Two goals and a mark of 8.59 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Marked 8.27. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AFC Leopards.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
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.” Amos Mwendwa, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Samuel Ssenyonjo had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tyson Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marvelous Chimdiebube has just signed for AFC Leopards, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
“I watch every AFC Leopards game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kariobangi Sharks runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The phone has started ringing about Christopher Koloti again, and this time the name on the line is Sofapaka. AFC Leopards are listening politely and promising nothing.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Samuel Ssenyonjo in the middle of it, and Mara Sugar unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Hassan Beja again, and this time the name on the line is Mathare United. AFC Leopards are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
He is 21 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samuel Ssenyonjo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
AFC Leopards asked and Kaizer Chiefs said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barau have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 name of Christopher Koloti has come up in conversations AFC Leopards were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
10 combined actions and 6.90. 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Oscar Destiny is in the works
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AFC Leopards have done the hard part with Barau, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Hassan Beja 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.
Marked 8.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AFC Leopards have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
AFC Leopards asked and Mamelodi Sundowns said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8.04. 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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Samuel Ssenyonjo scored in the 85th minute, Posta Rangers had already begun thinking about the journey home, and AFC Leopards took the lot.
The offer from Shabana for Christopher Koloti was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mamelodi Sundowns have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tyson Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AFC Leopards have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barau have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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 phone has started ringing about Christopher Koloti again, and this time the name on the line is Shabana. AFC Leopards are listening politely and promising nothing.
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at AFC Leopards and a proper look at me.” He remains Kariobangi Sharks’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 96% of everything AFC Leopards earn
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hassan Beja will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mathare United made AFC Leopards work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Joseph Kemin 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.
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Alvin Mangeni 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Amos Mwendwa on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout22 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Joseph Ogenda'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.
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tyson Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AFC Leopards have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
BoardroomThe numbers do not look good at AFC Leopards
Looking aheadThe leaders are next for AFC Leopards
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brian Wanyama will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between AFC Leopards and Posta Rangers, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eric Omondi and AFC Leopards agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AFC Leopards, and 2 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hassan Beja will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
“I watch every AFC Leopards game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kariobangi Sharks runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joseph Kemin, and the manager let it.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Owino 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Amos Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
Bidco United will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. AFC Leopards were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.22 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
At 21 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Bidco United tried to reorganise, AFC Leopards did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AFC Leopards have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Alvin Mangeni 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.
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.
“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 dugout17 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Amos Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Brian Wanyama has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
“I watch every AFC Leopards game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kariobangi Sharks runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
8.05. 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
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.” Amos Mwendwa, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
This is not rotation. Levis Esambe has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and AFC Leopards will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
1 for Riyaaz Koopstadt, marked 7.55, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Amos Mwendwa after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Kennedy Odhiambo 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.
11 combined actions and 6.96. 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.
“I did not go to Kariobangi Sharks to sit and watch. I want to come back to AFC Leopards and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Amos Mwendwa after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Bandari had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Eric Omondi has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
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 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.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Amos Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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 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 name of Christopher Koloti has come up in conversations AFC Leopards were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. AFC Leopards will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AFC Leopards have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Sofapaka moved on, Samuel Ssenyonjo reports back to AFC Leopards, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
AFC Leopards close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Hassan Beja has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sofapaka waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Position 2, 67 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Koloti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AFC Leopards have done the hard part with Kakamega Homeboyz, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
AFC Leopards asked and Real Bamako said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
In brief
The dugoutSamuel Semo has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe manager makes Aineah Ndete a promise
The dugoutVictor Otieno knocks on the manager’s door
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shabana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
AFC Leopards have gone to Gor Mahia 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.
AFC Leopards asked and Posta Rangers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
The offer from Mathare United for Christopher Koloti was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
$5.0K was the most the club would pay and Gor Mahia were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
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.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and AFC Leopards know which stage they are at.
The offer from Sofapaka for Samuel Ssenyonjo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Elias Mugane Muriuki had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
AFC Leopards have gone to Gor Mahia 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barau have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
AFC Leopards have made the call to Mamelodi Sundowns. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Joseph Kemin is in the works
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. AFC Leopards will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
AFC Leopards asked and Nasarawa United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Mamelodi Sundowns: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tyson Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. AFC Leopards will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
102% of the income goes out in wages at AFC Leopards
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AFC Leopards know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AFC Leopards know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Everybody at AFC Leopards saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AFC Leopards, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Aineah Ndete has written the date down.
