Hail mighty Gor as you celebrate 50 years!

What you need to know:

  • Gor holds the unique record of being the only team from our neck of the woods to win a continental cup - the Nelson Mandela Cup.

Gor Mahia is 50! Yes, Kenya’s glamour club is celebrating its Golden Jubilee.

It has been half a century of a jolly good run - leaving some teams with bloodied noses, others are seen off feeling miserable like sin while the rest go away very angry like a cat with a boil after tasting the wrath of the “Mighty Mahia”.

When some men gathered in the house of the late flamboyant politician Tom Mboya those many years ago to form K’Ogalo, they might never have been sure that they were creating a lethal machine that would be a thorn in the flesh of many a team for years to come.

A few years back I ran into a man in the scenic Nziu village in Makueni county who was present on this day. Mwanamboka, as he is called, was a domestic help in the Mboya household and he remembers this day like it happened yesterday.

CONTINENTAL GLORY

With a passionate fan base that is the envy of many, Gor holds the unique record of being the only team from our neck of the woods to win a continental cup - the Nelson Mandela Cup. I was there on that Saturday in early December of 1987. It is a feeling you can never forget as long as you are still breathing.

Back to the fans. Proud like an English duchess, it is an article of faith among these fans aka the Green Army that on a good day Gor can beat any team in the world.

Just as it should be. A recent consumer poll found that our team was among the top famous brands in this country.

Suffice to say that it was the only sporting club that featured in this hallowed hall of fame.

Now my appeal to chairman Ambrose Rachier and his team heading Gor Mahia - good sir kindly give us celebrations befitting the 50 years.

I would like to see the players and all the trophies won over the years atop a fire engine doing a lap of honour around the city.

I want to see a tournament bringing together some local and invited teams taking part in an anniversary tournament.

I would like to see a match featuring some of the Gor Mahia greats against their former nemesis from AFC Leopards.

Just to mention a few names, I would like to see a rematch of Mahmoud Abbas taking to the pitch flanked by Mickey Weche and Josphat Murila squaring it off against George Onyango Fundi and Tobias Ocholla.

I want to see a road trip across the 47 counties as Gor plays exhibition matches against local teams.

This, Bwana Chairman, will also have the effect of attracting more fans.

I am alive to the fact that funds are very low. But I am also very sure that a good marketing company would have no trouble looking for the money to give us celebrations which we will narrate to our children’s children.

Let’s all raise our glasses and shout: Hail Mighty Mahia!