Karuturi ‘Old Trafford’ stadium deep under water

The famous Karuturi stadium has literally become a small lake.

One now needs a boat to access to get to where the famous pitch lies, metres deep under water.

Nearly half of the pitch is covered in waist-length water that forms part of the expansive Lake Naivasha, with levels rising alarmingly because of the current heavy rains pounding the area.

When Nation Sport visited the stadium on Wednesday, there was understandably no activity taking place in the way of sports.

“This is the current state of the venue and things are likely to get worse,” said ex-Gor Mahia official and ardent football fan David Kilo.

Kilo had little difficulties powering his motorboat to the middle of the stadium with the water levels so high.

According to environmental experts, the levels have reached 1890.67 metres above sea level (masl).

“As the rain continues, the lake levels shall rise to 1,891 masl and eventually to 1,892.8 masl which is the highest water mark recorded since the 1960s,” said Lake Naivasha Water Resources Users Association (LANAWRUA) chairman, Enock Senteu Kiminta.

Karuturi stadium was fondly referred to as the “Old Trafford” due to the neat playing surface that saw teams troop to the lakeside town of Naivasha to honour matches.

While enjoying topflight football, home team Sher Agencies later Karuturi Sports hosted all their matches at the venue and took advantage of the even ground to torment visiting teams, presumably used to hard and bumpy surfaces at their home venues.

Premier league outfits known for playing crisp football like Mathare United and Kariobangi Sharks among others enjoyed displaying their prowess on the pitch with individual players showing flair.

Virtually all the big name players one the local scene have plied their trade in the pitch, the likes of Arnold Origi and the legendary Harambee Stars goal scoring defender, Francis Odour who popped from the back to net crucial headers.

Then there was Karuturi Sport Club faithful Jacob Omondi who scored for fun greatly aided by the level playing pitch. Goals were never a premium here.

Fans who came to enjoy the matches christened the stadium “Old Trafford” in appreciation of its sleek surface.

Among the fans who never missed a match were Amos Gatungi who was passionate about the beautiful game.

“Regardless of the team playing, it was entertainment galore and attending a match here was among the must-do outing for many of us on a weekend,” said the football fan.

Kilo was full of praise of matches played at the Karuturi stadium and religiously attended them.

He organised an international friendly match pitting the then Kenya’s Confederation Cup representative Gor Mahia against visiting Zimbabwean team Caps United. K’Ogalo won 2-0.

National Super league side Nairobi Stima used to host their matches at Karuturi stadium twice coming close to securing promotion to the Premier League.

The stadium was built in 2001.