Marked for Thomas Afful
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abraham Kudus
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. WAFA lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match26 Dec 2026
WAFA cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad28 Dec 2026
David Kudus 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Hasaacas made WAFA work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Afful was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 7.77 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, WAFA had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Ernest Mohammed, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout28 Dec 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
Triumph
Squad21 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abraham Kudus
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. WAFA lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match21 Dec 2026
Nobody above WAFA
First, on 29 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Kamaldeen Schlupp, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.76
A mark of 7.76 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play WAFA right now
4 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Heart of Lions made WAFA work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Abdul Partey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Afful was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Francis Partey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Dec 2026
77 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.32, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match12 Dec 2026
WAFA cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andre Addo is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Kudus 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 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Kudus. 2‑1 against Berekum Chelsea, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at WAFA
Thomas Afful 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Patrick Amoah is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. WAFA lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Abraham Kudus
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. WAFA lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market7 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for David Kudus
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Kudus will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WAFA the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Kudus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Dec 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 ratings7 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.91 on the card, and the WAFA support went home talking about one name.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Bernard Mohammed's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at WAFA
Felix Wakaso 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match30 Nov 2026
WAFA refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at WAFA
Abdul Partey 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 terraces30 Nov 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match28 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Thomas Afful’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to WAFA.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 37 days on the sidelines for Kwadwo Inusah, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Afful was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Thomas Afful 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nana Sulemana, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.” Ernest Mohammed kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at WAFA
David Kudus 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Afful 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Ernest Ofori 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Abeiku Asante asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market16 Nov 2026
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Kwadwo Acquah leaves WAFA the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nana Sulemana is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for David Kudus
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Kudus will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WAFA the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Kamaldeen Schlupp, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.87
A mark of 7.87 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at WAFA
David Kudus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Kamaldeen Schlupp’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to WAFA.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kamaldeen Schlupp 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at WAFA
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abeiku Asante was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andre Addo commits to WAFA for another 3 years.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Felix Wakaso 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at WAFA
David Kudus 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Baba Adjei 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
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Andrew Mohammed 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 dugout26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
At 28 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. WAFA have a decision that made itself.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market14 Sep 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 WAFA, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.71, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market14 Sep 2026
David Kudus has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around WAFA they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market14 Sep 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Andrew Mohammed had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market14 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings14 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Three points for WAFA, 3‑1 the final word against Ashanti Gold in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Kudus 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.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
At 23 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.