Marked for Augustine Afranie
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout12 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KFUM Oslo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at KFUM Oslo
Sanel Bojadzic 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at KFUM Oslo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Magnus Grødem 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.
Match10 Jun 2028
Three points for KFUM Oslo, 2‑1 the final word against Åsane in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
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.” Jens Henriksen kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
“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 ahead12 Jun 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marcus Melchior’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and KFUM Oslo needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market12 Jun 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Magnus Grødem signs something — a contract at KFUM Oslo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 May 2028
Stabaek ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad15 May 2028
1 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.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Marked 7.78 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Thomas Ekroll goes up and wins it — 7.72
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 7.72 for the rest of it.
Squad15 May 2028
Brage Skaret 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.
Match13 May 2028
Mjondalen made KFUM Oslo work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Magnus Grødem, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Twelve yards and the whole ground holding its breath, and it did not go in. He will put his name down for the next one, which is the only thing to do.
The dugout15 May 2028
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.” Jens Henriksen, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Mar 2028
“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 KFUM Oslo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Brage Skaret 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 Mar 2028
Magnus Grødem 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.
Transfer targets20 Mar 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bryne have kept their man, and KFUM Oslo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Daniel Schneider'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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Brage Skaret knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KFUM Oslo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market20 Mar 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Magnus Grødem signs something — a contract at KFUM Oslo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market20 Mar 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Brage Skaret may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Feb 2028
Eirik Saunes breaks a bone — 46 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces7 Feb 2028
The mood at KFUM Oslo has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at KFUM Oslo
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Jens Henriksen has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at KFUM Oslo can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 Feb 2028
Martin Vinjor 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 KFUM Oslo can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Brage Skaret and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at KFUM Oslo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Magnus Grødem 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.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Moss have kept their man, and KFUM Oslo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Augustine Afranie commits to KFUM Oslo for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Eirik Saunes out for 76 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason KFUM Oslo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Too much change too quickly at KFUM Oslo
5 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 dugout10 Jan 2028
When it matters, Robin Rasch plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market10 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rasmus Eggen Vinge signs something — a contract at KFUM Oslo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market10 Jan 2028
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and KFUM Oslo have gone and got theirs early.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A wage question at KFUM Oslo
Håvar Jenssen has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Nerves in the KFUM Oslo squad
Håkon Helland Hoseth has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
-
The dugout
Omar Bully asks for a word with the manager
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Market
The clock does Robin Rasch’s negotiating for him
-
Boardroom
The KFUM Oslo production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Aug 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 Bechem United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and BA All Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bechem United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with WAFA; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The deal with Hearts of Oak is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Daniel Partey 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hubert Gyau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Isaiah Nyarko
“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 dugout23 Aug 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 Bechem United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bechem United can pretend not to have heard.
Market16 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. Bechem United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
The deal with Medeama is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Market16 Aug 2027
The offer from BA All Stars for Foster Sakitey 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. WAFA have kept their man, and Bechem United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hubert Gyau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Adams Sanut 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 dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Godfred Yawson
“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 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Apr 2027
Full time on the season at Bechem United
Position 10 on 38 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad26 Apr 2027
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Daniel Partey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Bechem United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kofi Tompuo 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
1‑2 to Liberty Professionals, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Yaw Acheampong
“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 ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Nobody at Bechem United 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
Steady
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bechem United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bechem United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Isaiah Nyarko 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 Apr 2027
Words at Bechem United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kofi Tompuo 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 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
No place for Kofi Tompuo on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Bechem United pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Match17 Apr 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Kwadwo Mensah was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Bechem United dressing room was either.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hubert Gyau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Frank Amankwah
“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 dugout29 Mar 2027
Charles Owusu 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 Charles Owusu is on it.
Market29 Mar 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Next up on the road: Aduana Stars, position 8. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The training reports on Godfred Yawson are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Bechem United's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bechem United has to find a result from somewhere.
Market22 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bechem United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Hubert Gyau 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 Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kabu Agyemang Raymond and Bechem United agree another 4 years.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hubert Gyau, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Frank Amankwah 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 ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 7.71. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match20 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
No sign of nerves from Augustine Afranie at 20 — 7.82
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Augustine Afranie did not need any: 7.82, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market15 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Amadu Abdulai
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Amadu Abdulai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bechem United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Feb 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 Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel Ampiah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Augustine Afranie 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
A 1‑0 win over Heart of Lions, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Darlvin Yeboah
“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 ratings15 Feb 2027
Marked 7.90 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Bechem United had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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.” Kwadwo Mensah kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bechem United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bechem United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Bechem United until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets1 Feb 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The deal with Medeama is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hubert Gyau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Dec 2026
Ashanti Gold go through and Bechem United go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market4 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.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Isaiah Nyarko 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Bechem United have had the benefit of it.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
13 combined actions and 7.00. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Match2 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hubert Gyau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I did not go to Hasaacas to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bechem United and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 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 Bechem United can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bechem United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Isaiah Nyarko 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Great Olympics, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Charles Owusu 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
Amadu Abdulai 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 Amadu Abdulai is on it.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
6 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.77 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Andre Wakaso out for 21 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bechem United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Augustine Afranie at 19 — 8.01
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Augustine Afranie did not need any: 8.01, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for Bechem United
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bechem United are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Isaiah Nyarko 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Bechem United and Hearts of Oak, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kofi Tompuo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“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 Bechem United, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 win over Berekum Chelsea, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match14 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 win over Berekum Chelsea, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Kabu Agyemang Raymond, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.89
A mark of 7.89 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Augustine Afranie is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Isaiah Nyarko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Sefah, and the manager let it.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Inter Allies to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bechem United and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Darlvin Yeboah, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Isaiah Nyarko 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Hubert Gyau 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Yaw Acheampong
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yaw Annor and Bechem United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Hubert Gyau named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Hubert Gyau is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with New Edubiase United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Sep 2026
Inter Allies will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Bechem United were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Kabu Agyemang Raymond, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad28 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 Bechem United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
The crowd has taken to Hubert Gyau
At 21 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout28 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.” Kwadwo Mensah, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Dennis Votere is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.