From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and George Odhiambo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ulinzi Stars told Brian Birgen something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Omar Boraafya: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ulinzi Stars have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
George Odhiambo 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to George Odhiambo, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Age has not caught Enosh Ochieng yet — 8.36
At 35 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Enosh Ochieng’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ulinzi Stars.
Squad21 Sep 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
James Saruni has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ulinzi Stars 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
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Enosh Ochieng, 35, rolls back the years — 8.06
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Omar Mbongi for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Ulinzi Stars will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Boniface Andayi 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Enosh Ochieng’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ulinzi Stars.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Clinton Omondi
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Ulinzi Stars will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sello Jaftha finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Ulinzi Stars have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Shots: 5, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Supporters turn on the $80.0K sale of Mark Bikokwa
He is going to Bandari, the club has $80.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market7 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Ulinzi Stars
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ulinzi Stars are no longer polite ones.
Market7 Sep 2026
So close: Denis Owino’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Mara Sugar moved on, Denis Owino reports back to Ulinzi Stars, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Paul Odhiambo has come up in conversations Ulinzi Stars were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market7 Sep 2026
Mark Bikokwa has left for Bandari in a $80.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
Squad7 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 38 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market31 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Ulinzi Stars
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ulinzi Stars are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Tusker, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Aug 2026
Mathare United ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market24 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Enosh Ochieng, 35, rolls back the years — 7.87
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Masita Masuta
“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 ratings24 Aug 2026
The kick that got away from Victor Ngume
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A first appearance Javan Omondi will want to forget — 5.70
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.70, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from CotonTchad for Shannel Makwata 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
George Odhiambo 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to George Odhiambo, and the manager let it.
Match15 Aug 2026
Kenya Police left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ibrahim Shambi 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ibrahim Shambi dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
5.73. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Enosh Ochieng, 35, rolls back the years — 8.38
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.38 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from Nairobi United for Mark Bikokwa 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
George Odhiambo 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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. Ulinzi Stars will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ulinzi Stars, another week without a signature from Boniface Andayi.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Boniface Muchiri and Ulinzi Stars agree another 3 years.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ulinzi Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Bonaventure Muchika, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Ulinzi Stars training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boniface Andayi 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Bidco United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ulinzi Stars, another week without a signature from Enosh Ochieng.
Market3 Aug 2026
Simon Omondi is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ulinzi Stars has been clear about where Simon Omondi stands, which is more than many ever get.