How team with quirky goal celebrations lifted youth from crime to world-beaters

The stadium at Kasarani had never been so full. Over 60,000 fans chanting and cheering Kariobangi Sharks on. A pressure cooker for Everton FC, who brought many of their big names from the English Premier League.

But the visitors didn't buckle. They gave as good as they got. It ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, and so on it went to the lottery of penalties.

Everton players were visibly tense as they took their spot-kicks. But for Sharks, the stage was set for comic relief. One scorer staggered to the ground like he'd been shot. Another pulled a hamstring, or so it seemed until he pranced away with lofty swings of the arms and legs. Much to their fans' delight, Sharks won 4-3.

They deserved their moment in the sun. They had come from far. Kariobangi Sharks was not conceived with competitive football in mind. It was meant to fight crime by keeping the youth occupied.

Eighteen years down the line, the objective has shifted to claiming the Kenyan Premier League and rubbing shoulders with the best in the CAF Champions League, the highest football tournament in the continent at club level.

Just like its founder Nick Mwendwa, the club, which won the international friendly last Sunday, has grown from a humble, grassroots level to join the elite. 

Mwendwa, the Football Kenya Federation president, moulded the outfit from a group of rookies who used to train at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Kariobangi North and named it Kariobangi Sportive.

The federation boss developed interest from their style of play and bought them a football, which attracted more players and helped form a team within a short time.

Mwendwa teamed up with Robert Maoga, now the club chairman, to sponsor the club with footballs and boots, with the aim of attracting more idle but talented youths to the game.

The duo poached for young players who could not play in the big clubs in the area, and after three years of existence, they rebaptised the team Kariobangi Sharks.

'BEGAN AS A JOKE'

Maoga likens the starting of the team to a joke, and credits their incredible rise to patience. In the early years of its existence, he said, players used to earn a non-guaranteed Sh500 a month and Sh100 for training each week.

"The club began as a joke 18 years ago in the streets of Kariobangi North," he said.

"Mwendwa started it out of nothing. He watched kids play in Kariobangi and was impressed with their skill, and this prompted him to begin supporting them. The biggest aim was to fight crime by keeping the youth busy in football."

Maoga teamed up with him and they pooled resources, which catered for playing kit and footballs.

"We went for players who could not fit in the big teams in that area and registered the club after three years," the administrator said.

Rising through the ranks until promotion to the Kenyan Premier League without a shirt sponsor was not a joke, though, as the two had to shoulder all the financial needs of the team.

Through the years, the club has grown to have Under-13, 15, 17 and 20 teams —which act as feeders to the senior team — earning plaudits for their sound organisation.

The club structure has a chief executive officer, finance manager, marketing manager, accountant and a media department, which streams their matches live on their official social media pages.

Sharks, who are looking for a logistics manager, have a youthful coach, William Muluya, and recently offered former AFC Leopards midfielder Edward Seda the opportunity to work as Muluya's assistant after retiring from active play due to a knee injury.

TRIUMPH AGAINST ODDS

It is after registration and coming of age in the estate football that Sharks enrolled in the Nairobi City Council League. The start was turbulent.

The administrator says they were forced to register 18 players for the league — six less than the required number — which they did two days to the deadline. However, the club gained a winning touch and was promoted to Division II, which was the lowest national football tier.

In 2011, the club was promoted to the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) Nationwide League, just before the unified elections. They subsequently played in the unified Division I League, then joined the newly formed National Super League in 2013.

"We struggled at the start but began to achieve positive results, thanks to the boys for staying together for long," Maoga said.

"We rose to the Division I league and pushed to the NSL. It was not easy as at some times we dished out walkovers, especially in away matches, due to lack of facilitation and some boys giving up."

In the final match of the 2015-16 National Super League (NSL) season, Sharks beat Nzoia United to secure the team’s promotion to the KPL. A lone goal from Patillah Omotto, a Sharks' homegrown player and the then captain, guaranteed Kariobangi Sharks a berth in the 2017 Kenya Premier League.

