Len Julians: The Arsenal star who coached Gor Mahia
Story by Muroro-Pacho
Milimani-Strathmore
Len Julians is fondly remembered by Gor Mahia fans as perhaps the greatest coach ever to coach Gor Mahia football club. He coached the club to 3 successive league titles from 1983 to 1985 and again in 1991. He is also credited with grooming what is perhaps the greatest generation of players ever to play for any club in Kenya. Players like Charles Otieno whom Julians nicknamed “the engine”, Abbas Magongo, John Okello “Zangi” , Abdallah Shebe, Hesborn Omollo, Sammy Onyango and many others all came of age and became legends under coach Julians.
Leonard Bruce Julians was born in Tottenham London on 19th June 1933. His first club was Leyton Orient whom he joined as a centre forward in 1955. After three years at Leyton Orient and a stellar record, Julians was spotted by Arsenal scouts who convinced him to join the gunners in 1958. Upon joining Arsenal, he scored on his debut, in a match against Luton Town. Playing as a centre forward for Arsenal , Julians scored 10 goals in 24 starts between 1958 and 1960. It was a superb scoring record which is why he was remembered fondly by many Arsenal fans of the time. Many of his goals were superb well taken strikes with good technique. Despite playing as a centre forward, Julians was also an excellent passer and set up several goals for his team-mates. As such he also occasionally operated as a winger or an attacking midfielder. He was versatile. However at the time, Arsenal had a galaxy of strikers and competition was tough. So at the end of the 1960 season, Julians joined another top tier team, Nottingham Foreast. At Nottingham Foreast, Julians stayed for 4 season, making 125 appearances and scoring an incredible 58 goals. An excellent strike rate for someone who played several positions.
Julians is seen here playing for Millwall
After leaving Nottingham Foreast, Julians joined Millwall who at the time were playing in the English lower tiers. In his first season there, Julians scored 16 total goals including a memorable hat-trick against Halifax. At Millwall, Julians scored a total of 22 goals in 45 appearances between 1964 and 1966, helping them gain back to back promotions. During his stay at Millwall, the team set a record of playing 59 home games without loosing. Julians played a key role in setting that record including scoring the equalizing goal when the record was set. He stayed on at Millwall until 1968. He is rememebered as one of the greatest players ever to play for Millwall. Upon leaving Millwall, Julians now in the twilight of his playing career, went to play in the fledgling North American Soccer league where he was player-coach for the Detroit Cougars. Injuries brought his playing career to an end and he barely played for the Cougars. Upon his retirement, the 35 year old Julians was immediately appointed as coach of the Cougars.
Julians during his Detroit Cougars days
The year 1983 started on a disastrous note for Gor Mahia. The club looked set to pick up where they left off after the 1982 season which was perhaps the most disastrous in the clubs history until that point. The 1983 season started with the CECAFA club cup that was held in January of 1983. Kogalo made an unceremonious exit when they lost the first two games to rivals AFC Leopards and to Uganda’s SC Villa. After the tournament, a Ugandan official admitted having succesfully bribed some Gor Mahia players. Then came the 1983 cup winners cup in which Gor Mahia inexplicably lost 0-3 at home to Vital O of Burundi after having won the 1st leg away 2-1 in Bujumbura. In the Kenya National Football League, Gor Mahia started with a 1-1 Draw against Nzoia, a 0-1 loss to Motcom of Kakamega and a 1-3 loss to Kenya Breweries. Fans were already furious at the club officials for the unceremonius losses at continental level had finally had enough. They demanded changes. Many wanted chairman Zack Mbori out. Mbori and club patron Joab Omino under pressure, decided to look abroad for a coach. In came Len Julians to take over from Jerry Imbo and his assistant Peter Ouma who seemed overwhelmed by the situation.
Immediately upon Julians arrival, Gor Mahia who had not won a single league game, bounced back on their visit to Mombasa beating Kenatco and Cargo (now known as Bandari) 1-0 and 3-1 respectively. Midway through the 1983 season, Gor Mahia were in second place, only a point behind military side Scarlet. Midway through the season, Gor Mahia beat English premier league side, Norwich city 4-2 in a friendly match. With two games left before the end of the league, Gor Mahia had clinched the league with a memorable 1-0 over rivals AFC Leopards. Commenting after the game, coach Julians said “I feel so good that the young boys have done so well in the short period I have been with them”. They finished the league having scored 80 goals in 38 games.
Gor Mahia under Julians were playing brilliant champaign football. Most importantly, Julians had turned a group of young inexperienced players into superb players. The likes of Charles Otieno, John Okello “Zangi” who joined from Kisumu Police, Hezborn Omollo who joined from Baba Dogo FC and Abdallah Shebe. All had joined Kogalo from obscure lower division teams and Julians had turned them into international calibre players. The youthful Sammy Onyango became one of the most complete players ever to play in Kenya. Indeed the one aspect that Julians is legendary for was his ability to mould talented players into first class performers. Perhaps it was due to the fact that during his playing days, Julians played in a variety of positions which made him perfectly suited to coaching several different positions. Julians also had a fierce temper and was often seen giving players the “hair dryer” treatment from the bench.
