The Free State Stars Chronicle
Squad28 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Andile Lorch
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Free State Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces28 Feb 2028
Supporters organise against the Free State Stars board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Themba Manyama, 21, steals the show — 7.64
Marked 7.64 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market28 Feb 2028
Siyabonga Billiat 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 Free State Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Free State Stars
Sifiso Grobler 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 Feb 2028
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erick Vilakazi 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.
Match26 Feb 2028
Bradley Mkhize the difference as Free State Stars beat University of Pretoria
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bradley Mkhize. 2‑0 against University of Pretoria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Keagan Tau 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.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
The afternoon belonged to Bradley Mkhize
A mark of 7.90, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
In brief
- Squad Luther Vilakazi stays put
- The dugout The manager’s verdict
- The dugout Reece Braithwaite gets picked when it counts