Not even a draw against Mathare United could put a damper on Gor Mahia as they lifted the Sportpesa Kenya Premier League trophy for a record 17th time – extending their dominance as the country’s most successful club in the competition.
And what a decade it has been for the club as they bagged their sixth league title in seven years – with only Tusker breaking the sequence in 2016 when Gor Mahia narrowly lost out having been deducted three points for crowd trouble.
The league title ensures Gor Mahia will represent the country in continental football for the 25th time – a record for Kenya ahead of AFC Leopards (21 times).
No club in the premier league has won so many league titles in such a short span, the closest being the Gor Mahia team of the 80s that won four league titles in five years between 1983 and 1987.
This season marks the sixth time Gor Mahia has defended the league title (1984, 1985, 1991, 2014, 2015, 2018). This is more than any other club with AFC Leopards having defended the title 4 times (1967, 1981, 1982, 1989) and Tusker 3 times (1978, 2000, 2012).
Many great players have laid their hands on the league trophy for the club. Haroun Shakava joins a host of club legends such as John Bobby Ogolla, Sammy Onyango ‘Jogoo’, Hesbon Omollo, Austin Oduor, Abass Khamis Magongo and more recently Musa Mohammed and George Odhiambo ‘Berry’ in lifting the trophy four times with the club.
No player has lifted it five times with the club before and history could yet be made next season.
Jacques Tuyisenge continues to lead the league scoring charts for the club with 14 goals and has two games left to improve on his tally as he continues with his hunt for the golden boot.
The record for most league goals for the club in a title winning campaign is jointly held by George Yoga (1979) and Hesbon Omollo (1984) who both scored 23 league goals for the club.