Hezbron Omollo who had joined from a Nairobi provincial side known as Baba Dogo., immediately became a premier goal scorer. In his first season in the league, Omollo finished second in the league in scoring with 20 goals. He had developed a knack for popping up in the right place at the right time to finish off moves by team-mates like Zangi, Engine, Jogoo but especially Shebe with whom Omollo had developed a telepathic understanding. Charles Otieno was nicknamed “the engine” by Julians because according to Julians, it was he who literally functioned as a power supply for the team. Zangi was only 18 but had the confidence of a veteran. He had a combination of speed, grace and directness that sent Kogalo fans into raptures. Shebe had brilliant ball control and an innate ability to create chances by drawing the defence and releasing team-mates in scoring position. Gideon Hamisi playing as an attacking midfielder, became lethal in front of goal, scoring 12 league goals that year. Veteran AFC defender , Josephat Murila recently indicated that the most difficult players to mark were Gideon Hamisi and Sammy Onyango because they could score goals from impossible situations.
Come 1984, Gor Mahia lost Charles Otieno to Kenya Breweries but signed George Onyango “Fundi” from Cargo via Lake Warriors. Also joining the team was Malindi based Abbas Khamis Magongo who had defected from Tanzania earlier on. Whereas Magongo was a decent player in the Tanzanian league, under Julians he became a brilliant midfield operator with the ability to single handedly dominate and control the game. He may well be the best midfielder Kenya has ever produced although some will argue for Thigo. Fundi became a visionary playmaker with a knack for scoring crucial goals. Hezborn Omollo finished as the league leading scorer in 1984 with 23 goals. Gor Mahia scored an incredible 86 goals in 34 matches. That was way ahead of second placed AFC who scored 73 goals. In the last day of the league, they beat Lake Warriors 2-0 to clinch the title. Since its formation, Gor Mahia had never won the league twice in a row. After the match Julians was carried shoulder high by fans as the rest of the players took a lap of honour.
In 1985, Gor Mahia had built such depth that even with the suspension of 6 key players, they were able to win the CECAFA cup held in Sudan. New players like Swaleh Ochieng, William Obwaka, Tirus Omondi and George Odembo “Nyangi” were also become classy players thanks to Julians tutelage. Shebe became good enough that in a friendly match against visiting Swiss side Schaffhausen, he was able to earn a trials. He thus became the first Kenyan to play in a top European league. Gor Mahia won the league for the 3rd time in a row with a 5-1 win over Kisumu Hotstars and were winning in style. Julians then left Gor Mahia and headed back for another coaching stint in the United states. By the time he left, he had moulded at least a dozen players who became stalwarts for the national team and helped Gor Mahia to superlative performances in the African cup competitions between 1987 and 1989. When Kenya reachced the All Africa games finals in 1987 and qualified for the 1988 Africa nations cup, nearly half the players were Gor Mahia players and Len Julians products. Players like David Ochieng, Tirus Omondi, Austin Oduor, Charles Otieno, Abbas Magongo, George Onyango “Fundi’, George Nyangi and Sammy Onyango.
Julians was to return again in 1991 much to the elation and excitement of Gor Mahia fans. He led the team to win the national league. Tom Odhiambo and Jared Ochieng Achieng formed a forwardline combination reminiscent of Shebe and Omollo in 1984. Felix Otieno’s inspirational midfield play reminded people of George Onyango fundi while Allan Odhiambo was a mix of Charles Otieno’s industriousness and Isaiah Omondi’s enforcer mentality. This time however, Julians stint at Gor Mahia lasted only one year. He left Gor Mahia at the end of 1991. In truth, the clubs precarious financial position meant they could not afford Julians. It is not known where his coaching career took him after the 1991 season.
Sadly Julians passed away on December 17 1993 in Southend England. The entire Gor Mahia fraterneity mourned his passing. Condoleneces were sent by then Club Chairman Joseph Ogode, patron Joab Omino and by former players and officials. At the time of his death, Julians owned a car repair garage in Meopham with former team-mate Bryan Snowden with whom he played at Millwall. Meopham is a village that is 40 kilometres southeast of London.
I remeber this with nostalgia.This is what we and other like minded Kogalo fans have been talking about.
The writer has summarised it all “Len had the ability to mould talented players into first class perfoemers”.Incidentally this what we lack in ZD and I hope someone is reading this!
Len left GM at the end of 1991 season beacause the club could not afford him.True,we can now afford another Len,the office should now proceed and hire one,the ealier the better.
Occampo what do you say?
