Marked for Jonathan Asante
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Dec 2027
A hiding for WAFA
Beaten 1‑5 by Hearts of Oak, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market13 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Dec 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between WAFA and Hearts of Oak, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdellah Haimoud 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“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.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Doors closed at WAFA
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. WAFA told Joseph Nathaniel something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 10. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market18 Oct 2027
Dokou Dodo 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 WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdellah Haimoud 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Gladson Kudus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at WAFA 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match6 Oct 2027
WAFA through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Wa All Stars, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad11 Oct 2027
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Abdellah Haimoud 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.
Match9 Oct 2027
1‑2 to Great Olympics, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces11 Oct 2027
At 16 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joseph Nathaniel commits to WAFA for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Oko Onyedika 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market27 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WAFA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Abdellah Haimoud 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
No sign of nerves from David Boakye at 17 — 7.67
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. David Boakye did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” WAFA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Nana Owusu is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad20 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Sep 2027
It finished 3‑2, and it was Bernard Owusu’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to WAFA.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
At 17 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Abdul Annan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes of Bernard Owusu at his very best
Marked 8.20. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at WAFA.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match11 Sep 2027
Nowhere to hide for WAFA
0‑3 against Medeama, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dokou Dodo is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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 ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Doors closed at WAFA
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
Market13 Sep 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gladson Kudus signs something — a contract at WAFA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
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Market
The window shut and Brandon Comley is still in the building
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Boardroom
WAFA keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match4 Sep 2027
Nowhere to hide for WAFA
1‑4 against Ashanti Gold, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad6 Sep 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abraham Mensah is 16, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at WAFA
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Market6 Sep 2027
One of our own: Ernest Mensah joins the WAFA first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ernest Mensah is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market6 Sep 2027
One of our own: Samuel Adjei joins the WAFA first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Samuel Adjei is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market6 Sep 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Patrick Asamoah 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market30 Aug 2027
The bid was some way short and WAFA did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market30 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WAFA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vincent Klu Adjeu is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Zakaria Messibah has improved at 32, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market23 Aug 2027
WAFA say no — this time
The offer from Ashanti Gold for Brandon Comley was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Nana Owusu is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Dokou Dodo is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market16 Aug 2027
Gladson Afful has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around WAFA they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market16 Aug 2027
The paperwork is done: Mohammed Waris joins from Hasaacas in a deal worth $56.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Zakaria Messibah 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Gladson Kudus has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Baba Nuhu damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
Supporters turn on the $61.0K sale of Bernard Schlupp
He is going to Hasaacas, the club has $61.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Vincent Klu Adjeu from Berekum Chelsea for $42.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdul Annan commits to WAFA for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 92 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Baba Nuhu damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WAFA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Baba Nuhu damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market26 Jul 2027
WAFA say no — this time
The offer from Hasaacas for Bernard Schlupp was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 106 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market19 Jul 2027
Only the photograph left for Gladson Afful
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gladson Afful will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WAFA the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oko Onyedika 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Heart of Lions will make the call about Bernard Schlupp this week. WAFA have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
The unthinkable, invoiced: Ernest Essien sold
Asante Kotoko arrived with $1.1M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 113 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces12 Jul 2027
Supporters turn on the $1.1M sale of Ernest Essien
He is going to Asante Kotoko, the club has $1.1M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market12 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Asante Kotoko have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniel Djiku. The answer from WAFA has not changed — yet.
Market12 Jul 2027
Gladson Afful 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 WAFA can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 120 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market5 Jul 2027
The phone has started ringing about Nana Owusu again, and this time the name on the line is Bendel Insurance. WAFA are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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 Jul 2027
Abdellah Haimoud 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
WAFA sign 6 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdellah Haimoud 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” WAFA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market10 May 2027
Only the photograph left for David Boakye
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Boakye will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WAFA the goodbyes have quietly begun.
In brief
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Squad
Tempers go at WAFA
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Squad
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad3 May 2027
Samuel Sulemana: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” WAFA have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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Squad
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 36 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oko Onyedika 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 51 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for David Boakye
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Boakye will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WAFA the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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Squad
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
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Squad
No hiding place for Abeiku Afful
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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 Apr 2027
Abdellah Haimoud 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” WAFA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Oko Onyedika 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
0‑1 to Hearts of Oak, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
In brief
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Market
WAFA bring in an old head
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Player ratings
Daniel Djiku spends the afternoon fouling
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Zakaria Messibah 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
Whatever happens, WAFA do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Abdellah Haimoud 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joseph Nathaniel, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match13 Mar 2027
3‑0, and Samuel Nuhu took the headlines on an afternoon when everything WAFA tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Jonathan Owusu, 16, plays like he has been here for years — 8.56
A mark of 8.56 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 16-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market15 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WAFA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dokou Dodo 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.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
WAFA supporters have found a favourite in Jonathan Owusu
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 16-year-old it feels ownership of. Jonathan Owusu 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ernest Essien, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Samuel Sulemana was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 53. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 88 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Joseph Nathaniel and WAFA agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Ernest Essien 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 46. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Jonathan Asante out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WAFA will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market1 Mar 2027
“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 WAFA, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” WAFA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dokou Dodo 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match2 Jan 2027
3‑0, and Jonathan Asante took the headlines on an afternoon when everything WAFA tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.21 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Zakaria Messibah 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Kamaldeen Boakye has come up in conversations WAFA were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market4 Jan 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. WAFA told Ernest Essien something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 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 WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Bernard Owusu 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.54 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad7 Dec 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 WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Dec 2026
Hasaacas made WAFA work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dokou Dodo 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.31 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Market7 Dec 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Samuel Sulemana
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Samuel Nuhu named player of the week
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Samuel Nuhu has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
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.
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for WAFA
5 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.
Squad23 Nov 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 WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Zakaria Messibah 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.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“I watch every WAFA game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Inter Allies runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad23 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market16 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kamaldeen Boakye will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WAFA the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match14 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for WAFA
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around WAFA are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Dokou Dodo 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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.92 on the card, and the WAFA support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match7 Oct 2026
The small margins put WAFA out
Out, 1‑2 to Medeama, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad12 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 WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
1‑3 to Great Olympics, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Zakaria Messibah 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 Sep 2026
WAFA make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now WAFA have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad28 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 WAFA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ernest Essien, and the manager let it.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bernard Owusu. 1‑0 against Aduana Stars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Bernard Owusu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
No mercy from WAFA
BA All Stars will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. WAFA were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.43 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WAFA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Kamaldeen Boakye has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at WAFA
Bernard Owusu 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at WAFA training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Messibah 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Samuel Nuhu at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at WAFA.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Andre Waris 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.