Marked for Meshack Maphangule
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Chippa United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Sifiso Lorch has gone, the accounts have $19.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Keagan Mahlangu and Free State Stars agree another 4 years.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Hlompho Kekana has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Keagan Mahlangu 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Business is business: Sifiso Lorch goes
Bidvest Wits paid $19.0K and Free State Stars took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market28 Jun 2027
The Khama Zungu story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Khama Zungu signs something — a contract at Free State Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Itumeleng Manyama
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Free State Stars lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout10 May 2027
Simphiwe Mtsweni: 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.” Free State Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market10 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Free State Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Zungu 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 dugout10 May 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ramahlwe Vilakazi is on it.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ramahlwe Mokoena signs something — a contract at Free State Stars or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Itumeleng Manyama damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
The dugout3 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Free State Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 May 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Zungu 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 dugout3 May 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bryn Deeley, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Free State Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market29 Mar 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market29 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Free State Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Dean Mabunda 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khama Zungu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Siyabonga Mokotjo is on it.
The terraces29 Mar 2027
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Free State Stars would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Free State Stars. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Free State Stars lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Luther Furman: 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.” Free State Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market22 Mar 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 Free State Stars can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Mar 2027
The name of Siyabonga Mokotjo has come up in conversations Free State Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khama Zungu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Meshack Maphangule and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Free State Stars they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Khama Zungu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Keagan Mahlangu 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 dugout15 Mar 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ramahlwe Vilakazi is on it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Free State Stars would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dean Mabunda and Free State Stars agree another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Itumeleng Manyama 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 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Keagan Vilakazi is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Khama Zungu 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Match8 Mar 2027
Continental football is in reach for Free State Stars
45 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 52. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Ramahlwe Vilakazi
34 goals and a season average of 7.91 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Free State Stars have had the benefit of it.
Market4 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Free State Stars have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Khama Zungu 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Keagan Vilakazi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Platinum Stars have kept their man, and Free State Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Khama Zungu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Khama Zungu at his very best
Marked 8.36. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Free State Stars.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tumiso Mogakwe 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Lebogang Kekana on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Siyabonga Mokotjo is on it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Kermit Lorch'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
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 52. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match24 Oct 2026
7 matches without a win, and then this, against University of Pretoria. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Ramahlwe Vilakazi
13 goals and a season average of 7.34 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Zungu 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Meshack Maphangule 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 terraces26 Oct 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Lebogang Kekana, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Free State Stars are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Khama Zungu 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Keagan Mahlangu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A season average of 7.23 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ramahlwe Mokoena was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Meshack Maphangule, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Keagan Vilakazi and Free State Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Polokwane City leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Khama Zungu 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 Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Meshack Maphangule was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Keagan Mahlangu is on it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sifiso Lorch, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match19 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Golden Arrows defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sifiso Lorch: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Free State Stars will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
4 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 0‑2 win over Ajax Cape Town, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match9 Sep 2026
A 4‑4 win over Ajax Cape Town, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Percy Modiba takes the afternoon — 8.04
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Percy Modiba provided it, and the 8.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market14 Sep 2026
Jomo Cosmos come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Free State Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khama Zungu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Free State Stars did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Khama Zungu 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Golden Arrows have kept their man, and Free State Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Keagan Mahlangu 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Orlando Pirates, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bryn Deeley, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“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.