Thanks Pacho for invoking such memories. Kogalo for life. Key messages: 1.Great coaches have players’ respect. 2. Great coaches mould players (Zico destroys players careers). Look at how long Gor survived without Len Julians! He left behind a wealth of talent and well trained professionals. He identified players even from lower leagues and moulded them into future success stories. 3. It’s not too late, Gor can unearth another Len Julians now and save our great team. Gor has more money now to pay a good coach who will be obligated to deliver. He has to be a foreign coach with no allegiance to anybody, no ‘mtaa’ debts to pay.
Thanks Pacho for invoking such memories. Kogalo for life. Key messages: 1.Great coaches have players’ respect. 2. Great coaches mould players (Zico destroys players careers). Look at how long Gor survived without Len Julians! He left behind a wealth of talent and well trained professionals. He identified players even from lower leagues and moulded them into future success stories. 3. It’s not too late, Gor can unearth another Len Julians now and save our great team. Gor has more money now to pay a good coach who will be obligated to deliver. He has to be a foreign coach with no allegiance to anybody, no ‘mtaa’ debts to pay.
Thanks PACHO for the timely reference story of our ever beloved coach Len Julian.
We glorify the Past, Present & future Kogalo with an awe-inspiring experience and that is what our legend and current nick-named soccer club stood for. NOTHING OTHER THAN “To be feared and Respected with dignity”.
And so goes the song:
“GOR BIRO YAWNE YO”
@Sam Dola and @Pod antie you have truly extracted the “theme” behind the story and i beg to agree 100%.
I will not comment on the issue’s you have raised at the moment because i have re-focused my mind and energy over to our match againist ULINZI on saturday.
LETS MEET AT OUR USUAL VENUE. “JEVANJEE GARDEN” @ 8.30 AM.
Yes we need coach Julian..i quote..“I feel so good that the young boys have done so well in the short period I have been with them”. They finished the league having scored 80 goals in 38 games.
80 goals in 38 games…that’s should be Gor Mahia…not a mere 1 goal per game.
Hope people are seeing where we should be…we should never be satisfied with just avererage perfomance…WE MUST ALWAYS BE UP THERE….hope the Sofaset people can now see read and see where Gor should be!
@Pundit, Just forget about the “SOFA-SET” branch guy who is a “SEE-NOTHING”, HEAR-NOTHING” & “SAY-NOTHING “.
His passion for GOR MAHIA is purely sycophancy of the highest order. This fans with point reference and as such the best is ignore their “SIASA BARIDI”
I beg to oppose every thing must be done slowly but surely.I hope you dont want a situation where the management goes and picks a tourist at the coast claiming that he isa foreign coach.my friends LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP!!!
Im with the writer thi is a good research and is a direct massage to the office , we need an experience good foreign coach and ZED to remain as ass.so that he can gain experience the way SONYI worked well with JULIANS and he took charge after JULIANS left before JOHNSON came in and we won mandela cup .PACHO ur the man of the week good work keep it up.
@Pundit, 83 goals against which teams. Hot star 5-0, Lake warriors 4-0, Cargo 5-0. I dont think the current league has such mediocre teams. I am on record having said that long gone are days when th league would have mediocre teams from every province. A league of 22 teams of which 12 were mediocre, it was possible to score over 100 goals. Infact 83 goals were very few if u ask me. The current KPL is highly competitive and to be very honest I am enjoying every bit of it as a Kogallo follower. Soccer has developed, and I still dont think the solution is bringing in a muzungu coach. Arab countries are doing very well with thier own local coaches. Western Africa teams are doing pretty well with local coaches. Lets not be possessed with the Musungu thing. Tusker reach continental finals under Elly Adero “Satchii” as the coach. We need NOT a tourist masquerading as a football coach guys. We can do it on our own. Lets have confidence in local coaches. It must not be ZD, it can even be OKOTH JABILO. For God and my club – Kogallo
@Kosero
The point is that Kogalo scored far more goals than any other team. AFC scored ten less goals and most other teams including other top teams did not even reach 50.
The second point is that Julians really developed players. Those days Kogalo only signed young players, not established ones. I can tell you that Julians spent a lot of time daily working with these youngstars until they were good finally.
Finally, Julians identified a problem and made the players practise until they solved the problem. If poor finishing was a problem, the team would work and work and peform drills until they were scoring.
And he did all this with limited time because players had full time jobs back then. As someone said above, lets bring in a coach like this and assign Zico or someone else to assist him with a view to take over later, like Sonyi did hapo zamani.
