Football is more than just a sport; it is an art, a language and to some extent a war in which every match is a battle. The world governing body FIFA tries to maintain sanity in a sport that generates emotions all over the world. Football was invented in England, thanks to colonization it spread all over the world and the English must be wondering what happened to ‘their’ game.
There are many dynamics in football in every country and culture. Kenyan football clubs took a tribal dimension while the Tanzanian clubs went the social class way. Simba is a club for the middle class while Yanga is for the working class. The community clubs in Kenya have had a tribal following; Gor is mainly supported by Luos while AFC Leopards by the Luhyas. The other clubs in KPL are institutional, formed by employees and sponsored by a corporate body.
In 2009, an unknown club called Sofapaka was promoted to the KPL. It had metamorphosed from a men’s ministry pass time at M.A.O.S church into a professional outfit in five years. They spent a year each in the Nationwide two and Nationwide leagues before the promotion. In their first year in the league, the club was fully sponsored by business man Elly Kalekwa and they clinched the title- a world record.
Then the old teams woke up, they were shocked by the new kids on the block. K’ogallo and AFC fans began to cheer Sofapaka’s opponents in the 2010 campaign where they finished fourth. Mathare United came into the league with a bang but took time to win it while ‘watoto wa mungu’ as they are known won it in their maiden appearence.
I have many reasons to believe that we have not seen the best of Sofapaka yet. While arguing a case in court, a lawyer will quote authorities; these are related cases whose judgments give weight to his arguments. I have my authorities as well.
Two English men Herbert Kilpin a lace maker and Alfred Edwards from Nottingham found themselves in Milan, Italy towards the end of nineteenth century. Being foreigners, they must have been bored after work due to limited social ties. They formed AC Milan in 1899, after a row the Italians broke away to form Internazionale of Milan in 1908. The rest as they say is history, the club has won eighteen officially recognized FIFA and UEFA titles. It is now owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
In the Catalan province of Spain, a twenty year old business man from Winterthur Switzerland arrived in Barcelona in 1898 and formed FC Barcelona in 1899. Hans ‘Joan’ Gamper had formed FC Zurich just before he left his native country. Barcelona has morphed into one of the biggest clubs in Spain and just like AC Milan, it was founded by a foreigner.
Argentinean club Boca Juniours is known as the club that ushered Diego Maradona into the world of football. In April 1905, five Italian boys met in one of the boy’s home to form a club. The father to the boy was not happy and he threw the boys out. They went to a nearby house called Plaza Solís to continue with the project and Boca Juniours was founded.
These are just a few examples of football clubs started by foreigners in their adopted countries. I believe it is not only in football, foreigners tend succeed where the natives fail. I believe there are other foreigners who took charge of many clubs and raised their profile even if they were not the founders.
Football elicits great passion, especially among the working class who form the majority of any society. This attracts influence from the political class who are in pursuit of votes. A local administrator will definitely have political leanings. This will work for some time until he falls out of favour with his allies or they are thrown out of power. I talked to Elly Kalekwa a few years ago and he was very categorical that his politics is football. Foreigners will avoid getting directly involved in politics hence concentrate more on their private business.
Kenyan clubs are more inclined to tribal and regional loyalty. AFC Leoprads has signed most players from the Luhya community except Congolese import Jonas Nahimana and Ugandan Jimmy Bagaye. Gor Mahia has tried to move away from this trend and has several players who are not from Luo Nyanza. Sofapaka having a Congolese owner has a few refugees but the bulk of Kenyan contingent is a mixture of many tribes. This is another factor that will endear more people to ‘watoto wa mungu’ in the near future.
The foreign touch has spiced many leagues in the world. The great Pele came out retirement to play for New York Cosmos and American Soccer (not football) grew by leaps. Arsene Wenger brought the French finesse into the English Premier League. The Dutch invasion of Barcelona led by Rinus Michels and later Johan Cryuf transformed football in Spain. The Congolese invasion of KPL may just trigger a transformation in our football.
The entire France contingent that won the World Cup in 1998 were descendants of immigrants. Already we have Bob Mugalia in the national team, who knows who will be next. If we embrace more foreigners we are bound to see growth in the quality of our football.
History repeats itself, so it is prudent to learn from it so as to repeat the good and shun the wrong aspects of it. The current supporters of the clubs I have mentioned above may not know the foreign hands that shaped them. Like mercenaries, these men made the best of their love for the beautiful game in a simple way and many people are benefiting today. Sofapaka may be a Kenyan club owned by a Congolese businessman today, but I see a trailblazer in many fronts. Time will tell.
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