How the mighty have fallen! Gor fans no longer rule the streets
Gor Mahia fans celebrate in the streets of Nairobi after defeating Bidco United 1-0 in their FKF Premier League match at Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
What you need to know:
- The throbbing isukuti beats and the singing was very enticing and I almost joined in but for the fact that I was proudly wearing my K’Ogalo jersey
- The venerated officials have raised nary a voice as the sales continue, club losing revenue and things go on as usual
On the evening of last Sunday I was on Mombasa Road heading home from Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani where Gor Mahia had fried Kariobangi Sharks to a 2-0 win in a Football Kenya Federation Premier League encounter.
Just after the railways, I ran into an exuberant and boisterous crowd of AFC Leopards fans singing and dancing themselves lame. The throbbing isukuti beats and the singing was very enticing and I almost joined in but for the fact that I was proudly wearing my K’Ogalo jersey.
How the mighty have fallen! The scene transported me back in time to a decade ago when members of the Green Army (as we Gor Mahia fans proudly call ourselves) ruled the streets on match day. It never mattered where the game was played.
Just like the Americans say of their numero uno plane that carries their Commander-in-Chief that whenever Air Force One lands that place becomes American territory, it never mattered whether in the heart of our bitter rivals Ingwe’s Kakamega hometown or Mombasa, we took over the town.
“Gor biro…yawne yo” (Gor is coming…give way) was a war cry easy on the tongues of Kenyans all across the country from the northern borderlands of Turkana and Mandera in the north to Vanga on the southern reaches of the country. And from Garissa in the east to Lwakhakha to the west.
Not anymore. Nowadays Gor Mahia win matches and the fans leave the stadium without even a whimper.
“An army marches on its stomach,” the great French military strategist Napoleon Bonaparte famously told us meaning that for any army to win battles, it must be well fed.
This is the charge I am laying at the doorstep of those in charge at Gor Mahia, for the members of the Green Army to regain their verve and swag, give us back the Gor Mahia we used to know.
I have heard it claimed that many of the top officials of the club are of the view that they are running a big club, much bigger than the fans and that the latter will have no option but return to the terraces to cheer their team.
If this is indeed true then I will term it misplaced arrogance from those supposed to lead our club. There is a picture I usually see on social media of a bunch of monkeys all over a car— from the driver’s seat, to passengers’ seat and any other place available. It is accompanied with the caption; “The monkeys took over the car, now they can’t drive.”
While calling the club officials monkeys would be outright disrespectful, but there is a striking similarity between the stranded monkeys with their car and some of our officials with our club. They fought tooth and nail to get into positions of leadership and now that they are there, they have nothing to show for it.
Case in point. Last week I ranted here how the club is on the verge of losing its team bus (if it has not been sold already) to auctioneers effecting a court order in favour of a former player claiming dues from Gor Mahia.
It is saddening that nobody has bothered to tell us what is going on. Then there is the issue of opaque sales of replica jerseys sales of which is mired in deep secret. The venerated officials have raised nary a voice as the sales continue, club losing revenue and things go on as usual.
At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, I religiously attend all our matches, especially those played in Nairobi and what I hear from the fans is that they are not coming back to the stadium if the management does not change its ways.