Pacho you have said it all. It is a very informative and insightful article. @Seda, the matter is not about picking tourists from Mombasa beaches or River Road but looking for a coach that that will do the following duties tactfully such as:-
1. A coach that can bring players together not white-labelling them as so and so players
2. A coach that will instil discipline and unite the playing unit but not causing chaos within the dressing room
3. A coach who is a tactician but not a gambler
4. A coach that knows his players and have a first eleven team but not experimenting
5. A coach who has self discipline but not who has bad behaviours and always insulting and abusing players.
6. A coach who understand the pattern and rhythm of the team but not the coach that lacks ideas when making substitutions and the flow of patterns of the game when playing with difficult opponents and in a difficult environment
7. A coach who is a role model to players and future stars but not destructive coach
8. A coach with good communication skills in handling all stakeholders that include players, fans, opponents, officials, match officials, referees etc
9. A coach with knowledge of the game but not speculators and rumours mongering coach
. . . .we need a coach who can play attractive football and at the same time give all his players opportunity, . . .we don’t need someone who frustrates players’ careers like Zico!!! ( Kitawi said to me before he left and the other day Lucky Dube complained of the same thing)!! . . .We need someone who can instill discipline in his players and so, understands them, and above all we need a coach who can show CONSISTENCY. . . .all these qualities are missing on our dear brother!!! . . . .Let him commit to Harambee Stars. . . . .thank you all
TO PUT IT PLAINLY ZEDDY HAS NO TIME 4 GM.SOME FANS CLAIM THAT THIS LEAGUE IS HARD AND YET THEY CLAIM WE CAN WIN IT WITH A DISTRACTED COACH ?!!! ZEDDY LISTENS TO RADIO JAMBO WHO TOLD HIM TO PUT AN ULINZI PLAYER IN THE NATIONAL TEAM AND HE DID EXACTLY THAT BY CALLING UP WARURU FROM ULINZI AS ONE OF THE STRIKERS.THE CHAIRMAN IS ALSO CHASING THE BIG SEAT AND CAN AFFORD A KSH 50,000/= PER HOUR CHOPPER RIDE TO MUMIAS AS THE FANS ORGANIZE A HARAMBEE FOR THE TEAM BUS.KOGALLO IS AN INSTITUTION WHICH IF WELL MANAGED CAN COMPETE AGAINST THE BEST ON EARTH BUT I DOUBT IF THESE OFFICIALS KNOW THE POTENTIAL AND TRUE VALUE OF THIS GREAT CLUB.
AMEN ,this is what ave always talked about. Its not that the teams being trashed 3 nil were substandard its just Len was simply superb tactically. GM under was head & shoulders above the rest , a team where all players especially from the midfield didn’t waste scoring opportunities.That’s why his players’ formed the bulk of the Mandela Miracle of 1987, several years after not forgeting asst. coach Sonyi. Please a true GM follower can/must never dilute our beloved clubs achievements. RIP peace our beloved legend Len Julians. Yes we can now afford another Len. Thanks Pacho not only for the memories but showing the doubters the heights GM scaled in terms of classy football.
P.S Len Julians did not choose to be born a “muzungu” to us he was simply one of the greatest K’galo coaches and we are most thank-ful to him and other great K’galo coaches mostly for the entertaining free flowing soccer their teams played.
Oduor12
Pls pls ple free flowing football but nothing to show off since then until 92 when we last lift the cup.can u know orl tell’me’who was the coach then(korea,z.otieno,t.ochola,j.otieno,p.ochieng.a.odhiambo.j.ochieng achieng,ogada,m.okoth,m.khaduli)
THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS MISSING, BUT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOOSE THE HISTORY OF THE CLUB. THESE STORIES MUST BE TOLD TO THE COACHES PLAYERS AND OFFICE BEARERS SO THAT THEY KNOW GOR MAHIA IS A LEGENDRY CLUB. ONLY THROUGH THIS WILL WE ATTRACK COMMITED PEOPLE TO MANAGE AND PLAY FOR KOGALO.
WE NEED TO WALK IN STADIUMS AND SEE REPLICAS OF DAN ODHIAMBO AT GOAL, OGOLA MACHINE, KAMOGA’S, AUSTINE MAKAMU, BOBBY, MAGONGO, DAWO – WHO ESPERANCE PROPABLY KNOW AND RESPECT THAN KOGALO BECAUSE WE HAVE NO HISTORY OT KOGALO SOCCER MUSEUM
THE BEST WAY OUT OF THIS CONFUSION IS THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE STRUCTURES, OFFICE, CLUB HOUSE ETC
LONG LIVE
READ THIS
“In 1985, Gor Mahia had built such depth that even with the suspension of 6 key players, they were able to win the CECAFA cup held in Sudan. New players like Swaleh Ochieng, William Obwaka, Tirus Omondi and George Odembo “Nyangi” were also become classy players thanks to Julians tutelage”
WHERE IS OUR FIRST ELEVEN
READ THIS
“When Kenya reachced the All Africa games finals in 1987 and qualified for the 1988 Africa nations cup, nearly half the players were Gor Mahia players and Len Julians products. Players like David Ochieng, Tirus Omondi, Austin Oduor, Charles Otieno, Abbas Magongo, George Onyango “Fundi’, George Nyangi and Sammy Onyango.
