The Ulinzi Stars Courier
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Boniface Muchiri runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Kgwadi Molepo stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kgwadi Molepo and Ulinzi Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Ulinzi Stars
Mercury Dlamini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Graduation day at Ulinzi 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Whatever happens, Ulinzi Stars 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kgwadi Molepo 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 terraces8 Feb 2027
The crowd has taken to Paul Odhiambo
At 22 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Ulinzi Stars promote John Ouma from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. John Ouma 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Samuel Mukangula steps up from the Ulinzi Stars academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Samuel Mukangula 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.
In brief
- Market Ulinzi Stars promote James Mulee from within
- Market Ulinzi Stars promote Anthony Amuka from within
- Player ratings Omar Boraafya ran the middle of the pitch — 7.26