Marked for Abbubaker Mobara
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad4 Dec 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Khaya Mfecane
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chippa United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match4 Dec 2028
Chippa United refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 33 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market4 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chippa United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
Thato Mabena, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.83
A mark of 7.83 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match2 Dec 2028
Nobody wants to play Chippa United right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad4 Dec 2028
He is 20, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abbubaker Mobara and Chippa United agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Azola Matrose 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 terraces4 Dec 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Thato Mabena 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abbubaker Mobara and Chippa United agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
Goodman Mosele 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 May 2028
Sinoxolo Kwayiba 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.
The dugout8 May 2028
This is not rotation. Harold Majadibodu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Chippa United is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom8 May 2028
Chippa United pull $1.4M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
The dugout8 May 2028
Sirgio Kammies knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chippa United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market8 May 2028
The Thato Mabena talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chippa United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market8 May 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Justice Figuareido may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout8 May 2028
Sammy Seabi has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sammy Seabi has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Sinoxolo Kwayiba: 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.” Chippa United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market20 Dec 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chippa United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 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 Chippa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Chippa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sinoxolo Kwayiba 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Harold Majadibodu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Chippa United is pretending otherwise.
Match18 Dec 2027
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Ajax Cape Town had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“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.
Match18 Dec 2027
A 2‑2 draw with Ajax Cape Town leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Goodman Mosele asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Dec 2027
Goodman Mosele and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sinoxolo Kwayiba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 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.
Match11 Dec 2027
Kaizer Chiefs left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Thato Mabena asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Looking ahead13 Dec 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ajax Cape Town in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Loan watch13 Dec 2027
9 appearances away from home and 5 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Oct 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 Chippa United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abbubaker Mobara commits to Chippa United for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Goodman Mosele 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
Mamelodi Sundowns left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Melusi Buthelezi, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Katlego Mohamme
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Katlego Mohamme has come out of that comparison in the side, and Chippa United have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Azola Matrose. Chippa United will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chippa United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abbubaker Mobara commits to Chippa United for another 2 years.
Squad8 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 Chippa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Khotso Malope 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gift Mothiba. 2‑1 against Bloemfontein Celtic, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
10 combined actions and 6.95. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Xolani Ngcobo will call it something else in private.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
7.74, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Chippa United had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ramahlwe Grobler kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Feb 2027
A 0‑3 beating by Polokwane City was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market8 Feb 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 Chippa United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Feb 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 Chippa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PAOK have kept their man, and Chippa United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khotso Malope was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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 ratings8 Feb 2027
Katlego Mohamme ran the middle of the pitch — 6.82
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.82, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad8 Feb 2027
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market25 Jan 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Chippa United — 7.72
1 for Khaya Mfecane, marked 7.72, 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
69 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chippa United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Goodman Mosele 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Chippa United have gone to University of Pretoria with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khotso Malope was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
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Player ratings
Abbubaker Mobara takes the honours
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The dugout
Somebody else is better right now than Xolani Ngcobo
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Chippa United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Thabang Molaoa had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The dugout18 Jan 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Chippa United — 7.73
1 for Goodman Mosele, marked 7.73, 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Goodman Mosele and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Khotso Malope 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Goodman Mosele. 1‑0 against Bidvest Wits, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad18 Jan 2027
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.