Marked for Andre Waris
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Age has not caught Kwame Kudus yet — 8.16
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.16 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad16 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Inusah 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abayomi Adebayo and Wa All Stars agree another 1 years.
Match14 Oct 2028
A 2‑1 win over BA All Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Marked 8.29 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Naledi Hlongwane
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wa All Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abraham Adjei has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Match4 Mar 2028
0‑3 to Asante Kotoko, 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andre Waris commits to Wa All Stars for another 4 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Albert Amoah 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 Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Isaac Inusah 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Loan watch6 Mar 2028
“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 Wa All Stars, and 7 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 12. 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
Crisis
Squad17 Jan 2028
Albert Amoah 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 Jan 2028
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Inusah 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Andre Waris
“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 ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Loan watch17 Jan 2028
“I watch every Wa All Stars game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Inter Allies runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match15 Jan 2028
A 2‑2 draw with WAFA leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Wa All Stars
Position 14 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Albert Amoah 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Inusah 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 ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
At 23 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.
Match27 Nov 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Albert Amoah’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Wa All Stars.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Nov 2027
1‑4 against Asante Kotoko, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market22 Nov 2027
Harrison Addo 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 Wa All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Match20 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Kamaldeen Atiemo 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Isaac Inusah 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad22 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Harrison Addo
“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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Beaten 4 times, with 5 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Nov 2027
There were 11 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.
Match1 Nov 2027
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match30 Oct 2027
Ashanti Gold left with the points after a 3‑5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Isaac Inusah 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
Andre Waris 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Kamaldeen Atiemo 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Isaac Inusah 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Sep 2027
Kamaldeen Atiemo is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad20 Sep 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 Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Edmund Atiemo has improved at 28, 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isaac Inusah 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
1‑2 to Hasaacas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
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 Wa All Stars, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Market20 Sep 2027
Faustin Ambassa is 20, and Wa All Stars have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Andre Waris changes it off the bench
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Wa All Stars had a different afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Wa All Stars's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wa All Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 2027
There were 9 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.
Market22 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Kwame Nuhu
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kwame Nuhu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wa All Stars the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Kamaldeen Atiemo 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Isaac Inusah 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
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match20 Mar 2027
Wa All Stars hit back inside 1 minutes
Inter Allies held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Wa All Stars answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
No place for Andre Waris 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 Wa All Stars pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Match20 Mar 2027
It needed Christian Kyereh to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Inter Allies, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
10 matches without a win for Wa All Stars
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Wa All Stars are no longer polite ones.
Market15 Mar 2027
Ernest Gyan 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 Wa All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Isaac Inusah 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 Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis Boateng 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.
Match13 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
Uneasy
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Feb 2027
There were 6 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.
Market8 Feb 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.
Match6 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Albert Amoah and Wa All Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Isaac Inusah 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andre Waris, and the manager let it.
Match6 Feb 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Aduana Stars leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Wa All Stars pull $5.0M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Wa All Stars
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Wa All Stars is running low.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Kwame Acquah: 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.” Wa All Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market1 Feb 2027
Felix Kudus 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 Wa All Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Wa All Stars's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wa All Stars has to find a result from somewhere.
Market1 Feb 2027
The deal that would have taken Kwadwo Atiemo to Bechem United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Wa All Stars with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Isaac Inusah 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 Feb 2027
Andre Waris 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iker Banda and Wa All Stars agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
There were 10 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
1‑4 against WAFA, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Isaac Inusah 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Andre Waris 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Harrison Owusu, and the manager let it.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Loan watch18 Jan 2027
“I watch every Wa All Stars game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sharjah runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market18 Jan 2027
A conversation is coming this week. Wa All Stars will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market18 Jan 2027
Wa All Stars have made Kwadwo Atiemo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jan 2027
0‑3 to Hearts of Oak, 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
“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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer from BA All Stars for Albert Amoah 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Isaac Inusah 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 Wa All Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Wa All Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andre Waris 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 Jan 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
Nobody left the Wa All Stars dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Wa All Stars told Kamaldeen Atiemo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
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Market
BA All Stars are about to pick up the phone
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The terraces
Supporters make their feelings known about Thomas Addo