Triumphant Gor Mahia now plot continental comeback
Gor Mahia's Bonface Omondi (right) celebrates his goal against Muhoroni Youth with teammates Rodgers Ouma and Bryceson Wangai during a Kenya Premier League match played at Sportpesa Arena in Murang'a on May 19, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Gor Mahia is the most successful Kenyan club with a record 21 league titles.
- This season Gor Mahia were blocked from competing in the Caf Champions League.
Gor Mahia will strengthen their squad in a bid to perform well in next season's Caf Champions League, club chairman Ambrose Rachier has revealed.
K’Ogalo clinched a berth in the prestigious continental club football championship by clinching this season’s Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) title on Sunday.
A 3-0 romp over relegation-threatened Muhoroni Youth at SportPesa Arena in Murang'a took Gor Mahia's points tally at the top of the standings to an unassailable 67.
Second-placed Tusker have 56 points, while Kenya Police have garnered 54 points. Gor’s coronation ceremony will take place on June 19 when K’Ogalo hosts FC Talanta at Raila Odinga Stadium in Homa Bay.
With the triumph, Gor cemented their place as the most successful side in the history of Kenyan football with an impressive 21 titles.
“We are right away going to reinforce the playing unit. We are not going to be sleeping but working ” said an elated Rachier after the match.
Read: Gor’s champagne on ice
Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and Digital Economy, Eliud Owalo, who was among the dignitaries who attended the match, said he will work with K’Ogalo’s leadership to ensure the team is adequately prepared for the Caf Champions League.
“We are looking forward to working with the leadership of the team so that it can be formidable enough for the continental championship. Because winning the league is now common to Gor Mahia, we should go a notch higher and win the continental championship,” said Owalo, who also promised to host the team for dinner to celebrate their win.
Despite clinching last season’s FKF-PL title, Gor were blocked from competing in the Caf Champions League due to monies that they owed their former players, which they later settled the debt.
On Sunday, Mr Owalo gave Gor Sh300,000 and Muhoroni Youth Sh200,000. Owalo promised to host the team for dinner to celebrate their win.
Striker Benson Omala, Boniface Omondi, and Austine Odhiambo scored the goals that secured the title for Gor with three matches to go.
Omala took his tally at the top of the scorer’s chart to 16 goals, one more than Kenya Police’s striker Tito Okello. Kariobangi Sharks’ striker John Mark Makwata is third with 13 goals.
“I’m extremely pleased and proud of the boys. Before the game, I told them to go out and put it all together. They were extremely excellent,” said the departing Gor coach Johnathan McKinstry.
“Some people think that coaches are magicians but we are just people. When I came in here, K’Ogalo was adrift at sea and the task was to get them back to number one?
"Today we have set the standard as champions with 11 points clear of second place. I hope that as I leave, we put foundations in place to make sure that K’Ogalo go forward not just in the next two years, but 10 years, and also make a mark in the international scene.”
McKinstry was scheduled to fly out to Gambia last evening to take up the coaching role of the Gambia national team.
After guiding Gambia against Seychelles and Gabon in their Group “F” 2026 World Cup qualifiers, he will return to Kenya to lead Gor in their remaining three matches before moving permanently to Gambia.
With SportPesa Arena being more than 80 kilometres from Nairobi, only a few of the ‘Green Army’ made the trip to the venue to witness their side again make history in Kenyan football.
