Record SPL Season Blows Title Winning Tide Over Bandari FC

MOMBASA, Kenya- In the history of the Kenyan top flight league established in 1963, only one team from the football mad coast region, Feisal FC has ever lifted the national title.

If you are struggling to remember who Feisal are and when they won the crown, do not worry, most of our dear readers were not around in 1965 when the Mombasa-based side became the second team to be crowned domestic league champions.

For the record, Nakuru AllStars FC, who are now facing relegation from the second division National Super League (NSL), were the inaugural champions and the trophy has left the country’s Nairobi on only seven occasions in 54 years since.

Following their record second-place finish in the 2018 SportPesa Premier League (SPL), Bandari FC also known as ‘Al Bandr’ by their legion of fans in Mombasa, are keen on consigning that damning statistic to the recycle bin of history.

Football passions run deep in the Kenyan coast, particularly its capital Mombasa where the Dockers are anchored with one of the most-successful Harambee Stars head coaches of all time, Mohammed Kheri, who led the national team to three successive Africa Cup of Nations campaigns, 1988, 1990 and 1992 hailing from the area.

‘Kenya One’ keeper Mahmoud Abbas, Badi Ali, Ahmed Breik, Ali Sungura, Ali Kadjo and Kadir Farah are some of the Coast football poster boys of days gone past when the region was a hotbed of talent.

Robert ‘Boban’ Mambo, Ali Breik, Emmanuel Ake and Rama Salim are others from the coast that made a name in the last two decades and after struggling to find at team that can match the region’s huge ambitions, the rise of Bandari has come at the right time.

In 2015, the team based at Mbaraki Sports Club, opposite Ndoho Market, Mbaraki Road in Mombasa became the first side from the region to win the domestic cup, now rebranded SportPesa Shield when they whitewashed Nakumatt FC 4-2 in the final.

It coincided with their previous best ever finish in the top flight (then Tusker Premier League) of fourth (46 points) under the tutelage of veteran former Harambee Stars head coach and Coast’s finest, Sheikh Twahir Muhiddin.

Representing Kenya in the CAF Confederations Cup in 2016, Bandari were ranked among the title contenders but their resurgence in the end proved to be a false dawn when the club plummeted to an 11th finish (37) in the league as they failed to defend their cup.

Slight improvement

After a slight improvement in the 2017 SPL that brought a 10th (43) finish, Bandari regrouped and despite a cagey start to the just concluded campaign, closed 2018 as the second-best team on the land behind record winners Gor Mahia FC (75).

The Dockers wrapped their best league season with a massive 19-point improvement from last season, reaching 62 as they reduced the winning gap from last year from 19 to 13.

While it might appear the deficit on a team that has won five of the last six domestic championships is a chasm that is too wide to bridge, head coach Bernard Mwalala, the man who turned Bandari’s fortunes around believes they can challenge for the 2019 SPL crown.

The retired forward who was capped 13 times by his country took over the reigns at the coast-based club in June, replacing Ken Odhiambo after the latter parted ways with the Dockers following a dismal run that saw them manage only two wins in 10.

Mwalala had just resigned as coach of SPL side Nzoia Sugar FC and his appointment was met with a couple of side-eye glances.

Little did the doubters know that he was about to pull off what nobody in charge at the club has been able to do since the club’s inception in 1985 when a storming second leg saw them scoop KSh1.5m when they finished runners-up.

Speaking to SportPesa News, the coach told of his desire to deliver an elusive national title to Mombasa adding there was no time to waste as he seeks to bolster his side with at least six new signings.

“Now that we have shown what we can do as a team, we won’t have it easy during the upcoming season.

“Every team will be out either seek revenge or prove a point but this is something that I understand and I will do my best to prepare my players to deal with it,” the coach who led Nzoia to the 2016 National Super League title charged.

 “We finished off the season well and this will help us kick off on the right footing come December.

“I want to add six new players to the fold who will help strengthen our squad, other than that I am content and looking forward to the new season,” Mwalala concluded.

The record-breaking season not only meant a great deal for the officials and the players but also to the scores of football fans from the coastal region who were in attendance for their final match against Thika United FC on Sunday.

Recent success

The club's most recent success prior to this season was a 1-0 Kenyan Super Cup victory over record domestic league winners Gor in 2016, after claiming the FKF President's Cup, also known as the GOtv Shield Cup the previous year.

The victory over Gor was a particularly sweet one for the Dockers who had until then, played the whipping boys to K’Ogalo.

On Sunday, they rounded their season in the most emphatic of fashion, laying a marker for the 2019 campaign that starts in December as the country seeks to harmonise her league calendar with FIFA/CAF by the end of the new season in May.

As Gor were falling 0-1 to Tusker FC on final day, the rank pretenders to their throne were hammering relegated Thika United FC 5-1 at their Mbaraki fortress, in a combination of results that mirrored the recent trajectories of the two teams.

