A 2‑0 win over Bidvest Wits, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad9 Nov 2026
With 7 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Mamelodi Sundowns training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thapelo Morena 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Lebo Mothiba has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mamelodi Sundowns.
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
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.” Themba Kekana, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ronwen Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Aubrey Modiba 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad12 Oct 2026
7 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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Djoliba to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mamelodi Sundowns and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Teboho Mokoena signs something — a contract at Mamelodi Sundowns or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
8 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 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 Mamelodi Sundowns, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 34 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer from Hearts of Oak for Cassius Mailula was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ronwen Williams 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Thapelo Morena falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 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 Mamelodi Sundowns, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rangers International waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mamelodi Sundowns is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ronwen Williams and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 Mamelodi Sundowns players away with their countries
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 8 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Grant Kekana 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Mamelodi Sundowns have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Aubrey Modiba
7.31, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Mamelodi Sundowns had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.