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The Glamour Boys have endured several failed attempts in their quest to return to the big time but seem to have finally found their mojo
Shabana FC are close securing promotion back to the Football Kenya Federation given they enjoy a nine-point lead at the top of the National Super League table as the season enters homestretch.
The Gusii-based side beat Mwatate United 1-0 on Wednesday to make it five straight wins which leaves them on 54 points from 24 matches, nine ahead of second -placed Murang’a Seal.
The good results have left Shabana fans dreaming of a return to the top flight for the first time in 17 years, a journey that has been punctured by frustrations, infighting and near misses.
Since their relegation from the Kenyan Premier League in 2006, Shabana and its fans have had to endure heartbreaks, coming close to securing promotion only to fall off on a number of times, with infighting within management adding more fuel to the fire.
Team harmony
Popularly known as the Glamour Boys, they have been nothing like their nickname, but appear to have found their mojo this season. Consistency, which was a thing they lacked, and harmony within the club hierarchy, added to great motivation from the squad has combined well to make them unbeatable and leave fans dreaming of a return to the big time.
“We are new faces in management and when he came in, we had a short and long-term strategy,” Shabana Secretary General Nyanchoka Kerama told Pulse Sports.
“The short term was that within two years, we are in the Premier League and in three to four years, we are playing continental football.”
They look on course to achieving the first target which will give them an opportunity to nail the second ambition if they can produce the desired results. But management setting the target is not enough, they needed quality players and a coach with knowhow who would instill the right mentality given their history of bottling at key moments of the season.
“We are blessed to have a coach who has Shabana at heart who has developed unity within the squad,” Kerama said of coach Sammy Okoth, who replaced Robert Ojienda in February.
“Most importantly, we have created transparency between the management, players and fans. We don’t have a sponsor and the players and fans know this, whatever little we get, we reveal it publicly and share with them.
Supportive fans
“That inclusivity has left them motivated and with the urge to win matches. The players, management and fans are satisfied because we all read from the same script.”
With the fans understanding the players’ plight, they have responded by attending matches in large numbers, therefore boosting the club’s coffers. Shabana records an average attendance of between 1,000 and 1,500 fans during home matches at the Gusii Stadium, making between Ksh120,000 and Ksh160,000 per game.
On derby day when they host local rivals Gusii United, the number goes up to 2,500 fans. With the supporters playing a key role, Shabana were able to bring on board a number of experienced players to strengthen the squad during the January transfer window.
“We brought in Cornelius Juma from Kenya Police who has scored three goals and also added a goalkeeper and defender,” said Kerama.
Promise to keep every one
“The other thing that motivated the players is that we told them when we secure promotion, no one is going to be dropped. We see teams changing the whole team when they go up but we don not want that.
“They have proved that they can handle the challenge so we will only seek to add experience like three players so that team unity remains.”
Shabana, alongside AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia, are the biggest community teams in Kenya and boast a rich history and a huge fan base.
The club represented the country in the Africa Champions Cup in 1988, beating Zambia’s Kabwe Warriors at home before crashing out in the second leg and also featured in the 2000 CAF Cup against Hay Al Arab of Sudan.
They were the best feeder club to the national team in the 1980s and 1990s, producing legends such as Henry Motego, the late Henry Nyandoro, goalkeeper-turned-striker Mike Okoth, Richard Otambo, Salim Mabruk among others and there is great hope that the Class of 2022-23 will return them to the ‘Promised Land.’
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