In 2017, the team reached the SportPesa Shield Cup final, where they succumbed 2-0 to AFC Leopards, but they had an impressive second runners-up finish in the league.

The then league newcomers produced the top scorer Masoud Juma, who netted 17 goals, while their first choice goalkeeper John Oyemba was voted the Sports Journalist Association of Kenya (SJAK) goalkeeper of the year, thanks to his 16 clean sheets. The same year, coach Muluya emerged the best coach.

"We finally gained promotion to the top flight after being frustrated for long during Sam Nyamweya's era, where the promotion policies were not clear," Maoga said.

"We managed to upset the formbook in our maiden season by virtue of the boys sticking together for long, and we will always endeavour to have a squad which understands each other."

Last year, the team won the Shield Cup and the rights to represent the country in the Confederation Cup final, again beating Sofapaka FC 3-2 in the finals.

In the same year, Sharks produced the league’s Most Valuable Player in Erick Kapaito. The former FC Talanta striker won the League Top Scorer gong thanks to his 16 goals and the New Player of the Year as well as finishing second in the league Fair Play Award of the season, as he was never booked the entire season.

The team finished sixth in the league. In their third season, Sharks lost to Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko in the Confederations Cup but finished ninth in the league with 45 points, as well as coming second in the Shield Cup.

PUSHED TO THE BRINK

Lack of a title sponsor to bankroll the club is the biggest challenge the club has been battling. Maoga says they have been forced to run the outfit from their pockets until they were registered as a private company recently.

He also points to lack of high-class facilities to help them execute their quick passing football, and lack of development programmes in the league.

Unending criticism due to their association with Mwendwa has affected players, most of whom Maoga says have been frightened and lost confidence at some point.

"The challenges we have faced are countless, but it's worth noting that we have made progress within a short time. It's expensive to run a football club, and we have done that all the time from our pockets," he said.

"At some point, we mulled dissolving the club, but we soldiered on and we will keep on supporting the club till we get an alternative source of funds.

"Sometimes we delay salaries but we always ensure we pay on time when money is available. At Sharks, we believe in playing modern football, and when we have to play in some pitches,  it becomes a challenge to implement it.

"We have lost players to injuries in those bumpy pitches and this can be blamed on the standard of the league. If we can raise the standards, then it will be marketable and we will be able to make money out of it."

Club captain Erick Juma, who joined the club at the age of 11, agrees. Juma is among three senior players who began their careers and have committed their allegiance to the club to date. The others are Omotto, who doubles up as the assistant captain, and Geoffrey Shiveka.

"Money is the problem in Kenyan football, but looking at where we began, I cannot complain a lot. As players, it's been tough to play on some rough pitches in the country, and we are sometimes criticised for no reason," Juma said.

The right-back, who has been privileged to win two titles, urges young, upcoming players to be patient and disciplined.

"I have enjoyed the fruits of life through football. At some point, I nearly gave up, especially when money was not coming forth, but I held on," he said.

"We began as a unit but some got into crime and were nabbed and are currently serving lengthy jail terms. Others were killed long ago. I can advise young players to be disciplined and focus on developing their career."

FUTURE PLANS 

Commercialising the club and emulating Gor Mahia's success top Maoga's list. The club is keen to run its operations as a listed company and win the league consistently and, hence, graduate to competing in the continent.

The outfit also harbours a dream of solely shipping their priced stars to England rather than selling locally or regionally. Through partnering with high schools, the club aims to launch a national tournament each year with the aim of signing new players in their youth teams and later guiding them to the national youth teams.

Sharks also aims to create a football network globally, which will expose their players to all sorts of environments when still young, as well as offering coaching internships to young and upcoming coaches, an idea they learnt from Everton.

"We want to go the commercial way and reign supreme in the league. We are not interested in the Confederations Cup, as our eyes are on the Champions League," Maoga said.

"From our youth structures, we want to develop our players to be ready for the European market when they are young. We are working to ensure we do not lose players locally but sell to lower tiers in France and Spain and later make their way to England."

Edited by Tom Jalio