The Free State Stars Chronicle
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Free State Stars
Kermit Lorch and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
Hearts of Oak watching Erick Mabunda
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Free State Stars have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Free State Stars rebuffed over Tashreeq Morris
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Free State Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Bradley Lorch stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bradley Lorch and Free State Stars agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Kermit Lorch 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Siyabonga Ngcobo 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 Kermit Lorch story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kermit Lorch signs something — a contract at Free State Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market3 Aug 2026
24 months and counting on Bradley Lorch
Still no offer on the table, and Bradley Lorch’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ramahlwe Zwane takes the armband
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
In brief
- Market The shop window has Percy Zwane in it
- Looking ahead Looking ahead: the trip to Jomo Cosmos