Make no mistake, Gor will rise and rule the scene again
David Simiyu (right) of KCB vies for the ball with Frank Odhiambo of Gor Mahia during their Football Kenya Federation Premier League match at Thika stadium on August 8, 2021
What you need to know:
- I remember K'Ogalo greats Allan Thigo, Nicodemus Arudhi and even more recently Tom Okaya "Kas Kas"....George Odhiambo "Blackberry", Dan Sserunkuma....name them.
- I am proud I have been alive to watch generations of Gor Mahia players who have brought glory to this club.
I am a man who never bows down to failure.
My late father, Mr Dan (as I always called him) taught me that failure has no friends. So this great man from Nyakach in Kisumu County ensured I got the best education from primary through to university.
Growing up, he also told me the epitome of success in football in Kenya is Gor Mahia and that is how I became a green army.
Supporting Gor Mahia is a lifestyle, I miss the Sunday afternoons when we (the Green Army) would congregate at the City Stadium, the home of K'Ogalo to cheer our team. Sad the stadium has been run down.
I remember K'Ogalo greats Allan Thigo, Nicodemus Arudhi and even more recently Tom Okaya "Kas Kas"....George Odhiambo "Blackberry", Dan Sserunkuma....name them.
I am proud I have been alive to watch generations of Gor Mahia players who have brought glory to this club.
Which brings me to my point of discussion today - can the Gor Mahia players of today match up to the great stars who have won 19 league title - a success unmatched my our noisy neighbours AFC Leopards who are not sure when they last won the league title?
I dare say here that the Gor Mahia playing unit as currently constituted is a pale shadow of what we have watched over the years. In the current transfer window, for obvious reasons Gor Mahia has not been bullish as we have been previously where every signing was met with fear and awe from our opponents.
I want to believe that the club has done some good business in the window, but looking into the profiles of the players we have signed, I have reasons to be worried.
But, I remember the year 1985 when we had greenhorns in our squad after most of the key players had been suspended from “the Cairo war” in our game against Zamalek in 1984, but the likes of James Goro Oronge, Hesborn Omollo and William Obwaka emerged to teach a star-studded AFC Leopards some footballing lesson in Khartoum.
Which is why I am telling those who doubt that the current squad is weak to be optimistic. The spirits of Gor Mahia are strong.
