The Sofapaka Gazette
The dugout8 Feb 2027
John Ndirangu: 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.” Sofapaka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Sofapaka — 7.48
1 for Sammy Kiplangat, marked 7.48, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Market8 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Andrew Waswa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrew Waswa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sofapaka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match6 Feb 2027
7 unbeaten for Sofapaka
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Sofapaka did not have in the autumn.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Graduation day at Sofapaka
2 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Sofapaka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Duncan Otieno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market8 Feb 2027
Harun Kamau steps up from the Sofapaka academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Harun Kamau 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
One of our own: Victor Onyango joins the Sofapaka first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Victor Onyango is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Sofapaka
Jacob Addis 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.
In brief
- Match Sammy Kiplangat rescues a point for Sofapaka
- Squad Clifton Miheso stands down from international duty
- The dugout Martin Chemelil on the point