Marked for Baba Sulemana
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout31 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Patrick Asante has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at WAFA is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
The offer went to Asante Kotoko this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abraham Amoah and WAFA agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Asante Kotoko 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
When it matters, Amos Appiah 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamaldeen Djiku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jun 2028
Samuel Adjei 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 WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
A loan enquiry to BA All Stars: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Isaac Kyereh gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Isaac Kyereh is on it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamaldeen Djiku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Abdul Afful 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 Abdul Afful trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market26 Jun 2028
WAFA have made Ernest Appiah available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
WAFA keep producing them
14 graduates from an academy now rated 9 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
Loan watch26 Jun 2028
4 days left on the agreement, 30 appearances behind him, and two clubs who have both been putting off the same conversation.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around WAFA people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market19 Jun 2028
“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 WAFA, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Tempers go at WAFA
Samuel Adjei 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 targets19 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Liberty Professionals have kept their man, and WAFA go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A loan enquiry to Wa All Stars: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Samuel Adjei has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at WAFA will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Kamaldeen Djiku 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Amos Appiah linked with a move away
The name of Amos Appiah keeps appearing in other people's back pages. WAFA say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Andrew Ofori 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 WAFA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 May 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Osman Appiah is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad29 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Baba Sulemana and WAFA agree another 3 years.
Squad29 May 2028
A falling-out at WAFA
Kamaldeen Djiku and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 May 2028
Isaac Kyereh has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at WAFA will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout29 May 2028
Patrick Asante 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 WAFA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 May 2028
“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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
WAFA keep producing them
14 graduates from an academy now rated 9 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager plants his flag on Samuel Adjei
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Samuel Adjei’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Squad29 May 2028
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 May 2028
A falling-out at WAFA
Isaac Kyereh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout22 May 2028
Samuel Adjei has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at WAFA will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Baba Mohammed, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Apr 2028
11 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.
Match29 Mar 2028
WAFA march on in the cup
Asante Kotoko are out and WAFA go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match1 Apr 2028
A hiding for WAFA
Beaten 0‑3 by Berekum Chelsea, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match29 Mar 2028
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. WAFA scored in the 108th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” WAFA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Baba Sulemana, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.61
A mark of 7.61 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at WAFA
Isaac Kyereh 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 ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The terraces3 Apr 2028
WAFA supporters have found a favourite in Isaac Kyereh
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Isaac Kyereh 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.
In brief
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Market
Patrick Asante is free to find somewhere else
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Match
After 4 games, WAFA finally taste it again
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Loan watch
The goals keep arriving from Joseph Djiku’s exile
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Feb 2028
Hasaacas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and WAFA did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Tempers go at WAFA
Isaac Kyereh 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 targets14 Feb 2028
The clock did what Asante Kotoko would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Baba Sulemana commits to WAFA for another 3 years.
Match12 Feb 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Amos Appiah’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to WAFA.
Market14 Feb 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Abeiku Mensah 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Edmund Partey has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market14 Feb 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jeffrey Annan 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.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Patrick Asante
“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.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody on the pitch touched Osman Bukari
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Osman Bukari gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jan 2028
Isaac Kyereh is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Isaac Kyereh: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match1 Jan 2028
WAFA through in the cup
A 0‑1 win over Hearts of Oak, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match29 Dec 2027
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Osman Bukari obliged against Hearts of Oak. 2‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is WAFA.
Market3 Jan 2028
Daniel Inusah 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 WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.19, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeffrey 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.
Match29 Dec 2027
Level with 117 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon WAFA had all but put away. Hearts of Oak will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
The kick that got away from Isaac Boakye
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad27 Dec 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Jeffrey Boateng 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.
Match25 Dec 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Osman Bukari. 1‑0 against Hasaacas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Ninety minutes of Osman Bukari at his very best
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at WAFA.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nicolás Vega kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Abdul Afful
“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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Baba Sulemana, 19, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where WAFA would like this to lead.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The form table has caught Andrew Ofori
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Loan watch27 Dec 2027
14 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. WAFA lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Baba Sulemana and WAFA agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeffrey Boateng was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jeffrey Boateng, and the manager let it.
Market11 Oct 2027
No place for Obed Ankrah in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Obed Ankrah has his answer from WAFA; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Wa All Stars next, and one man in the WAFA dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market11 Oct 2027
“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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at WAFA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Home comforts ahead for WAFA
Wa All Stars, position 12, come to town on Saturday. Nobody will call it a big game and nobody at the club will be treating it as anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Oct 2026
The small margins put WAFA out
Out, 1‑3 to Medeama, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.98, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 3‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match17 Oct 2026
Kamaldeen Owusu among the goals in a wild afternoon
7 goals in one match, Kamaldeen Owusu on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of WAFA and Wa All Stars.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Joseph Djiku beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mohammed Kyereh commits to WAFA for another 3 years.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every WAFA game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AC Oulu runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 3‑4 defeat, delivered by the manager to a room that had heard them before.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Patrick Essien 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.