Introducing the movement to reform Kenyan clubs

Going back to the early 1980s, matches in the Kenya National Football league were played in packed stadiums. Matches pitting Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards in particular were always played to jam packed stadiums. On match day, this was the main topic of conversation in most urban areas and in many rural areas as well.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, football fans in Kenya have seen the progressive decline of self supporting football teams such as AFC, Gor Mahia, Coast Stars, Eldoret United and Shabana which incidentally happen to be the most popular club teams. And with the decline of these clubs, the fortunes of the national team have plummeted as well.

Kenyan football thrived when community clubs and clubs representing towns were dominant. Because of the high standards among self supporting clubs, the national team had a constant supply of quality players. Kenya thus dominated regional football and distinguished themselves well when playing against teams from across the continent. Many remember with nostalgia the 4th All African games when Kenya played sublime football and came within inches of winning the tournament only to lose to Egypt via a dubious goal.

Nowadays a match pitting these two teams hardly draws any interest except among die hard fans. Matches are played to sparse crowds and the media barely gives in any mention. In fact most fans can hardly identify any of the players on the field.

Even as recently as the 1990s, a match pitting Gor Mahia and AFC leopards was a crowd puller as indicated by the picture on the left.. Contrast this with the picture on the right taken more recently.

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