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The Kisii community has taken Tore Bobe to heart over the years but it would not have been ‘their own’ had it not cost its founder big time.
Shabana FC might not have been a community club had it not contributed to the collapse of the business of its founder Dogo Khan over 20 years ago.
Kisii-based businessman Dogo Khan founded Tore Bobe in 1982 in a bid to give talented youth in the area an opportunity to further develop their skills and earn from their talent, seeing it promoted from the District, Provincial and finally to the Super League (top flight) in their third year of existence.
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Khan named the team after his business Shabana Hardware and General Stores Limited, a famous enterprise in the region at the time, and he bankrolled it on his own from what he made from the business.
However, while he loved the team, he could not sustain it anymore when it started eating into his profits to the point of bringing the business down, forcing him into the painful decision of letting it go.
“Travelling and salaries were costing us about Ksh5 million in one year. That is for you to run the team comfortably, allowances paid and everything,” Dogo Khan told Pulse Sports.
“We did not have any sponsorship, everything was being funded by the shop which actually led to the collapse of the business. After the collapse of the shop, I could not take care of the team anymore, so I decided to give it to the community.
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“I said I cannot disband the team because where would those youngsters go? I wanted continuity. I called area leaders to the stadium and told them what we were going through before I handed the team to them.”
Since then, Shabana turned from a private entity into a members’ side and the Kisii community took the team to heart, supporting it even more than they had done before the handover.
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However, Dogo Khan letting go of Shabana also contributed to the team’s problems down the years as successive leadership wrangles have largely been to blame for their 17-year stay in the lower leagues before they returned to the top flight in the just-concluded season.
Even now that the team is back, there is still no clarity over who is the bonafide club patron with former FKF President Sam Nyamweya insisting that he is the holder of the position while Kisii Governor Simba Arati was recently installed in the role.
“I was very happy and jumping in the stadium when they got promoted and I pray that they become number one. The biggest issue was money, now that sponsorship is coming in and the county is supporting, I have confidence in them,” said Dogo Khan.
“Let them not mix politics and running the team. They should stay focused and remain united,” added the 75-year-old regarding the leadership issues at the club.
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