Marked for Ntando Ngwenya
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Samkelo Mzolo
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 May 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market10 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Ntando Ngwenya
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ntando Ngwenya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Samkelo Mzolo
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Golden Arrows lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Golden Arrows may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Ntando Ngwenya
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ntando Ngwenya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Nduduzo Sibiya 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brandon Theron 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad8 Mar 2027
231 appearances across 11 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Golden Arrows know what they have.
Market8 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Justine Mthwane will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Golden Arrows the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ntando Ngwenya has agreed terms with Bloemfontein Celtic for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thabo Matlaba and Golden Arrows agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
Thabo Matlaba breaks a bone — 63 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match16 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Golden Arrows's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Golden Arrows has to find a result from somewhere.
Market18 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Golden Arrows did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Golden Arrows is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match16 Jan 2027
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Golden Arrows can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Nduduzo Sibiya 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market18 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Nkosi Gumede again, and this time the name on the line is Black Aces. Golden Arrows are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thakasani Mbanjwa, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
Thabo Matlaba breaks a bone — 79 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Nkosi Gumede has been here 14 seasons
120 appearances across 14 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.
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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match2 Jan 2027
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Nduduzo Sibiya 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 ratings4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brandon Theron 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Thabo Matlaba out for 110 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Golden Arrows will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match5 Dec 2026
A 0‑4 beating by Orlando Pirates was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Sédé Dion
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Ntando Ngwenya at 19 — 7.74
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ntando Ngwenya did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nduduzo Sibiya 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.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I watch every Golden Arrows game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bloemfontein Celtic runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Samkelo Mzolo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Gladwin Shitolo out for 60 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Golden Arrows will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Oct 2026
Kwanele Nayo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Golden Arrows they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Oct 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 Golden Arrows this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Velemseni Ndwandwe. 1‑0 against Mamelodi Sundowns, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Golden Arrows training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Themba Mantshiyane 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 ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.