From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Alex Imbusia in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mara Sugar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Emmanuel Obala'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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Michael Isabwa asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market12 Oct 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Cyrus Oucho may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces5 Oct 2026
Anger at Mara Sugar spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Alex Imbusia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
136% of the income goes out in wages at Mara Sugar
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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Denis Simiyu and Mara Sugar agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Lameck Omondi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mara Sugar 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
Michael Isabwa knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michael Isabwa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market5 Oct 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mara Sugar, another week without a signature from Timothy Ndayala.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Mara Sugar
10 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Alex Imbusia 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑2 to Shabana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Meshack Karani
Nobody at Mara Sugar 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Jim Owili has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mara Sugar 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Mara Sugar's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mara Sugar has to find a result from somewhere.
Market21 Sep 2026
Aineah Ndete hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mara Sugar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Alex Imbusia 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ibrahim Ochieng
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
The game went through Alex Imbusia — 6.81
Marked 6.81 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Mara Sugar
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Evans Omondi Ouma has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Mara Sugar 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Mara Sugar
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Mara Sugar are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Alex Imbusia in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mara Sugar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Aineah Ndete
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samuel Juma and Mara Sugar agree another 3 years.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Mara Sugar, and it is a cruel one.
Match12 Sep 2026
It needed Wasi Ngala to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Bandari, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Looking ahead
Mara Sugar take on the side everybody is chasing
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Squad
No place for Evans Mwirigi in the new shape
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for Mara Sugar
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Mara Sugar are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a goal for Mara Sugar
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Sep 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 21 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Mara Sugar 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The chase for Evans Mwirigi ended with $64.0K changing hands and APS Bomet out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Alex Imbusia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Dennis Cheruiyot to Muranga Seal has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Mara Sugar with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Mara Sugar spend $64.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $64.0K for Evans Mwirigi, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Mara Sugar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Mara Sugar
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
The goals have deserted Mara Sugar
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mara Sugar can tell you which week it ends in.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mara Sugar have done the hard part with AFC Leopards, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Alex Imbusia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AFC Leopards have kept their man, and Mara Sugar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market31 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Mara Sugar will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Thomas Harun gets it from the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑3 against Posta Rangers, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Mara Sugar's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mara Sugar has to find a result from somewhere.
Match22 Aug 2026
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Alex Imbusia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Mara Sugar are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout24 Aug 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Elvis Karisa to a room that had heard them before.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
AFC Leopards 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑4 by Kakamega Homeboyz, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match12 Aug 2026
Muranga Seal go through and Mara Sugar go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Evans Omondi Ouma: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Mara Sugar
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mara Sugar are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a goal for Mara Sugar
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Alex Imbusia in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mara Sugar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$27.0K was the most the club would pay and Nairobi United 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bandari have kept their man, and Mara Sugar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Alex Imbusia 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Eric Masika is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Patrick Mbugua 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martin Mbugua 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Samuel Juma has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aineah Ndete, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Ulinzi Stars 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by AFC Leopards, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alex Imbusia and Mara Sugar agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Alex Imbusia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
Michael Isabwa is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mara Sugar has been clear about where Michael Isabwa stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Thomas Harun
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Mara Sugar dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout3 Aug 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Elvis Karisa to a room that had heard them before.