Marked for Erick Mkhize
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Nobody could get near Erick Jali
Successful dribbles: 39. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Erick Mkhize breaks a bone — 18 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market18 Jan 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 Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Zoey Monyepao pulls a muscle — 15 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luther Furman 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Zoey Monyepao 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market18 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Morgan Williams has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Black Aces.
Market18 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thulani Furman signs something — a contract at Black Aces or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Erick Mkhize breaks a bone — 25 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Black Aces have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Rivaldo Zungu goes up and wins it — 7.33
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.33 for the rest of it.
Squad11 Jan 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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andile Dala commits to Black Aces for another 4 years.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
At 22 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
Erick Mkhize breaks a bone — 32 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match2 Jan 2027
10 matches without a win for Black Aces
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Black Aces are no longer polite ones.
Market4 Jan 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 Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Thulani Furman 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Erick Jali was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zoey Monyepao 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zoey Monyepao, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 7. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Erick Mkhize out for 40 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Black Aces will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Black Aces's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Black Aces has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Dec 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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Thulani Furman pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Luther Furman 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 ratings28 Dec 2026
The afternoon belonged to Erick Jali
A mark of 7.17, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Erick Mkhize breaks a bone — 48 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match19 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Black Aces
8 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luther Furman 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Zoey Monyepao 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
University of Pretoria left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Erick Mkhize out for 56 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Black Aces will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Dec 2026
Erick Jali 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 Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Black Aces
7 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Erick Jali runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Dec 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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
1‑2 to Polokwane City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramahlwe Modiba, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Thulani Furman 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
The goal that put Polokwane City ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Black Aces equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 Dec 2026
The small margins put Black Aces out
Out, 1‑1 to Mamelodi Sundowns, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Black Aces's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Black Aces has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Teboho Erasmus: 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.” Black Aces have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market7 Dec 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
The game went through Erick Mkhize — 7.09
Marked 7.09 on 16 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luther Furman 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 Dec 2026
Zoey Monyepao 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Thulani Furman 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Bidvest Wits left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thulani Furman, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zoey Monyepao 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 ratings23 Nov 2026
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. 9 actions, 6.63, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Luther Furman 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramahlwe Modiba, and the manager let it.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Erick Mkhize did the work nobody counts — 6.88
9 combined actions and 6.88. 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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.93 on the card, and the Black Aces support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match31 Oct 2026
6‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Andile Mahlangu out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Black Aces will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A brace, and Thamsanqa Mothiba takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thamsanqa Mothiba provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market2 Nov 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Black Aces right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Erick Mkhize at his very best
Marked 8.68. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Black Aces.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.24 — 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
A performance of 8.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luther Furman 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Erick Mkhize. 2‑1 against Chippa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Zoey Monyepao 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 terraces26 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Erick Mkhize 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Erick Mkhize was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Erick Jali at his very best
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Black Aces.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Ronwen Ngcobo
“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 ratings26 Oct 2026
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
Market12 Oct 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 Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Luther Furman 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Orlando Pirates left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zoey Monyepao 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Erick Mkhize 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 Erick Mkhize trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Sifiso Zungu 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Thulani Furman 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Mandla Mkhize 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Erick Jali
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Bloemfontein Celtic came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Thulani Furman 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 Black Aces, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dean Mahlangu, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Kaizer Chiefs, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market14 Sep 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luther Furman 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramahlwe Modiba, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.12 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Black Aces had the best player on the pitch.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 8. 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
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
Asante Kotoko arrived with $460.0K 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Vorskla come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Black Aces did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Andile Mahlangu reports back to Black Aces with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market7 Sep 2026
Mandla Mkhize 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 Black Aces can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
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.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Black Aces sell a favourite for $460.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Williams Mokotjo was one of the reasons people came, and $460.0K does not replace that by itself.
Match5 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Black Aces
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Black Aces are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Black Aces
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Erick Jali
Successful dribbles: 45. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market31 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Black Aces did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Luther Furman 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zoey Monyepao 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
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Teboho Erasmus, and the manager let it.
Match29 Aug 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Polokwane City came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
5.07. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Black Aces did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Black Aces have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Luther Furman 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.
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 Black Aces this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
Mamelodi Sundowns left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
The game went through Erick Mkhize — 6.79
Marked 6.79 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Thulani Mokotjo 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Aug 2026
Black Aces throw away a 2-goal lead
2 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.
Market17 Aug 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 Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Thulani Furman 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
One of those days for Erick Jali
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Erick Mkhize at his very best
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Black Aces.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market10 Aug 2026
The unthinkable, invoiced: Dean Hlatshwayo sold
FC Augsburg arrived with $8.3M 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market10 Aug 2026
Gor Mahia come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Black Aces did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 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 Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Black Aces sell a favourite for $8.3M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Dean Hlatshwayo was one of the reasons people came, and $8.3M does not replace that by itself.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thulani Furman commits to Black Aces for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Luther Furman 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.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Black Aces
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 Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thulani Furman 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.