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Koloti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Joseph Ogenda is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tyson Otieno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
123% of the income goes out in wages at AFC Leopards
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AFC Leopards, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. AFC Leopards had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
33 appearances at Kariobangi Sharks and the goals have stopped going in. AFC Leopards lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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 Sebastian Wekesa is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AFC Leopards, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Enock Momanyi arrives at AFC Leopards with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Position 2, 67 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. AFC Leopards will try not to make too much of it.
“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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Hassan Beja
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Hassan Beja has come out of that comparison in the side, and AFC Leopards have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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 Levis Esambe is on it.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AFC Leopards lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
18 shut-outs in 33 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Cleo Ssetuba has been having a lot of them.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at AFC Leopards 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jayden Van der Walt has his answer from AFC Leopards; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AFC Leopards know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brian Wanyama trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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 last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 67 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Ezekiel provided it, and the 8.65 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sthembiso Hlophe will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AFC Leopards know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AFC Leopards lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Koloti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Ezekiel provided it, and the 8.73 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.39, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Samuel Ezekiel, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
3 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.
32 appearances at Kariobangi Sharks and the goals have stopped going in. AFC Leopards lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.73 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Sthembiso Hlophe has agreed terms with Kenya Police for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
17 shut-outs in 31 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Cleo Ssetuba has been having a lot of them.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
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.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Samuel Ezekiel is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
Cleo Ssetuba’s loan is measured in nothing happening
16 clean sheets from 30 appearances at Kariobangi Sharks. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
AFC Leopards offered $5.0K; Gor Mahia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shabana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at AFC Leopards until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Elias Mugane Muriuki reports back to AFC Leopards with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Tusker continues; the message travels home.
AFC Leopards asked and Bandari said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and APS Bomet waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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 offer went to Gor Mahia this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
Cleo Ssetuba’s loan is measured in nothing happening
15 clean sheets from 29 appearances at Kariobangi Sharks. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
Muranga Seal left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Amos Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. James Kinyanjui provided it, and the 7.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
It finished 3‑2, and it was James Kinyanjui’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AFC Leopards.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
Position 2, 51 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AFC Leopards people have started saying his name in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sthembiso Hlophe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Posta Rangers waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
7.88, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
$5.0K on the table at Gor Mahia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
In brief
SquadDefences have started doubling up on Eric Omondi
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
“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 ratings2 Aug 2027
Samuel Ezekiel, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.79
A mark of 7.79 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.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
25 appearances at Kariobangi Sharks and the goals have stopped going in. AFC Leopards lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
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.
At 20 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Muranga Seal waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
$5.0K on the table at Gor Mahia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
14 shut-outs in 24 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Cleo Ssetuba has been having a lot of them.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Amos Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AFC Leopards have lost him in all but the paperwork.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$5.0K was the most the club would pay and Gor Mahia were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and James Kinyanjui obliged against Shabana. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is AFC Leopards.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. AFC Leopards scored in the 104th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.32 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
$5.0K on the table at Gor Mahia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
In brief
SquadWords at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Loan watch5 Jul 2027
Cleo Ssetuba’s loan is measured in nothing happening
12 clean sheets from 21 appearances at Kariobangi Sharks. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
$5.0K on the table at Gor Mahia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kwanele Msomi. 3‑2 against Sofapaka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sthembiso Hlophe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 2, 39 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
AFC Leopards offered $5.0K; Gor Mahia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Riyaaz Koopstadt scored, was marked 7.82, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
$5.0K on the table at Gor Mahia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
“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 dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Amos Mwendwa left the room before anybody could ask which.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Samuel Ezekiel did not need any: 8.31, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.86 for the rest of it.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sthembiso Hlophe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 20 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.
