SportPesa News, Digital To Bring Historic ‘Gor in Everton’ Alive

NAIROBI, Kenya- After months of anticipation, the moment of truth is almost here for SportPesa Premier League (SPL) champions, Gor Mahia FC who departed Nairobi on Friday morning for England where they will take on the force of Everton FC at Goodison Park on Tuesday night (November 6).

Since the historic fixture was confirmed in August, the record 17-time Kenyan top club division titleholders have been the talk of town at home and beyond in the run up to the groundbreaking occasion for East African football.

Consequently, SportPesa News and SportPesa digital channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have devoted acres of space to keep the local and international football loving public abreast with all latest developments.

As the final countdown the match that kicks off at 7pm BST (10pm Kenyan time) tolls, three members of the mercurial SportPesa Digital team will be in the UK bringing up to the minute updates on the fast-growing news forum, www.sportpesanews.com and all social media channels.

Head of Digital, Farid Kipirash, SportPesa News Sub Editor, Louis Karinga and Digital Executive, Teresia ‘Trizah’ Akoth will be based in the Liverpool devoted to round the clock coverage on the event whose official hash tag is #EVEvsGor.

They travelled as part of the wider cross-departmental team from the African gaming giant that has indefatigably toiled for months to put together the one of a kind fixture in collaboration with Everton.

Gor won the right to take on the Blues at their backyard when they retained their SportPesa Cup title on June 10 where they outclassed Tanzanian league winners, Simba SC 2-0 in the final played at Afraha Stadium, Nakuru.

“Since the game was announced in August, the Digital team has channelled every effort and resources available to give a comprehensive build up to the historic tour of Gor to the UK.

“It has been a wonderful experience as we strived to generate written, audio and visual content that kept our audiences abreast with the build-up to this grand occasion,” Kipirash, who travelled to the UK on Wednesday as part of the advance team from SportPesa said from Liverpool.

“The weather here is cold but that has done little to dampen our enthusiasm to serve niche, unique and engaging content on our platforms. We are committed to document this one of a kind event at a scale seldom seen before and visit our platforms to experience everything as it unfolds,” the Digital boss added.

Cherished audience

Kipirash lauded the Creative, Football Partnerships, Public Relations, Advertising, Merchandising (all based in the Marketing Department), Procurement, Logistics and Security teams of SportPesa headquarters in Nairobi, Protel Studios as well as international agency, UK-based CSM Sport and Entertainment LLP for the tireless efforts they put in ensuring gathering, processing and dissemination of Gor in Everton content was seamless.

“We are above all most grateful to the Everton Football Club for the unflagging assistance and enthusiasm with which they have embraced this unheralded project where Gor will be the first team to visit and play in an EPL stadium at the iconic Goodison,” Farid further acknowledged.

Football mad Kalinga, who has been a lynchpin in the coverage of SPL and other competitions including the momentous Hull City FC tour of Kenya where they played K’Ogalo in an international friendly in May which attracted a record crowd at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani is relishing his biggest assignment yet.

“The pressure to meet tight deadlines and keep our cherished audience informed on all facets of this tour from when Gor lands and leaves the UK is huge.

“Having spent weeks in the run-up to this trip with Gor’s fraternity, the burning desire among the players to showcase their talent at the biggest stage to progress their careers and put East African club football on the global map has been humbling,” the prodigious writer and voice narrator noted.

“I was in the UK last year to visit St. Mary’s Stadium that is home to Southampton and the love for the game in England simply blew me away. I can only imagine the magnitude of the occasion when Gor line up against Everton on Tuesday,” Kalinga offered.

Some of the riveting stories that have churned out of his sharp pen include riveting features on Gor youngsters, Raphael Asudi and Eliud Lukuwam who will be traveling to Europe for the first time as well as the charismatic head coach, Dylan Kerr, who will lead the SPL winners in his land of birth.

“I share all the excitement of my first ever trip to the UK with Gor as well as my colleagues and being given the chance to update our devoted followers on our digital platforms of the events as they unfold at Goodison is a honour.

 “The enormity of the task ahead is not a burden on my resolve to work with our partners in Liverpool to give you engaging, interactive, prompt and pristine content on social and I’m so eager for it,” Digital Executive Trizah, who is also a passionate supporter of the game, underlined.

In Nairobi, Mutwiri Mutuota, the Senior Content Editor and Sub Editor Erick Ochieng in addition to their Digital Executive colleagues, Dennis Maina, Brenda Chekata and Jane Njoroge will work closely with the team in the UK to burn the midnight oil to bring all the latest from Liverpool and beyond.

In the aftermath of the first ever successful meeting of the two clubs that ended 2-1 in favour of Everton on July 13, 2017 at a jam-packed National Stadium in Dar, organisers of the annual SportPesa Cup decided to take the winners of the 2018 tournament to play at Goodison.

Such was the resounding impact of the pioneering visit of an English Premier League team to East Africa dubbed ‘Everton in Tanzania’, that gaming giants, SportPesa and the Blues scooped two awards at the prestigious UK Sports Industry Awards on August 20 this year.

SportsPesa and Everton won in the Best African Sponsorship and Pan-Africa Campaign of the Year categories.

Log on www.sportpesanews.com, or hit us on @SportPesaNews and @SportPesa handles on Twitter, SportPesa News and SportPesa on Facebook and SportPesa on Instagram to be part of history.