courtesy of the Standard
Reality sets in for newly elected Gor Mahia national officials who have a platefull of tasks to clear. The priority for the club will be to successfully defend their Kenyan Premier League (KPL) title won last year after 18-year wait. Gor Mahia will face stiff opposition from former champions Tusker, rivals AFC Leopards and Sofapaka, all who have bolstered their squads.
The three teams have been very busy in the transfer window and have signed very experienced players to give them an advantage in the league title chase. Leopards, who finished runners-up last season, have brought on board Musa Mudde, James Situma, Joseph Shikokoti as well as the league’s best player last season Jacob Keli. Tusker on the other hand have signed Osborne Monday and Denis Nzomo from Mathare United to strengthen their squad with Sofapaka bringing on board the likes of talented midfielder Clifftone Miheso.
Gor will therefore be under extreme pressure to retain the title, especially from their vocal and expectant fan base that does not easily accept failure and loss. The new office may have the fans endorsement but they will soon realise it is not a walk in the park. Gor also have to take part in various other domestic competitions like the GOtv Shield and KPL Top Eight competitions. The biggest challenge is to conquer Africa in the CAF Champions League.
Gor are returning back to the CAF Champions League after more than a decade. Having won the local league, KPL Top Eight as well as the GOtv Shield previously, the team will be hard pressed to do well at the continental stage. The new office led by Ambrose Rachier must also raise enough money to honour their continental fixtures.
Sponsorship Expiring
Your are here » Home » Football Reality check for Gor: New club officials face tough task to lead K’Ogalo Updated Wednesday, January 22nd 2014 at 00:19 GMT +3 0 inShare The club is in the last two months of its one-year sponsorship deal with Tuzo and the office must be in a hurry to negotiate for a better deal that will factor in their continental engagements. Last year, the club nearly went bankrupt while taking part in the Confederations Cup tournament and they must not allow the same to happen. The new officials must look for other avenues of raising revenue.
Merchandise
One area they will want to explore is on club merchandise. It is good that they have registered a company to manage this part of the business to cut out on the huge number of middlemen who are benefitting from selling their hugely popular shirts. Lastly, the new office ought to at least lay the ground work for the building of a club stadium. As Eric Adede, the losing contender for the chairman’s seat rightly pointed out, the club needs to build an asset base that will put them at par with the best clubs in Africa.
Sponsorship – go for gold, silver and bronze sponsor.
As for merchandise, strike a joint venture production partnership with a Chinese manufacturer.
Mine is simple concentrate on the bedrock of Gor Mahia support-FANS/MEMBERS. Allow me to repeat.
1.Go for shs. 5/day membership payable quarterly in advance. Aim for 47 branches(1 per county) x 500 members per branch x 365days x 5bob will raise a whooping Kshs. 42,887,500 per year. 250 members/branch still generates 21M.
2. Boost attendance of home games 2 15k/game & reduce terrace charges to100 & VIP to 400. This will generate 29.25M instead of the fake 9.1M & also the temptation 4 bribes
These 2 initiatives cn raises between kshs. 50-72m yearly for K’galo.
However we must PUT FOOTBALL FIRST AT GM.
Transparency , accountability , security @ matches, exciting soccer, GOALS & WINNING TITLES IS THE KEY.
The rest of the iniatives like sponsorship, merchandizing etc automatically follow once you show that GM commands a huge organized following and is a successful footballing enterprise.
gor mahia simply needs to effectively use it’s fan base and alot will get into place. the problem that the previous office has tended to ignore the damage that violence during matches is doing to the club. meet these goons and tell them face to face the damage they cost the club.
my other intention is to point out what happened to ethiopia in the domestic CHAN competition. this is to gor players, i hope they have seen how luck off focus gets u nowhere. discard the ‘what has my country done for me mentality’ .i do believe the ‘romantic’ run of the good we saw from ethiopia is over. this is a good team which left victory run thru’ it’s fingers. the way teams like congo et morocco play is different, and i am talking about attitude.these guys play like they are on a mission.this quality is not common from e.african players. poor attitude from kenyan players is their worst enemy. it’s what ethiopia suffered from and now their dream is over. ethiopia was living on a delusion that they are now a power house in africa soccer. nowonder they end up playing for arab leagues and division four clubs in europe. zimbabwe with all it’s problems will always reach the knockout stages in africa and i believe that just like nigerians or senegalese the players know what they are doing.
@dinga you like criticizing ..read thro what you have written you just critize but offer no way forward… now look at what oduor12 has written and what you have done ,you don t tell us what is wrong with Ethiopia other than kuwaingilia no way forward yet harambee stars is not even featuring .I think this year people should come with solutions and not kuchapa only.Bring both the problem and your recommendation for this blog to be of any help other wise happy new year guys.
blah blah blah. Too much talk and less action. Talk the talk and walk the walk
FAITH WITHOUT ACTION IS DEAD
It is true our opponents signed those other players but we also signed new players.I think our team as it stands now, is more futuristic than just the league of this year. I am therefore not worried. Having seen the last two friendly matches, I can deduce that I saw two teams playing two different football styles. That is indapth within the team. People who love football showed up to watch. They were not all Mahia fans but they came to watch a good game. Therefore watch K’Ogallo again.