Gift Lorch

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23 Jan 2027
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Marked for Gift Lorch

17 Edition

The Free State Stars Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings23 Nov 2026

Nobody could get near Siphesihle Ndlovu

Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad23 Nov 2026

Bradley Mahlangu: 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.” Free State Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad23 Nov 2026

Tempers go at Free State Stars

Thato Sibiya 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

Free State Stars find a way past Jomo Cosmos

Jomo Cosmos made Free State Stars work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings23 Nov 2026

One of those days for Gift Erasmus

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.08, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad23 Nov 2026

Rivaldo Mabunda 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.

In brief

Back issues
9 Edition

The Free State Stars Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad28 Sep 2026

Tempers go at Free State Stars

Ronwen Lorch 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.

Match26 Sep 2026

Free State Stars see off Bidvest Wits

Three points for Free State Stars, 2‑1 the final word against Bidvest Wits in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings28 Sep 2026

Both jobs done by Luther Williams — 7.71

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. 12 actions, 7.71, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

The terraces28 Sep 2026

The crowd has taken to Rivaldo Mabunda

At 18 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.

Player ratings28 Sep 2026

Hlompho Mokoena was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.34. 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.

Squad28 Sep 2026

Rivaldo Mabunda 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.

Squad28 Sep 2026

Free State Stars pick somebody else ahead of Keagan Tau

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Squad28 Sep 2026

When it matters, Gift Lorch plays

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.

Player ratings28 Sep 2026

Rivaldo Mabunda 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 Free State Stars had a different afternoon.

In brief

1 Edition

The Free State Stars Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market3 Aug 2026

Free State Stars say no — this time

The offer from Gor Mahia for Hlompho Mokoena 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.

Squad3 Aug 2026

Ronwen Lorch 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.

Market3 Aug 2026

Eyes on Morgan Grobler again

The phone has started ringing about Morgan Grobler again, and this time the name on the line is Eintracht Frankfurt. Free State Stars are listening politely and promising nothing.

In brief