Marked for Bongani Mokotjo
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Percy Jali runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 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 Bloemfontein Celtic this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
Orlando Pirates left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Bongani Mokotjo
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Bloemfontein Celtic training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thulani Khune 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Williams Zwane has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Bloemfontein Celtic 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Percy Jali
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Sep 2026
The bid was some way short and Bloemfontein Celtic did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 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 The request is on a desk at Bloemfontein Celtic, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Erick Williams reports back to Bloemfontein Celtic with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
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 Bloemfontein Celtic this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Gift Mothiba named player of the month
The award goes to Gift Mothiba, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Luther Modiba named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Luther Modiba is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 7.02 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Bloemfontein Celtic had the best player on the pitch.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Samkelo Mzolo
“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.