ZICO IS THE NATIONAL COACH YET VERY FEW PLAYERS ARE IN THE KENYA TEAM. MUSA AND AKUMU BEING WASTED AND FOR ME I WEAP FOR THEM
ZICO STRIVE TT MAKE SUCH PLAYERS – GATUSO – ENGINE LIKE WAS CHARLES OTIENO,MUSA – LIKE AUSTINE WAS ETC
I REALLY FEEL SAD WHAT I AM SEEING
Great and inspiring piece.hope the current team reads so as to know what is really expected of them.Thanx so much PACHO for such an insightful commentary.but help me please,how comes we played in continental and regional cups of 83′ yet 82′ was a disastrous campaign for us.meaning(i assume)we didn’t win the league,the cup or even finished runner-up in the league?where are the ‘historical pundits’?
arrum – this should form part of the induction for anybody joining the club whether chairman, coach, scouts, players.
what do they discuss at camps. do they invite our living legends, bobby, basanga, jua kali ochola,obwaka’s, Allan thigo, Kamoga et to inspire the players even if it mean paying them a small fee as consultant to recongnise their wealth of experiance
AND for funs DO you all remember Ochido Kamukunji RIP who out of passion lived to hold most of the players hands and helped intergrate them into GOR tradition. HE HAD A DESERVED TECHNICAL BENCH SEAT FOR THE COMMITMENT HE DEMOSTRATED TO THE CLUB
Next year we shall have a coach.
Disturbing rumors that one of the visibly good attacking forwards has been sidelined of late for questioning the tendency of tech team attending training sessions when already drunk!
I may not confirm this but a lot of people have spoken about bhang smoking among tech team spreading to the players..who can or will tackle these heinous characters who should be role models turned destroyers..no wonder they cannot nurture young players resorting to old rejects.
I think we overestimated capabilities of this guy in expecting him to take the team to the next level.
@ Agwa Kassam…am not surprised…you are so spot on!
I fear that our technical team is a fake and may never lead us to achieve our short term and long term goals….i think we should adopt VETTING process to determine who continues to be in our technical bench.
Can we beat Sofapaka by 3 goals as AFC did?? i doubt….maybe we are not in good hands!!!!Good Lord with us
Gor Mahia belongs to fans but not impostors like what we have been seeing lately. Zico will never nurture the abundance talents we have in Gor Mahia. If fans are looking for information on the whereabouts of young talents like Duncan Owiti Macheda, Kiplagat, Roy, etc, some unknown branches like Sofaset are burying their heads in the sand that technical bench should not be taken task on the whereabouts of the most promising players. Where is Moses Odhiambo Luck Dube? The bust up with Zico has made this great player to be benched for no apparent reason because of personal differences. Moses had been a great revelation this season with wonderful strikes through set pieces but the great talent is rotting in the bench because of personal differences with the coach. Why can’t the coach bury these personal differences with players instead of punishing or victimising players for no good reasons?
Zico’s role should be to unite the playing unit instead of destroying the team that has been there. Gor Mahia has got some of the best players in the log. It is important to note that coaches come and go but Gor Mahia will be Gor Mahia whilst Zico and his buddies are not exception to eventual exit from the club. If something is wrong it must be addressed without fear and intimidation from all quarters and fans the loves Gor Mahia. We are all Gor Mahia supporters and fans and no one has more Gor Mahia DNA than other fans like me.
On our last match against Karuturi, I was puzzled that Zico took over the technical bench roles instead of delegating the role to his assistant. This is largely due Zico being away with Harambee Stars for more than 4 days. Why he took over the role of technical bench without knowing quality of the team members that were training while he was away due to unknown fears is still like a puzzle to my little knowledge in football.
@Kosero Sofaset Branch, Kampala, where is Moses Odhiambo Rusta? Of course this is a unique player that can be very bad in hitting goals from set pieces.
Kosero, please can you talk to Zico and advice him that this is a bad outdated habit and manner in resorting to these unorthodox means of killing the team by victimising very talented players? We lost Kitawi to Tusker but now we can not loose some of our good and key players to other opponents.
The accusations of victimisation of players by the technical must be stopped for the team to ahead in winning all the remaining matches. This is not about witch-hunting but a unity for purpose in the team. A cohesive team is very important for any successful coach in any team but not a divided team and fans.
There should be no excuses that the log has been tough and draws are important. Neither these arguments can make any sense for any successful teams in the world. Good teams always win matches in difficult circumstances but not vice versa of excuses, which are coming from fans and coach.
To fans and supporters, you are all right in making enquiries of where abouts of the good players. Keep it up and press on.
Discipline is paramount for the success of the club and in this regard Zico, technical bench members, players, fans, supporters and exceutive officials must exhibit a high sense of discipline for Gor Mahia to win KPL log this year. Do not through stones please.
