{"id":5905,"date":"2026-06-27T14:07:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T12:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lefa.co.ls\/?p=5905"},"modified":"2026-06-27T16:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T14:17:16","slug":"thabantso-and-mofoka-big-winners-at-vodacom-premier-league-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefa.co.ls\/?p=5905","title":{"rendered":"Thabant\u0161o and Mofoka big winners at Vodacom Premier League Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Lijabatho forward Jane Thabant\u0161o and Matlama\u2019s Leluma Mofoka were the biggest winners at this year\u2019s Vodacom Premier League Awards, taking home multiple individual honours.<\/h2>\n<p>Veteran forward Thabant\u0161o, who left Matlama midway through the 2025\/26 season for a big money move to Lijabatho, scooped both the Player of the Season and Players\u2019 Player of the Season awards.<\/p>\n<p>Mofoka, who recently won his first Likuena cap against Kenya at only 18 years old, enjoyed a standout night after claiming both the Goalkeeper of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards.<\/p>\n<p>He was joined by Matlama teammate Rethabile Mokokoane, who was named Defender of the Season while Lijabatho also celebrated Tumelo Khutlang, who took home the Top Goalscorer award after netting 18 goals during the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Lifofane Football Club, the surprise package this past season, picked up two awards. Sello Japhta was named Midfielder of the Season, while the club was recognized as the Most Improved Team of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>Japhta, who previously played his football in South Africa, had an impressive season as Lifofane finished second for the first time in club history.<\/p>\n<p>Lioli\u2019s veteran Jerry Kamela was honoured as the Longest Serving Player. Match officials were also celebrated, with Mr. Kemuel Matete named Referee of the Season and Mr. Lesupi Puputla taking Assistant Referee of the Season.<\/p>\n<p>James Madidilane, who led Lijabatho to their first and historic league title, walked away with the Coach of the Season accolade after winning his third league title in the Kingdom. The former South African international has since returned home to take up the role of assistant coach at Golden Arrows.<\/p>\n<p>Renowned photographer Thabo Rakhomo, of Sports Gallery bagged the Sports Person of the Year, while Matlama supporter Manchulu Leepo was honoured with the Supporter of the Year award.<\/p>\n<p>The awards highlight another competitive season in the Vodacom Premier League, with talent recognized across clubs and roles.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lijabatho forward Jane Thabant\u0161o and Matlama\u2019s Leluma Mofoka were the biggest winners at this year\u2019s Vodacom Premier League Awards, taking home multiple individual honours. Veteran forward Thabant\u0161o, who left Matlama midway through the 2025\/26 season for a big money move to Lijabatho, scooped both the Player of the Season and Players\u2019 Player of the Season&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Thabant\u0161o and Mofoka big winners at Vodacom Premier League Awards - Lesotho Football Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lefa.co.ls\/?p=5905\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thabant\u0161o and Mofoka big winners at Vodacom Premier League Awards - Lesotho Football Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lijabatho forward Jane Thabant\u0161o and Matlama\u2019s Leluma Mofoka were the biggest winners at this year\u2019s Vodacom Premier League Awards, taking home multiple individual honours. Veteran forward Thabant\u0161o, who left Matlama midway through the 2025\/26 season for a big money move to Lijabatho, scooped both the Player of the Season and Players\u2019 Player of the Season...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lefa.co.ls\/?p=5905\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho Football Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Lesotho-Football-Association-2427616000623067\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-27T12:07:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-27T14:17:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lefa.co.ls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Jane.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1638\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lesotho Football Association\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FootballLesotho\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@FootballLesotho\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lesotho Football Association\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/?p=5905#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/?p=5905\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lesotho Football Association\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4c80bff0bd42d1e7fd74dee80a3e1080\"},\"headline\":\"Thabant\u0161o and Mofoka big winners at Vodacom Premier League Awards\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T12:07:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-27T14:17:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/?p=5905\"},\"wordCount\":328,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/?p=5905#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Jane.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/?p=5905\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lefa.co.ls\\\/?p=5905\",\"name\":\"Thabant\u0161o and Mofoka big winners at Vodacom Premier League Awards - 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