Marked for Kermit Zwane
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Percy Zwane beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market9 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Free State Stars's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Free State Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Free State Stars have done the hard part with Golden Arrows, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Grant Kekana 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The shirt still fits. Khayalethu Mzimela is back at Free State Stars, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Itumeleng Hlatshwayo 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 Aug 2027
University of Pretoria pay $14.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer from University of Pretoria for Percy Ngcobo 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 targets26 Jul 2027
The deal with SuperSport United 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Andile Mokoena 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and Free State Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Percy Ngcobo and Free State Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market26 Jul 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Free State Stars will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Itumeleng Hlatshwayo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Polokwane City waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Free State Stars is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The deal with Golden Arrows 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Free State Stars had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ventspils, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Grant Kekana commits to Free State Stars for another 1 years.
Squad12 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Erick Mokoena has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Koper have kept their man, and Free State Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Grant Kekana 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 Grant Kekana trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 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 Free State Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Black Aces had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market28 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Andile Mokoena 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ramahlwe Dala and Free State Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Itumeleng Hlatshwayo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Free State Stars asked and Maritzburg United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
SuperSport United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Andile Mokoena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The offer went to Golden Arrows this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lebogang Phiri is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The terraces21 Jun 2027
Free State Stars spend $260.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $260.0K for Grant Kekana, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Black Aces have kept their man, and Free State Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Ramahlwe Dala has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Market21 Jun 2027
The name of Kermit Zwane has come up in conversations Free State Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
At 23 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The deal with Kaizer Chiefs 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Andile Mokoena 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Itumeleng Hlatshwayo 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Erick Mokoena has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Mamelodi Sundowns have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Kermit Zwane
“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 dugout7 Jun 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 Free State Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout7 Jun 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
Uneasy
Market31 May 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 Free State Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Free State Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 May 2027
Andile Mokoena 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Itumeleng Hlatshwayo 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 May 2027
Erick Mokoena returns from a loan that gave him nothing
0 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
The dugout31 May 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
Ramahlwe Dala 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 Ramahlwe Dala is on it.
Market31 May 2027
The Percy Zwane talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Free State Stars know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad31 May 2027
Gift Vilakazi is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
The knee: Gift Phiri out for 14 days
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Free State Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market26 Apr 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 Free State Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Andile Mokoena 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 Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Itumeleng Hlatshwayo 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 dugout26 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
Samkelo Dlamuka asks for a word with the manager
“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
Crisis
Market1 Mar 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 Free State Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match1 Mar 2027
The season ends: position 13 for Free State Stars
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 25 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.39, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match27 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Free State Stars's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Free State Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Feb 2027
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Percy Zwane
13 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ramahlwe Mothiba and Free State Stars agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
The knee: Erick Mokoena out for 119 days
119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Free State Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match9 Jan 2027
1‑4 to Bidvest Wits, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market11 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Erick Mokoena 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 Free State Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The deal with MSK Zilina 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Erick Mokoena has come up in conversations Free State Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Williams Mokoena 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 ratings11 Jan 2027
A touch he did not mean and a goal that goes in the book with his name against it. Free State Stars will not blame him tonight and he will not need them to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Erick Mokoena
133 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Free State Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Free State Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Kermit Zwane, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.67
A mark of 7.67 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Andile Mokoena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Dec 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Free State Stars and Ajax Cape Town in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Williams Mokoena 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑4 Teboho Erasmus left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 39. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market23 Nov 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 Free State Stars, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Free State Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Williams Mokoena 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
0‑2 to Jomo Cosmos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Itumeleng Hlatshwayo 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Teboho Erasmus left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
An own goal to forget for Kermit Zwane
The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.
The dugout23 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
There were 13 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
A 3‑6 beating by Bloemfontein Celtic was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.62, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market16 Nov 2026
Erick Mokoena 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 Free State Stars can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Free State Stars may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Andile Mokoena 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Williams Mokoena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces16 Nov 2026
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The unthinkable, invoiced: Morgan Khune sold
Bristol City arrived with $2.2M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑5 by Orlando Pirates, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Morgan Khune has gone, the accounts have $2.2M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Free State Stars asked and SuperSport United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: NK Maribor keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Aug 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.