On Len Julians, from what I have heard, indeed he was a great coach, team player, professor, tactician, teacher, role model, exemplar etc whose qualities cannot be rivalled or matched with mediocre coaching techniques of Zico who sometimes appears to have no skills in turning the team’s playing pattern under difficult opponents and circumstances.
@Pundit you must be suffering from serious selective amnesia. Didn’t Gor beat the same AFC you are now glorifying by the same margin. Please give us a break. I dont understand why you keep sulking. Why dont you stop attending GM matches, or better still start supporting Congo United. Your support for Kogallo is voluntary. Why do you insist in supporting GM yet wanacheza matope? I simply dont understand. For Gor and my club – Kogallo.
AFC has borrowed alot from kogallo but they beat us they have a good old man as coach exactly what we need we could be wrapping up the league by now but incompetence from zico means we will keep drawing matches this peace of history is really good
LETS US PICK-UP ZICO TOPIC ON MONDAY. AFTER ULINZU MATCH I CAN ASSURE YOU ZICO WILL MOST LIKELY PLAY A BAD GAM AND STILL GET HIS DRAWS.
@ Albert Kosero….you are clearly far from the reality.Hope you’ll stop supporting Zico as soon as he’s fired by the true fans through gate 7!
Arummtidi
To answer your question above, in 1982, there was no FKL cup or KFF cup or whatever. So the team that finish second in the league would play in the Africa cup winners cup.
Also Kogalo went to the CECAFA cup because the country with the defending champion was allowed to send two teams so Kogalo and Ingwe both participated.
1982 was a disastrous year due to numerous player strikes, suspensions, departures of key players and an accident involving the team travelling to Kakamega. There was also the Dinamo de fimia fiasco when Kogalo players refused to travel to madagascar.
You can read about it here.
http://www.gormahia.net/early80s.html
@Mwakio, discpline is paramount it does not matter whether one is Lucky dube, mesi or Ronaldo. SAMPLE THIS:
AFC Leopards striker Jimmy Bagaye has been put on notice by his club to shape up or ship out.
Club secretary general Josephat Bukachi told SuperSport.com that the technical bench were unhappy with the player’s discipline saying the Ugandan import had not showed up for training since the team returned from a friendly in Tanzania.
“He has been giving false information to the technical bench and we shall not tolerate this anymore. He must toe the line like other players or quit altogether.
He is paid to train and if he can’t train, we shall either deduct his salary or take other disciplinary measures,” said Bukachi.
This is the very problem, ZD is having with some of the star players. When action is taken some fans claim that ZD is wasting good players. Mashemeji, thats the way to go. Keep it up. As for Kogallo, please be informed that there are 30 players on roll. Anyone can play, not necessarily players who are good but dont want to corporate with the rest of the team. Discipline in the team is NOT negotiable. Period! For God and my club Kogallo.
in plain truth he zico is too unqualified to handle GM or maybe i just hate him but rest assured fans are everything to every team especially those who attend matches for they are the one who give out hot money this sofaset branch is simply my foot am sorry to say it takes quite a fortune to travel to mumias , nakuru , mombasa etc for zico am bored to death whenever i see him
The type of football ZICO is coaching is like telling players, strikers to shoot ,midfielders to help defenders to defend thats why beating gor is not easy but entertaining ball in GM is ZERO
@Pundit, I dont support Zico I support Gor Mahia. If today, you were hired to replace Zico, I will brutally defend you from uncalled for accussations just the same way. I believe in giving each and everybody opportunity to prove his/her worth. Let us evaluate the results at the end of the season. Lets be orderly. This thing of shouting all the time about sacking the coach is sickening. For God and my club Kogallo
@liverpoolboy are you under any duress to support Gor? I guess not, therefore dont bore us with travelling to Mumias, Nakuru etc. You do it voluntarily. If Gor and Zico makes you sick, then join me in the sofaset branch. Or take a break like some of us did 3 – 4 years ago only to resurface when things started getting better. For God and my club Kogallo
@Kosero, you sound like Arum the secretary general. Please stop concealing your identity as Sofaset Branch, which does not exist anywhere. There is no branch in Uganda called Sofaset Branch. Do not hide your identity. Fans I can bet there is no such branch in Uganda. I will be in Uganda from 4-10 September 2011, I suggest that can we meet in Serena Hotel over a cup of tea so that I can illuminate you on the predicament of Zico’s coaching tactics, which are not comparable to Len Julians at all.
We are not talking about fans like Pundit and I being hired as coaches Gor Mahia. We are not qualified coaches but we understand the insight of the game and how games can be planned and played without necessary citing excuses of our underperformance. We have the right to comment on the happenings in the club. We are not making noise but giving our positive views on how the club can rejuvenate the technical bench and win KPL league, which very near us this season.