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at AFC Leopards where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Tusker until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon AFC Leopards had all but put away. Mathare United will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Boardroom31 May 2027
98% of the income goes out in wages at AFC Leopards
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Amos Mwendwa after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AFC Leopards is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sthembiso Hlophe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Tusker had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout24 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Amos Mwendwa chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Ssenyonjo provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.36 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sthembiso Hlophe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 May 2027
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.” Amos Mwendwa, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Samuel Ssenyonjo has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
In brief
SquadA AFC Leopards teenager takes the young player award
Loan watchCleo Ssetuba’s loan is measured in nothing happening
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Sebastian Wekesa: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
A 1‑1 win over Kariobangi Sharks, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jamal Abubakar did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.94 for the rest of it.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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 hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Samuel Ezekiel did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sthembiso Hlophe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout3 May 2027
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.” Amos Mwendwa, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at AFC Leopards is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Koloti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AFC Leopards have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel Ssenyonjo. 2‑1 against Kariobangi Sharks, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 20 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
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.” Amos Mwendwa, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Samuel Ssenyonjo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AFC Leopards.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Amos Mwendwa on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.01. 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AFC Leopards, another week without a signature from Sthembiso Hlophe.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AFC Leopards they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jamal Abubakar is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaycie Odhiambo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Samuel Ezekiel and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
“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 AFC Leopards, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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.” Amos Mwendwa, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Gor Mahia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Amos Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxwell Otieno 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.
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Samuel Ssenyonjo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Loan watch15 Mar 2027
Cleo Ssetuba’s loan is measured in nothing happening
5 clean sheets from 6 appearances at Kariobangi Sharks. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Kwanele Msomi
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
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 Mar 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel Ssenyonjo. 2‑0 against Bandari, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Samuel Ezekiel is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. AFC Leopards will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Amos Mwendwa could afford to be generous.
In brief
Looking aheadAFC Leopards take on the side everybody is chasing
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Samuel Ezekiel did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Koloti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AFC Leopards the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Amos Mwendwa could afford to be generous.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.29 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxwell Otieno 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AFC Leopards have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Samuel Ezekiel 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Amos Mwendwa on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The division's best last weekend was a AFC Leopards man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Riyaaz Koopstadt was the best thing in any of them.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Peter Maker
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Riyaaz Koopstadt provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AFC Leopards have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nicholas Onyango 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Samuel Mwendwa 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.
That is the business done at AFC Leopards until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The phone has started ringing about Christopher Koloti again, and this time the name on the line is Mara Sugar. AFC Leopards are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxwell Otieno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Christopher Koloti has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AFC Leopards can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. AFC Leopards will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. AFC Leopards know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Samuel Ezekiel arrives from Ikorodu City with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kwanele Msomi is living that version at AFC Leopards, and it tends to show in the first month.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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 phone has started ringing about Emmanuel Lwangu again, and this time the name on the line is Tusker. AFC Leopards are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ikorodu City have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
AFC Leopards have made the call to Ikorodu City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AFC Leopards lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Everything agreed with Ikorodu City, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
AFC Leopards asked and Bayelsa United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
A loan enquiry to Bendel Insurance: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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 kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. AFC Leopards had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Kennedy Odhiambo 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jayden Van der Walt is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ikorodu City have kept their man, and AFC Leopards go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
AFC Leopards have made the call to Ikorodu City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AFC Leopards lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sthembiso Hlophe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
111% of the income goes out in wages at AFC Leopards
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AFC Leopards, and both men came out saying it was fine.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AFC Leopards lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxwell Otieno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and AFC Leopards are still learning each other
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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 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.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AFC Leopards lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Riyaaz Koopstadt and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sthembiso Hlophe 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 easiest signature of my career.” James Kinyanjui and AFC Leopards agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastian Wekesa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
122% of the income goes out in wages at AFC Leopards
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxwell Otieno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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 AFC Leopards have had the benefit of it.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AFC Leopards, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxwell Otieno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jayden Van der Walt and AFC Leopards agree another 3 years.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxwell Otieno trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
122% of the income goes out in wages at AFC Leopards
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Jayden Van der Walt and AFC Leopards agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and AFC Leopards have gone and got theirs early.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AFC Leopards have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sthembiso Hlophe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
The dugoutRandy Bakari asks for a word with the manager
Riyaaz Koopstadt 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxwell Otieno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Amos Mwendwa was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the AFC Leopards dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Nairobi United defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Nobody at AFC Leopards is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
In brief
Player ratingsJulius Masaba beats them one at a time
Riyaaz Koopstadt and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at AFC Leopards training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaycie Odhiambo 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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. AFC Leopards will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AFC Leopards. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. AFC Leopards know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Amos Mwendwa to a room that had heard them before.
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
1 for Tyson Otieno, marked 7.15, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Leopards this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Amos Mwendwa on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Peter Maker 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.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, AFC Leopards have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.