Hull City’s KCOM Stadium leaves Kenyan players in awe

IN KINGSTON UPON HULL, UK

From the dugout positioned high above long neat rows of black seats inside the bowl-shaped KCOM Stadium, Home of English Premier League side Hull City in East Yorkshire County in Kingston upon Hull, the view is breathtaking.

The 25,400-seater multi-purpose facility has been in existence for only 15 years, and its tenants are Hull City Tigers football club and Hull FC rugby team.

Around the stadium are banners and monikers of Hull City’s shirt sponsors SportPesa and, in anticipation of Monday’s friendly against Kenya’s SportPesa All Stars, names of the 18 visiting players have been projected beautifully on the advertisements board in the stadium.

Unlike Kenya’s stadiums which are in use day and night, sometimes by multiple groups at a time, use of facilities at KCOM Stadium is restricted. In fact, even the visiting players are not allowed to feel the inviting lush green grass on the pitch until on the eve of their encounter with Hull City’s select team. 

Not that they are missing out on much. SportPesa All Stars have been training at the Bishop Burton Academy and at the University of Hull.

Since they arrived here, I counted seven full-size football pitches, each with playing surfaces that match those at Kasarani Stadium.

Here, college students enjoy excellent facilities as opposed to Kenyan players who play in worse conditions in Kenya’s top league.

“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. There is so much we can do to improve our situation back at home,” last season’s top scorer in the Kenyan Premier League John Makwatta said as he took pictures of himself from outside the pitch, careful not to upset the stadium’s security guide.

After a media response training (with renowned commentator John Helm) at the University of Hull on Friday, the players were taken into the press conference box where a mock interview session was held for them by the Hull City media team as a way of testing their preparedness for Monday’s game.

Teenage sensation Joshua Otieno, a student at Kakamega High School, had his visa challenges sorted out but was not allowed to travel without a guardian. He was expected to leave the country Saturday evening with team manager Neville Pudo and should join the team in Kingston upon Hull Sunday morning.  

Monday’s game will be played from 10pm at the KCOM Stadium, with the return match scheduled for July at Kasarani.