Indeed our defence led by Masika, Musa, Collins, Solomon and Akumu have been outstanding in every game. We have no grudge against Zico as a person but his tactics are misplaced. If you can look back at our performance last year, there is a very big difference on how we used to attack, pass and changes in the flow of the game. We are not seeing this flow of football anymore and this is the reason we have been questioning the coaching tactics.
Please Kosero, I humbly appeal to you to indulge Zico on how we can play our flowing football games and win all the remaining matches. Please persuade him to bring unity of purpose in the playing unit and ask him to uphold discipline while handling the lads. Please advise him not to victimise any team member as this will be counterproductive on him.
@Mwakio, you are most welcome to Kampala. I would really love to engauge you in a very sorber chat regarding Kogallo face to face. You can reach me on FB. Search for Barto Kokona.
THIS STORY IS NOT ABOUT MWAKIO
Rest in Peace Len Julians. Am personally thrilled to read this lively piece about the great man who changed the fortunes of K’ogalo.
But what made this man successful at Gor at the time?
1. warm relations btw him & officials & fans
2. freedom to do execute his mandate
3. common vision
Am suprised to read from some of you are directing your comments on somebody. Mwakio is a loyal fan & a regular contributor on this blog. He is right to express his opinion. he is right to defend the person & perfomance of coach Zico.
No amount of intimidation and malice can distract our coach from executing his mandate. Sometimes I think some of our fans are under illusions success come easily. Let us learn to respect our coach, zico or anybody else. Am not sure if we get caoach Wenger today, you gonna give him the respect he deserve.
it is ardious to coach Zico is killing the careers of some boys. Infact the opposite is true. our wonderboy, blackberry graduated to the paying league under his tutelage. Schoolboy Lavatsa’s dream of joining European league is now possible. The list is endless.
A little courtesy won’t hurt.
As you squabble us in AFC are getting out house in order and are awaiting to bury your hopes of another league title on September 18. Did you guys see what we did to Sofapaka last nite? Be prepared for a hiding, but no stones please
Zico Learn something from the article please we need results…………God bless GM
thanx muroro pacho,for the information,i had already read about gor in the early and mid 80s’but i still found it inconclusive.
pundit,agwa kassam,mwakio,oduor12,and those of you who subscribe to the anti-zico school of thought,i may not agree with you guyz in totality,as in i agree with you people to some extent.whereas you guyz feel that zico and the office should have been replaced yesterday,me i think that replacing zico midway through the season wont be a very noble idea.atleast lets wait until season-end,then if he wouldn’t have delivered,let him ‘kanyaga frame’.As for the non performing office,next year is not far.But guys concerning your stand againts this sofaset man,i agree with you guys 100%.As one of you guyz rightly pointed out,the guy is so fake.imagine he could not even travel from his ‘kampala’ to mumias which is almost the same distance as nrb-mumias,while most, if not all of us made the sacrifices in terms of economic resources and time spent,and travelled west.For God and my club,in deeds and words!
@arrumtiddi, we are calling for his replacement but for Zico to change his coaching tactics and to immediately stop victimising players. None has called for his replacement at this time of the mid log. For the executive office, we are yearning for discipline and prudent in managing Gor Mahia finances. We have hyenas within executive committee that have continued to swindle money in gate collections. This must be stopped with immediate effect.
@arrumtiddi, we are not calling for his replacement but for Zico to change his coaching tactics and to immediately stop victimising players. None has called for his replacement at this time of the mid log. For the executive office, we are yearning for discipline and prudent in managing Gor Mahia finances. We have hyenas within executive committee that have continued to swindle money in gate collections. This must be stopped with immediate effect.
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Let me clarify my position I have nothing personal against Zico. I rate him among the best right backs to have played for Gor. I do appreciate his and Ambrose’s contribution to reviving K’galo. As for Zico I feel he lacks the knowledge and skills to transform GM into a continental/ East African force (with his and our prayers we might even win the league). In the 2nd half I have seen that its not the players who are a problem, its the tactical issues. As I have said b4 teams that play possession football usually give K’galo a torrid time especially in the 2nd half.Its not that we cannot score 2/3/4 goals, we simply do not even create scoring chances and the few that we do are wasted. As for the office yes Kosero is technically right that GM is a members club but even AR knows that maybe even more that 50% of the fans who throng the stadia are not officially GM members but contribute in terms of gate collections so morally the office is accountable to them. Y play the tusker game on a weekday when we could have filled the stadium on a weekend and then due to logistic failures let in 50% of the fans FOC,y r there incidence of players/coaches treking/ taking matatus from thika, let me stop there since the likes of Mwakio enumerate this better. Finally am in agreement that at this stage its better to redress the coach’s position at the end of the season.Finally while AR may mean well for GM he seems detached from the happenings(policies on gate collection/treatment of players seem wanting) on the ground what will happens as he goes for the chairmanship of Kenyan soccer.
my position will never change in regards to zeddy whethher we win the league or not.this guy has never and will never be fit to coach ko’gallo. this club has gained the points cause of fans period. wacha wajaribu kucheza behind closed doors hata na congo united and u will see the results.
y keep on have small beefup with players kama …….
he’s trully wasted talents kama kipla,macheda and now with lucky dube,solution ni yeye kutuachia club and get a foreign coach not neccessarily a mzungu but somebody who will judge players on the basis of perfomance not friendship or maneno ya mtaani.
keep my word even if we win this trophy,international hatuendi mbali na zeddy.
