Telvin Irungu (right) Mogadishu City Club dribbles past Tobias Omondi of Kenya Police FC during their Caf Champions League preliminary round first leg match at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on September 20, 2025
Telvin Maina has had a peripatetic football career for a 22-year-old. The former Kenya U-17 and U-20 midfielder launched his career at Kangemi All Stars after stepping out of Laiser Hill Academy.
A move to FC Talanta followed but a pay dispute saw him packing his bags to join Kisumu All Stars.
Yet, there was no settling for his itchy feet and the playmaker’s next move was so westerly of Kenya’s third largest city that he needed an international transfer certificate to complete it. A hop over Lake Victoria landed him at Arua Hills Sports Club in north-western Uganda in December 2020 but he slipped into football purgatory after that.
A botched move to Europe to advance his career with Moldova’s Sheriff Tiraspol saw him return home depressed but he was not forsaken. Naivas approached him carting solace that transitioned to more affirmation of his talent after he transferred to Kibera Black Stars.
He found his footing at the perennial National Super League (NSL) contestants and every step he made impressed scouts of 11-time Somali Premier League champions Mogadishu City Club, who later approached him with an offer that required giving a vote of confidence to the unknown.
Maina was on the move yet again but this time with hope akin to a paratrooper trusting his parachute will open.
“When I first received the offer, I had perceived the move as risky because of the understanding I had of the security situation in Somalia. However, I see football as a sport of opportunities and risks and after thinking about their offer, I took a leap of faith and accepted it,” Maina told Nation Sport in an exclusive interview.
Football thrived in Somalia until a civil war broke out in 1991. British author Douglas James Jardine’s The Mad Mullah of Somaliland narrates incidents that attest to the sport’s popularity in colonial Somalia. Somali clubs such as Jeenyo (1948) and Heegan (1950) existed long before the Kenyan top flight’s oldest clubs, AFC Leopards (1964) and Gor Mahia (1968). Maina’s team, nicknamed “Minishiibiyo” meaning Municipal officers, was founded in 1963.
In 1967, seven years after Somalia gained independence, the first season of the Somali top flight football competition was played. That was followed by Somali clubs competing regularly in the CAF club competitions until 1991.
Telvin Irungu (centre) Mogadishu City Club dribbles past Tobias Omondi of Kenya Police FC during their Caf Champions League preliminary round first leg match at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on September 20, 2025
Somalia’s football stagnated in the years that followed until the early 2000s when a strong revival of the Somali Premier League resulted in their clubs importing football talent from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and West Africa.
Maina is one of several Kenyans plying his trade in the Somali Premier League. “There are about five of us here,” he said. “There are also others who have dual Kenyan and Somali citizenship.”
Maina is teammates with two Kenyans at Mogadishu City Club – goalkeeper Innocent Lihasi (formerly of Kibera Black Stars) and ex-Mathare United midfielder Mark Khadohi.
The trio are coached by 27-year-old Abdirahman Ali Abubakar, who was born and raised in Eastleigh’s Section Three area.
Maina said that Abubakar's presence helped him settle at the club based in Somalia’s capital.
“Our coach speaks Kiswahili and that makes communication easy,” Maina said.
Another Kenyan featuring in the Somali Premier League is former Bandari and Tusker forward Joshua Oyoo who plays for Dekedaha FC. Dekedaha are the reigning Somalia FA Cup champions and they also have in their ranks Mombasa-born Somalia national football team goalkeeper Abdirahman Mamaan.
Another Mombasa-born Somalia goalkeeper, Saeed Aleeley, plays for Elman FC after recently joining them from Mombasa Stars.
Maina spent a large part of his career in Kenya playing in the country’s second division, a tier plagued with financial constraints that see most clubs offering players low wages and struggling to honour matches.
Hence, the move to Somalia translated to massive increase in wages for Maina but he did not disclose how much he earns.
“It was a good offer,” he said with a smile.
Maina also described playing football in Somalia as “a good opportunity”.
“I landed here with lots of doubts but I thank God for the journey so far. Football is so big in Somalia. The people here love football and all our matches are streamed and played before capacity crowds. I have settled here and I continue to hope for the best,” Maina said.
Maina followed up that statement by labeling his team, “the biggest club in Somalia”.
“They have a history of competing in CAF competitions,” Maina, who won the 2024/25 Somali Premier League with them, said proudly.
Telvin Irungu (right) Mogadishu City Club tackles Tobias Otieno of Kenya Police FC during their Caf Champions League preliminary round first leg match at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on September 20, 2025
Mogadishu City Club, known as Banadir Sports Club until 2019, competed in the 2022/23 CAF Champions League and the 2019/20 CAF Confederation Cup qualifiers. They were eliminated in the preliminary qualifying rounds on both occasions but came close to rewriting that history this year.
Their adventure in the 2025/26 CAF Champions League came to a painful end in the preliminary qualifying round after reigning FKF Premier League champions Kenya Police FC eliminated them on the away goals rule after the match ended 3-3 on aggregate.
Kenya Police FC won the first leg– which Mogadishu City Club hosted in Nairobi on September 20 because Somalia does not have a CAF-approved stadium – 3-1, but their opponents almost turned the tables on them on Sunday after registering 2-0 away victory at the Nyayo National Stadium.
Maina started for Mogadishu City Club in the first leg but was left on the bench for the second leg. Despite falling agonizingly short, Maina felt the result affirmed the growing strength of Somali football clubs. “Our win against Kenya Police FC shows that Somali football is growing and their clubs can no longer be underrated,” Maina said.