At the end of the pulsating match, victorious Bandari players and staff congregated at the centre of the pitch to receive their KSh1.5m runner-ups cheque and a trophy, with an eye fixed at the bigger prize next term.

The home side got off to the worst possible start when Jeff Kinyanjui put the milkmen 1-0 up in the ninth minute of the contest.

Bandari were swiftly level via an own goal before braces from Wycliffe Ochomo and Yemi Mwana put the home side out of sight, much to the elation of the hundreds of supporters in attendance.

“Today was a good day. I would have preferred to finish with a clean sheet on the last day of the season but a win is a win,” Mwalala enthused.

“We have scored more goals than we have in any other game throughout the season and I’m proud of my players for the work they have put in,” he added.

Bandari were rattled when doomed SPL first-timers, Wazito FC stunned them 2-1 on September 30, a result that the head coach says hurt them to the point of putting wind to the sails as they stormed to a flying finish.

“Our loss to Wazito was a wake-up call and I can rightfully say that we responded in fine fashion,” Mwalala underlined.

Prior to the shock loss, the Dockers who suffered only six defeats the whole term had not lost a game since May 27, when they went down 1-0 away to Kakamega Homeboyz FC.

Outstanding performers

In-between the two defeats, Bandari played 15 matches in which they won a whopping 10 and drew the remaining five to give them 35 out of a possible 45.

Bandari have had outstanding performers throughout the season, with Congolese forward Yemi Mwana (seven) and William Wadri (eight) topping the list of goal scorers for the club.

The run of great form throughout the season saw them concede only 20 and the head coach is grateful to his goalkeeper Farouk Shikhalo and defenders led by Congolese captain Felly Mulumba for putting up the meanest defence in the SPL.

“Mulumba has been great at the back for us. He’s commanding nature and ability to get through to the rest of the players is a huge plus for the team,” Mwalala stated.

“There is no player that is more important than the other and I’m equally pleased with the entire squad for all they have put in to help us achieve this great finish.
He was a little secretive when asked about the tricks he had up his sleeve that helped Bandari to their second-place finish but was quick to extend his gratitude to the players for “making him look good’.

“After five matches in charge of Bandari, I gauged myself and realised what I needed to do in order to keep the team afloat.

“Every coach has their own philosophy and their way to do things. I’m just grateful that the players adapted to my philosophy and we soon became a well-oiled engine,” Mwalala highlighted.

“I want to thank each and every one of them for making me look good in front of the club officials and the fans.

His captain, Mulumba hailed the side’s marvellous performance throughout the season that marked him out as a top contender for Defender of the Year award having marshalled his rear-guard to 18 clean sheets.

Towering defender

The towering defender also weighed in at the other end of the pitch with two goals, including the valued winner in a 1-0 victory over Chemelil Sugar FC on June 12.

“As a captain, nothing makes me happier than to see my coach and my teammates happy.

“We have worked tirelessly this season and our hard-earned efforts have seen us finish in second place. I am grateful for the support the coach and his technical bench has given us as players, without them we wouldn’t be here,” Mulumba offered.

Star winger David King’atua, who re-joined Bandari after moving to Oskarshamns AIK in Sweden, relished being back at his home club and despite being linked to other teams, the 23 year-old is eager to bag silverware under Mwalala.

“The season has been tough but the togetherness that the coach has helped grow in the team is something that has really helped us.

“I did not score as many goals as I would have wanted but being a part of the team and knowing that my help was vital is enough for me.

“I look forward to the great things that we will achieve as a club, this is only the beginning,” King’atua remarked.

Arguably the biggest win for Bandari this season had to be that major upset over then-unbeaten record league champions Gor on Tuesday, August 7.

Ten-man Bandari raced to a 2-0 halftime lead over their opponents, courtesy of goals by Dan Guya and Mwana before Jacques Tuyisenge pulled one back for the champions in the 78th in what ended as a consolation in a huge 2-1 victory for the Dockers.

Victory came at a point in the season where the Dockers were on a six-match unbeaten run that lifted their spirits, increasing their hunger for even more success.

“The game against Gor was definitely one of the highlights of our campaign.

“They were unbeaten and we played a better game to give us the win. We had to remain focused after that though and again, I can’t thank my technical bench and players enough,” the head coach quipped.

Mwalala is alive to the fact that Bandari, who have been through disbandment and relegation in previous years, will have to deal with the pressure of having raised the bar as they prepare for the new season.

The players will have a post-season rest period until Monday, October 29 when they resume training as they prepare for the start of the 2018/19 SPL campaign which is set to kick off on December 8.

They will then attempt to do what no other coast-based team have done since the now defunct Feisal, who produced the first player to score for independent Kenya in a international against Uganda in 1964, Kadjo.

The title winning tide is surely sweeping across Bandari and Mombasa.