Marked for Patrick Appiah
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Elton Ndzeryuy
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Victoria United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ifeagwu Ojukwu 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Victoria United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑1 to Stade Renard de Melong, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match30 Nov 2026
Position 7, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout30 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 0‑1 Andre Embolo left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout30 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Elton Ndzeryuy damages knee ligaments — 40 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match14 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Victoria United's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Victoria United has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 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 Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Raphaël Anaba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match7 Nov 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Victoria United are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Dérrick Anye Fru and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Unisport Bafang left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 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 1‑2 Andre Embolo left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Terrel Teboh has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Victoria United will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Nobody at Victoria United is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Oct 2026
3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Canon Yaounde the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Victoria United will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Victoria United — 7.80
1 for Raphael Ayagwa, marked 7.80, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ifeagwu Ojukwu 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Raphael Ayagwa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.64 — 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.41 — 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Brayann Nana beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Jerzino
“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.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 3‑3 draw with Canon Yaounde leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Raphael Ayagwa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Jerzino 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
7.96, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Victoria United had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Victoria United are still strangers to each other
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Victoria United told Patrick Appiah something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Half-satisfied: Andre Embolo on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Elton Ndzeryuy
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 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 Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Raphael Ayagwa 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Jerzino
“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.
Match19 Sep 2026
It needed Fabrice Olinga to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Dynamo Douala, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Victoria United have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Off the academy pitches and into a senior shirt, at 20. The parents in the stand will keep the programme, and so will he.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.06, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.23 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 26 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ashanti Gold keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Patrick Appiah did the work nobody counts — 6.85
9 combined actions and 6.85. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Victoria United know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
Thomas Appiah 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 Liberty Professionals can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Patrick Mohammed and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and a squad player was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Kwame Owusu
“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.
Looking ahead31 Aug 2026
A side in position 13 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Victoria United have done the hard part with Kano Pillars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Raphael Ayagwa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fauve Azur Elite have kept their man, and Victoria United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Victoria United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pierre Akono 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
14 new faces, and Victoria United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Ashanti Gold: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Karl Bekale and Victoria United agree another 3 years.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Karl Bekale
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Liberty Professionals people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market24 Aug 2026
Bernard Owusu 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 Liberty Professionals can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 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 Liberty Professionals this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Victoria United have done the hard part with Liberty Professionals, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad24 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 Victoria United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Georges Iyem 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Victoria United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zalli Abdullahi 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
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market17 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Liberty Professionals have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market17 Aug 2026
Ernest Partey 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 Liberty Professionals can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Patrick Mohammed 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 Aug 2026
Umar Sadiq 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Patrick Djiku, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Baba Kudus and Liberty Professionals agree another 3 years.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Afriyie Adjei has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Liberty Professionals that is a harder question to answer.
Market17 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Bernard Owusu may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. WAFA have kept their man, and Victoria United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Victoria United know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A move Eric Oteng would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Eric Oteng is living that version at Liberty Professionals, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Patrick Mohammed 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umar Sadiq was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Liberty Professionals have made the call to Aduana Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Bendel Insurance 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 dugout3 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrick Mohammed trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.