AFC Leopards skipper Eugene Mukangula is optimistic the new season will offer the club a perfect opportunity to end their 20-year Kenyan Premier League drought.
Despite boasting the rights as Kenya's oldest top-tier club, the 13-time Kenyan Premier League champions celebrated their last top-flight title in 1998 and their performances have been uninspiring in recent years.
Questions now abound if Leopards possess the talons to claw their opponents and the magic wand to turn things around in the wake of a far-reaching transfer embargo imposed by the world football governing body, Fifa which has limited their capacity to charge for the title.
However, Mukangala reckons that the current squad has gelled into maturity and it's only a matter of time before they break their jinx.
“The academy players have shown they have the potential to clinch the title after helping us to a fourth-place finish in the last season and clinching the inaugural Elijah Lidonde Memorial Cup a week ago,” Mukangula said.
Mukangula said he experienced difficulties motivating his teammates, owing to the numerous challenges they faced throughout the season.
“As you are already aware, Kenyan clubs experienced financial constraints occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic and the players found themselves between a rock and a hard place.”
“It wasn't easy trying to inspire a team that had players who would sometimes report to training on hungry stomachs and had been locked out of their homes after failing to pay house rent,” Mukangula said.
Mukangula believes the Sh60 million sponsorship deal the club has secured with Spotika will ease off the incessant financial headache they have endured in recent times.
His remarks are in sync with those of assistant coach, Tom Juma, who said the academy players promoted to the senior team last season have eventually come of age.
Juma spoke a day after the 13-time Kenyan Premier League (KPL) champions overcame stiff competition to clinch the inaugural Elijah Lidonde Memorial Cup.
The two-day pre-season tournament that concluded at the Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega county, brought together four local sides including AFC Leopards, Kakamega Homeboyz, Nzoia Sugar and Vihiga Bullets.
Leopards edged top-flight rivals Nzoia Sugar 8-7 on post-match penalties to lay claim to the trophy and the accompanying Sh1 million prize money.
They survived a scare to beat National Super League side Vihiga Bullets 5-3 on their way to the finals.
“We have quite a good number of young players who have matured with time right from the very day we absorbed them from the youth team. Soon they will be able to compete for titles, perhaps, even win the league next season,” Juma said.
Juma extolled head coach Patrick Aussems for rolling out a comprehensive development plan, which he says has created a conduit for youth team players to blossom through the ranks.
“If you examine our current crop of players, you'll realize that 90 percent of them evolved from the youth team. We have agreed as a team to take that route going forward.”
