Dean Grobler

Central Midfielder - Free State Stars
31 Aug 2026
Monday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 3 Transfers 1 Relations Events 22 Awards Matches History

Marked for Dean Grobler

4 Edition

The Free State Stars Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market24 Aug 2026

Hatayspor come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Free State Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Player ratings24 Aug 2026

Percy Mothiba runs at them all day

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.

Market24 Aug 2026

Keagan Billiat asks to leave Free State Stars

“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.

Squad24 Aug 2026

Thamsanqa Khune 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match22 Aug 2026

Thulani Furman the difference as Free State Stars beat Kaizer Chiefs

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thulani Furman. 1‑0 against Kaizer Chiefs, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings24 Aug 2026

Thulani Furman takes the honours

Marked 7.44 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Free State Stars had the best player on the pitch.

Squad24 Aug 2026

Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.

Squad24 Aug 2026

Ronwen Jali dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Squad24 Aug 2026

Keagan Billiat gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

Back issues
2 Edition

The Free State Stars Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings10 Aug 2026

Percy Mothiba runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 65. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Percy Mothiba signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Percy Mothiba commits to Free State Stars for another 3 years.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Bongani Manyama 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom10 Aug 2026

1 academy players handed senior numbers at Free State Stars

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thamsanqa Khune 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.

Squad10 Aug 2026

The manager makes an example of Bongani Manyama

“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.

Market10 Aug 2026

Free State Stars promote Ramahlwe Mkhize from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ramahlwe Mkhize has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Boardroom10 Aug 2026

No investment in the facilities at Free State Stars

Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.

Market10 Aug 2026

Dean Grobler is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Free State Stars has been clear about where Dean Grobler stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

1 Edition

The Free State Stars Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad3 Aug 2026

Thamsanqa Khune 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad3 Aug 2026

Percy Zwane stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Percy Zwane and Free State Stars agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad3 Aug 2026

Percy Mothiba 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 Free State Stars, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad3 Aug 2026

Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Grobler 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.

Market3 Aug 2026

The clock runs on Percy Zwane's contract

24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.

Market3 Aug 2026

Keagan Billiat told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Keagan Billiat has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Free State Stars.

In brief