Marked for Teboho Williams
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Kermit Mkhize out for 25 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.
Market28 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 ratings28 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Morgan Dala at 21 — 7.95
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Morgan Dala did not need any: 7.95, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Up for the corner, and Bongani Mkhize delivers — 7.18
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Bongani Mkhize scored, was marked 7.18, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Mandla Phiri 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 Dec 2026
Carlo De Luca 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 2‑1 win over Maritzburg United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Morgan Dala 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Nov 2026
Themba Mphela 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Black Aces's wait for a win
4 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Mandla Phiri 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 ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thamsanqa Mothiba 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
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Nov 2026
29 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Ronwen Vilakazi
“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
Uneasy
Market2 Nov 2026
Themba Mphela 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 ratings2 Nov 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Morgan Dala at 21 — 7.64
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Morgan Dala did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Thamsanqa Grobler 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 terraces2 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Morgan Dala 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Carlo De Luca. 1‑0 against Platinum Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad2 Nov 2026
58 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.89 on the card, and the Black Aces support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Black Aces
9 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.
Match26 Oct 2026
Black Aces are in real trouble now
Position 14, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market26 Oct 2026
Morgan Dala 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlo De Luca 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.
Squad26 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 57. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market5 Oct 2026
Themba Mphela 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Black Aces
6 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Mandla Phiri 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Carlo De Luca 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sifiso Manyama, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Match3 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Black Aces?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Jomo Cosmos? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market5 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Black Aces know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Sep 2026
Kaizer Chiefs go through and Black Aces go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Sifiso Mahlangu: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
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 Black Aces, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Black Aces training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlo De Luca 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
Maritzburg United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Lebogang Tau misses from twelve yards
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kermit Ngcobo, and the manager let it.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 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.
Market24 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.
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
Carlo De Luca 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
Teboho Williams 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.
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Themba Mphela 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Mamelodi Sundowns came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Sifiso Mahlangu keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Black Aces say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Thamsanqa Mothiba again, and this time the name on the line is Heracles. Black Aces are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
Teboho Modiba 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mandla Phiri 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Carlo De Luca 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lebogang Modiba has his answer from Black Aces; what he does with it is the next window’s story.