Guys Im with you on constant pressure you are putting on the coach and the officials of the Mighty Gor Mahia.If we dont hold their feet to the fire they will not perform. Gor Fans the world over know a good coach when they seen one.They know a good leader when they see one.They also know when the leader’s loyalty is divided.The fans and the players have utmost respect for the leader that is leading them to the promised land regardless of race or colour.We sing their praises when they excel and we question their judgement when we almost have heart attack when we watch the game.
Like the children of Israel, sometimes the fans and the players go astray.We need someone in the public relations department of Kogalo to bring us back to the right bearing.Come out and address our anxiety.Let us know what is going on. When GM officials pleaded for peaceful behaviour among the fans, the result has been positive.The fans are saying where there is smoke there is fire,dont ignore it.Gor4ever!!
@arrumtiddi, I must not travel to Mumias in order for me to be Gor follower. Neither must I report to any one that I have attended Gor matches. You can not wish away sofaset branch. We are there to stay. That aside, at least we are agreeing on one thing. The coach must not be replaced at this stage of the league. I have said that repeatedly. Thanks for the rare support. Haya ceasefire, let meet at Afraha kesho. For God and and my club Kogallo.
Hi Guys,
My position about Zico does not change and i notice I’ve been consistent regarding the path he’s taken all along which makes it possible to evaluate him objectively..
1.Why is he consistently in a brawl with players here and there and from time to time..once Gattuso and now its rumored Lucky is being sidelined under very dirty circumstances.
2.To me am questioning issues bordering on drug taking and alcoholism said to be rampant in the team’s circles…some call this personal issue but note getting drunk at work is official indiscipline not allowed even in beer factories and drugs are criminal offenses.
3. Further, guys how does it sound to you that we travel far and wide to watch our GM that’s composed of alcoholics and a bunch of Bhang smoking individuals called players! As for me we don’t have a choice regarding this…note that all the right thinking fans have a wish to see these young players make a good living out of Soccer, and are prepared to act in prevention of drug related deceases likely to befall our players.
4.Football is a well paying career in Africa and beyond and is a profession just like any other,I’ll never be comfortable seeing careers of young boys destroyed by a jealous someone who is only fighting to kick out players nurtured by his predecessors.
Kosero..its not up to anyone of us to advise others to quit..just have your opinion..someone mentioned something about the tech bench hiring security from their villages or something.. I assure you that lies last for as long as it is allowed..
Guys we got alot of things wrong in the mid season transfer window.
Oh Oh My God If and I repeat IF there’s any bhang smoking at K’galo then God forbid. The failure is not with the bhang smokers but with officials. Ambrose Rachier if this is true then it must be stopped like yesterday here the buck stops with you.Any culprit MUST LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.
What I know for certain is there is bhang smoking amongst some fans but here the buck stop with the Utumishi Kwa Wote. They and the stadium management sit back and watch certain characters puffing away for 90mins, then when these characters run amok and cause hayhem and destroy property they penalize our beloved K’galo-NKT
I hesitate to join in the castigating of the the players and the officials at this time about what is going on in the club house,however,i would suggest that zero tolerance is the best policy.I must confess fans dont know what is going on in the GM locker room. I will go out on a limb and say the officials are better positioned to deal with all these side shows.
you mentioned bhang smoking & alcoholism in K’ogalo camp. This a serious offence may the Good God forgive them & when did this start and what is the mgt doing. Nacada & Utumishi kwa wote iko kazi hapa pls help restore sanity where there is smoke there is fire we Love GM
kampala branch wr tired of u and ur coments kila saa we should not piont at zedyy? kwani whats wrong bwana now afc r coming fr awin sasa u want fans to shutup kogallo ni yetu wv to say whats wrong bro mybe ur living on pasttens
kwani what happened with Wanyore they surely require agoya gi kite, if justice can not prevail then Kidi kende, coz in our last branch meeting I appealed for formation of legal defense unit, which could help litigate such incidences. I HATE SEEING NYITHI KOGALO SHADING BLOOD, without any genuine course.
OHINGA WOD NYARUOTH
Legacy of Len Julian’s cannot be concluded without mentioning 4-4-4 goal scoring record Kogalo were thrashing teams. It is indeed a good story. Rest in Piece. You were a Gooner as well. Amen.