YEAR 2017: When Sofapaka sprung back to life

When the curtains came down on the 2016 Kenyan Premier League season, 2009 champions Sofapaka were among the club’s whose future in the top flight was so uncertain.

It took what then caretaker coach and former club’s skipper John Baraza termed as “God’s hand,” to survive the chop to the National Super League, retaining their KPL status in their last match of the season–a 5-1 mauling of Thika United.

“It had reached a point everyone gave up on us. There was no money, and motivating players also became difficult.

“As a player in the club during my time I never experienced such a difficult time, but there was that feeling within me all was not lost. It is only God who knows how we made it,” Baraza, four-time Kenyan Premier League Golden Boot winner, who masterminded the survival, said.

It was an odyssey Batoto ba Mungu’s family would never wish to see again. Baraza, managed an inexperienced team after his then boss, David Ouma, opted to concentrate on his duties at the national women football team, Harambee Starlets, where he was the head coach

Their poor run in 2016, which culminated in cheating the relegation axe on the final day made many lose hope in them, and it was no brainer that many pundits had no iota of faith in their ability to reinvigorate their tank and possibly challenge for the title in 2017.

But the dismal run in 2017 was perhaps a reawakening for a club that made history in its debut season when it claimed the coveted gong.

So out went 2016, and in came to the highly respected Ugandan coach Sam Ssimbwa, to spearhead the turnaround.

Ssimbwa’s arrival coincided with the coming on board of a local gaming firm as shirt-sponsors, and, it perhaps contributed to what would be a turnaround in the year 2017.

At the end of it all, a team which barely escaped the axe in 2016, was at one-point challenging for the 2017 Kenyan Premier League title, finishing second on the KPL log with a whopping 55 points. Mighty it was, improving with a positive index of 29 points, from 26 to 55, and from number 14 to second, in comparison to last year.

In fact, had it not been for the embarrassing dominance of Gor Mahia, the Batoto Ba Mungu would have close to the title challenge

“Definitely there was the money problem. When I came we made several changes bringing experience and talent in the team.

“Sponsorship is a major challenge with some of our clubs in this region. Without money, you cannot keep good players, and those who remain are not motivated. That’s how a very good team was almost relegated, now you can see where you are,” Ssimbwa told Citizen Digital midway through the campaign.

Besides their fairytale run, Sofapaka also produced one of the finest strikers in the season, Ugandan Umaru Kasumba, who joined the outfit in the June transfer window and eventually finished the campaign among the top scorers; netting 12 goals despite the injury setback he suffered in the season’s homestretch.

At some stage, Ssimbwa believed his charges were capable of lifting the KPL trophy that champions Gor later won with four matches to spare.

“I play to win, and I’m still in the title race. Of course, Gor appears to be in a better position considering the quality of players they have, but we will challenge for it to the end.”

That is the confidence that former Uganda’s Sports Club Villa tactician wants to carry into the 2018 season, targeting to topple Gor from KPL’s reign.