Gift Williams

Left Forward - Gornik Leczna
7 Sep 2026
Monday
Process

Marked for Gift Williams

3 Edition

The Black Aces Herald

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Black Aces throw away a 3-goal lead

3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with SuperSport United the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Black Aces will enjoy reviewing.

Player ratings

A brace, and Ramahlwe Tau takes the afternoon — 8.49

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ramahlwe Tau provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

A brace, and Thulani Mahlangu takes the afternoon — 8.43

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thulani Mahlangu provided it, and the 8.43 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Siyabonga Manyama

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Both jobs done by Teboho Khune — 6.79

A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 18 actions, 6.79, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

Market

Black Aces sell Gift Williams for $1.3M

Gift Williams has left for Gornik Leczna in a $1.3M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Tempers go at Black Aces

Thulani Mahlangu 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 terraces

Black Aces supporters have found a favourite in Ramahlwe Tau

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Ramahlwe Tau 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Sifiso Mphela

“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.

In brief

Back issues
3 Edition

The Gornik Leczna Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Gift Williams arrives at Gornik Leczna in a $1.3M statement of intent

There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Gornik Leczna have paid $1.3M for Gift Williams, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.

Squad

Jakub Myszor 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 Gornik Leczna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

Gornik Leczna spend $1.3M on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $1.3M for Gift Williams, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Squad

Paweł Jaroszyński 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.

Match

Gornik Leczna come up short against Pogon

Pogon left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The terraces

Gornik Leczna supporters have found a favourite in Michał Litwa

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Michał Litwa 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.

Match

No time for Pogon to settle

The goal that put Pogon ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Gornik Leczna equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.

Player ratings

Kamil Orlik runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Michał Litwa takes the honours

Marked 7.66 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Gornik Leczna had the best player on the pitch.

In brief

2 Edition

The Black Aces Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

5 goals for Sifiso Mphela

The match ball belongs to Sifiso Mphela, whose 5 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Match

Black Aces come from 5 down to beat Bidvest Wits

At 5 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Black Aces found something the first half had given no notice of, and Bidvest Wits could not hold what they had.

Player ratings

Siyabonga Manyama runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Ramahlwe Grobler puts it in writing

“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 Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Black Aces get the job done against Bidvest Wits

A 7‑6 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.

Squad

Thulani Mahlangu stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Thulani Mahlangu and Black Aces agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Player ratings

A goal and an assist for Teboho Khune — 7.90

Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.90 beside his name.

Squad

Tempers go at Black Aces

Sifiso Mphela 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 ratings

Ninety minutes of Sifiso Mphela at his very best

Marked 9.79. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Black Aces.

In brief