Marked for George Onyango
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Peter Maker and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting George Onyango's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Francis Chege has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Peter Maker was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Michael Bodo 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting George Onyango's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Steve Hoffman damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
10 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Peter Maker and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match26 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Bidco United
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shafic Ssebyala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kenneth Kamau and Bidco United agree another 3 years.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
13 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Aug 2026
6 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.
Market31 Aug 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 Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mathare United have kept their man, and Bidco United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Denis Simiyu pulls a muscle — 17 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Michael Bodo 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” George Onyango and Bidco United agree another 3 years.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
Peter Maker and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match8 Aug 2026
Tusker left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Brian Mwendwa 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ochieng Rupia 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
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dennis Mbugua 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. George Onyango 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Daniel Kakai beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Francis Kagere to a room that had heard them before.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Tusker: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.