Samuel Olunga

Left Forward - Bidco United U18
17 Sep 2028
Sunday
Process

Marked for Samuel Olunga

69 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

22 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Michael Wanjala damages knee ligaments — 77 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.

Market

Ben van Dorssen puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Bidco United, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Bidco United lose Brian Okeyo

47 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief

Back issues
65 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Michael Wanjala damages knee ligaments — 109 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Bidco United

Adama Traoré 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.

Squad

Simon Munala 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.

In brief

61 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Geoffrey Ochieng 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 Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Bidco United

Adama Traoré 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.

Squad

Chizoba Amaefule 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Loan watch

Samuel Olunga wants to come home

“I did not go to Nairobi United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bidco United and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Match

Honours even between Bidco United and Bandari

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Squad

Matthew Acton has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Bidco United 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.

Market

The Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bidco United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

54 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Michael Bodo puts it in writing

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Bidco United's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bidco United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Adama Traoré 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 Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chizoba Amaefule 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.

Match

Tusker take the points off Bidco United

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Matthew Acton

“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.

Squad

John Kelwishi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” John Kelwishi and Bidco United agree another 2 years.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Mara Sugar expected to open talks for Samuel Olunga

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Bidco United will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

In brief

53 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

John Kelwishi says Bidco United went back on their word

“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.

Market

Gede Aditya Juliantara puts it in writing

“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.

Match

4 matches without a win for Bidco United

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bidco United are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Bidco United

Adama Traoré 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.

Squad

Adama Traoré 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Bidco United against Ulinzi Stars

0‑1 to Ulinzi Stars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

Samuel Olunga attracts admirers

The name of Samuel Olunga has come up in conversations Bidco United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Simon Munala 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 ratings

Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

50 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Michael Bodo 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 Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Adama Traoré 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 Bidco United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Chizoba Amaefule

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chizoba Amaefule, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at Bidco United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Munala 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 ratings

Oshobe Oladele runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Home is on Gede Aditya Juliantara's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Bidco United are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Match

Christopher Raila rescues a point for Bidco United

It needed Christopher Raila to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Mathare United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Market

Mara Sugar expected to open talks for Samuel Olunga

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Bidco United will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Leonlevitt Osiago

A mark of 5.39 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

49 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Clinton Asiago damages knee ligaments — 17 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Bidco United

Adama Traoré 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.

Squad

Chizoba Amaefule 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Richard Matloga

“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.

Match

Adama Traoré the difference as Bidco United beat Kariobangi Sharks

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Adama Traoré. 1‑0 against Kariobangi Sharks, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Market

Samuel Olunga attracts admirers

The name of Samuel Olunga has come up in conversations Bidco United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Player ratings

Adama Traoré stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.62 on the card, and the Bidco United support went home talking about one name.

Boardroom

Bidco United sign 4 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.

Player ratings

Francis Chege could not find anything

5.67. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

In brief

47 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Clinton Asiago damages knee ligaments — 31 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.

Match

No end in sight to Bidco United's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bidco United has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Chinanu Victor is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bidco United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 32 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Market

David Kalama asks to leave Bidco United

“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.

Squad

Ben van Dorssen keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bidco United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Boardroom

Chinanu Victor signs for Kakamega Homeboyz while still at Bidco United

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Chinanu Victor has agreed terms with Kakamega Homeboyz for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

Tempers go at Bidco United

Adama Traoré 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Adama Traoré

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adama Traoré, and the manager let it.

In brief

28 Edition

The Bidco United Herald

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

9 matches without a win for Bidco United

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Bidco United are no longer polite ones.

Market

Adama Traoré 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 Bidco United can pretend not to have heard.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 31 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Squad

Tempers go at Bidco United

Oshobe Oladele 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.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Bidco United

5 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.

Market

Bidco United promote Samuel Olunga from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Samuel Olunga has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Bidco United promote Jesse Njeru from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jesse Njeru has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Bidco United promote Ibrahim Mukangula from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ibrahim Mukangula has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Squad

Chizoba Amaefule 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.

In brief