One of the greatest players ever to don the green jersey of Gor Mahia was Sammy Onyango – nicknamed ‘Jogoo’ by fans.
He made his debut for the club as a teenager in 1981 and went on to score 92 goals for the club and win 12 major trophies with the club in a career spanning nine years.
Playing primarily as a winger, ‘Jogoo’ is the club’s all-time scorer in all competitive matches (92) as well as in the league (79).
He joined Gor Mahia from Nairobi’s Hakati Sportiff and scored on his league debut – netting a brace in a 2-0 win over MoW.
His most successful period for the club was between 1986 and 1988, having returned from a serious injury that curtailed his appearances in 1985 after scoring 16 goals in all competitions the previous season.
It was during this period that he was most prolific in front of goal – scoring 17 goals in 1986, 15 goals in 1987 and 14 goals in 1988.
Jogoo was most prolific for the club when he played against archrivals AFC Leopards. He nailed seven goals (including six league goals) as well as against MoW/Motcom and KTM – where he scored six goals apiece. He scored against 47 clubs in total while donning the famous green colour.
While he never hit a hat-trick for the club, he scored braces on 14 different occasions including in matches against AFC Leopards in 1986 and a continental match against Entente from Togo in 1987.
He scored his final goal for the club on 26 December 1989 in a 2-2 draw against Shabana in s league match before moving to Kisumu Posta following a directive by the Kenya Post and Telecommunication Corporation that all its employees must play for their affiliated teams.
Jogoo donned the famous number 14 shirt while turning out for the club.
After leaving Gor Mahia, he would play for and coach Kisumu Posta for several years before passing away in a road accident in the year 2000.
FACT FILE:
SAMMY ONYANGO ‘JOGOO’
Years Active for the club: 1981-1989
Position played: Right Winger
Joined from: Hakati Sportiff
Departed for: Kisumu Posta
Goals: 92
Trophies won: 4 League titles, 1 African Cup Winners Cup (Mandela Cup), 2 Cecafa Cups, 5 FA Cups
Goals
League 79
FA Cup (Challenge Cup, Moi Golden Cup) 6
CECAFA 3
CAF 4
Total 92
4 Comments
Corrections to the caption above. Change the identities of those legends as per their pictures to their correct identities 1. Sammy Owino Kempes to Allan Thigo ‘Ogango wuon pap’ 2. Sammy Onyango Jogoo to Abbas Khamisi Magongo 3. William Chege Ouma to George Onyango Fundi and 4. George Onyango Fundi to John Okello Zangi.
Noted..
K’Ogalo fans should not despair because when you’ve reached the top, you can only come down unless you grow wings and fly to heaven. Let’s support the Coach Dylan Kerr. Things will definitely improve.
Sammy Onyano article is sumptuous. It is nice reading. One could read again and again while imagining those lethal shots he use to fire leaving goalkeepers beaten.
Nice article. Big up.
Bring another article for another Legend, I personally request for Andrew “Singh” Obunga or Nahashon Oluoch “Lule”