The Free State Stars Chronicle
Market10 Aug 2026
RC Strasbourg join the queue for Thulani Manyama
Add another name to the list: RC Strasbourg have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thulani Manyama. The answer from Free State Stars has not changed — yet.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Keagan Zwane runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Thulani Manyama stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thulani Manyama and Free State Stars agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Thulani Mkhize 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Free State Stars
4 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bradley Mkhize 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Hlompho Hlatshwayo joins the Free State Stars first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hlompho Hlatshwayo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Ramahlwe Tau steps up from the Free State Stars academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ramahlwe Tau has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Lebogang Dolly joins the Free State Stars first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lebogang Dolly is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
- Squad The manager makes an example of Thulani Mkhize
- Player ratings Hlompho Mphela stands above it all
- Match Hlompho Mphela rescues a point for Free State Stars