Kenya Police FC bet on Serbian coach to turn around team’s fortunes

Read: Coaches come, coaches go: The never-ending musical chairs of Kenyan football

Stojanovic means son of Stojan, a Slavic word whose derivative meaning suggests longevity, resilience, strength, and steadfastness – qualities that clubs look for in a coach.

Yet, Stojanovic Slavic’s roots prompt a recall of Zdravko Logarusic, the Croatian coach who managed Kenya Police FC in 2023. Logarusic, who previously coached AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia, failed to live up to the Slavic meaning of his first name at the law enforcers.

Zdravko is derived from the Slavic word zdrav, which means “healthy”. 

Incongruously, Logarusic's reign at the club ended in acrimony after just 82 days.

Excluding interim coaches, it is the shortest reign among the six previous coaches – John Boby Ogolla, Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omollo, Francis Baraza, Salim Babu, and Etienne Ndayiragije are the other five – hired by Kenya Police FC on permanent terms since the club won promotion to the top flight in June 2021.

Iddi Salim, Beldine Odemba, and David Bujego have served as interim coaches at the club.

Following the experience with Logarusic, Kenya Police can only hope that Stojanovic will live up to the meaning of his name.

Still, there is a cynical connection between Stojanovic’s name and Kenya Police’s recent elimination from the 2025/26 CAF Champions League.

Read: Etienne Ndayiragije: Mathematics graduate at the helm of Kenya Police FC

The name ‘Dusan’ can be arranged to ‘Sudan’, the country where the football club Al Hilal Omdurman comes from. Al Hilal Omdurman humiliated Kenya Police FC 4-1 on aggregate in October to advance to the group stages of the 2025/26 CAF Confederation Cup.

Evidently, it is not practical for Dusan to change his name to something that is less mocking of Kenya Police FC’s recent failures but the onus is now on him to work the club’s way to continental glory.

Stojanovic, 44, was unveiled as Kenya Police FC’s new coach at a hurriedly-arranged press briefing that followed the law enforcers’ goalless draw against Posta Rangers at the Police Sacco Stadium on Sunday.

Nyale Munga, the chairman of Kenya Police FC, who presided over the exercise, introduced the Serbian as the replacement of the club’s former coach, the Burundian Etienne Ndayiragije. Ndayiragije left the club on mutual consent after 333 days on Wednesday, October 29.

In a statement released on the same day, Kenya Police recognised Ndayiragije’s role in delivering the club’s maiden top flight title after guiding the club to a league championship last season.

“Etienne has a special place in Kenya Police FC history. The club’s board of directors and the executive take this opportunity to wish him the best of luck even as he pursues bigger challenges within newer coaching frontiers,” Kenya Police FC stated.

Still, despite hinting at Ndayiragije’s increased ambitions as the reason for his departure, Kenya Police FC has maintained a drive to succeed and on Sunday, Munga announced to the journalists that Stojanovic has landed in Kenya to take the club to great heights. 

“Stojanovic has a wealth of experience. He has worked in East Africa, North Africa, and South Africa. We have engaged him because we believe with his good exposure and experience, Kenya Police FC will go to great heights,” Munga said.

Previous coaching experience

A Uefa ‘A’ coaching licence holder, he has coached Uganda’s SC Villa, and lasted only 68 days in his last role as assistant coach at Serbian club Zeleznicar Pancevo. Before that, he had brief spells as an assistant in his native Serbia with Rad (65 days) and OFK Zarkovo (24 days) and Egyptian club Zamalek (107 days).

His previous coaching experience includes subordinate coaching roles at Serbian clubs OFK Beograd (2005-2012), FK Cukaricki (2013-2016), Crvena Zvezda (2018-2019), and FK Vojvodian (2021-2022), and Russian club Krasnodar (2016-2017).

However, it is on the basis of Stojanovic’s last assignment in African football that gives Munga and Kenya Police the belief that he will succeed at the club.

Read: Kenya Police’s rise from relegation to champions

“You have joined the champions and we hope under your management of the team, the club will remain champions,” Munga said, addressing Stojanovic directly.

Stojanovic’s last posting in Africa was at Uganda with SC Villa, where he guided them to their first league title in 20 years last year. However, Stojanovic did not complete his two-year contract after joining the club in June 2023. He was sacked in July 2024.

The Kenya Police FC job is Stojanovic’s first in African football that is devoid of the influence or connection of Milutin ‘Michu’ Sredojevic. Sredojevic is the former Uganda Cranes coach under whom Stojanovic served as an assistant coach at Zamalek (2019) and the Zambia national football team (2020-2021).

It was also through Sredojevic’s recommendation that SC Villa appointed Stojanovic as their coach in 2023. Sredojevic has coached SC Villa in the early 2000s, leading them to league titles in 2003 and 2004. It was Stojanovic who later ended that drought.

Despite spending a year in Uganda, Stojanovic admitted a lack of familiarity with Kenyan football when he spoke at his unveiling.

“I will be open and honest. I do not have too much experience of Kenyan football other than watching highlights while I was in Europe. That is not really enough,” Stojanovic said.

Read: ‘Eight coaches in four years’: Tough choices won title for Kenya Police

Including interim coaches, Stojanovic becomes the 10th coach that Kenya Police FC has had since their promotion to the top flight in 2021. No other top flight club has had as many coaches in that period.

On average, coaches spend 197 days at Kenya Police FC before leaving the club. Only Murang’a Seal, 137 days, has a lower average among current top flight clubs.

Hence, having in mind the high turnover of coaches at Kenya Police and the fact that the average career span (257 days) of a foreign coach in Kenya football is shorter than that of a native coach (322 days), it waits to be seen if Kenya Police FC have finally found the man to implement the club’s long-term project.

Stojanovic, expectedly, believes he is the right person for the job. “The project and ideas of Kenya Police FC attracted me to this job. We want to be at the top of the continent,” he said.

Munga, on his part, remarked beyond sporting challenges, there is a lot more that will keep Stojanovic in Kenya for a long time. “Coach, you are most welcome. Kenyan people are very friendly and you will love working in this country,” Munga said as he addressed Stojanovic directly.

Stojanovic’s first match in charge will be at home to Sofapaka on Wednesday, November 5 at the Police Sacco Stadium. The match will kick off at 3pm.