The year was 1981, CECAFA Club Championship at City Stadium and Gor Mahia, the defending champion was playing Kabwe Warriors of Zambia in the semifinal. The match was deadlocked at 1-1 and it seemed like the Zambians could get the better of K’Ogalo, and fans became quiet and apprehensive. Then a Kabwe Warriors defender fouled either Lule or Kempes outside the 18, and the referee awarded Gor Mahia a free kick.
The quiet fans came back to live and there were shouts of ‘John Bobby, John Bobby, the six million dollar man’. Normally, Allan Thigo or Sammy Owino Kempes were the ones who used to take direct and indirect kicks but this time round, the fans demanded for Ogolla to take the kick.
Bobby jogged from his defense position to where the direct kick was to be taken with the crowd applauding. Renown radio presenter, the late Leonard Mambo worked up the radio listeners by describing Bobby’s masculine physique and giving a bit of history on Bobby’s free kick prowess. Mambo told his listeners, ‘huyu Bobby ana kick kali sana na kuna siku kick yake ilipasua neti’. I was one of the listeners and this new info really excited me.
The crowd went quiet as Bobby prepared to take the free kick. He moved quite some distance from the ball to build momentum. The Kabwe warrior players built a wall with their backs facing Bobby. Then Bobby moved towards the ball at a good speed and took a shot that shook the back of the net before the goalkeeper could make any move. It was so fast that even Lenny Mambo found it difficult to explain how Bobby had done it.
All Mambo could say ‘the six million dollar man Bobby Ogolla amefanya kitu ata mimi siamini, hata goolie wa Kabwe warriors hakuona kitu’ Bobby’s goal was met with cheers by the home fans and this goal killed the fighting spirit of Kabwe Karriors, with the match ending at 2-1. Gor Mahia met Simba FC of Tanzania in the finals and won by a solitary goal through Lule.
Most Kenyans learned about Bobby in 1982 when Harambee Stars participated in the CECAFA tournament in Uganda. Harambee Stars faced Uganda Cranes in the finals, and Ugandans were determined to win by hook or crook.
Bobby Ogolla, who was outstanding in the defence, got injured on the head at the start of the second half and had to be given 5 stitches on his forehead. But the man continued playing till the end of the match, and this match went to extra time and had to be determined by penalties. Harambee stars won on penalties, and when they got back home, Bobby was as popular as Abbas.
On the way back home aboard the KAF plane, Bobby was taking whisky straight from the bottle, maybe to ease the pain on his head. Coach Marshall Mulwa politely told him to go slow on the drink, but Bobby told his coach he was ok and could handle his drink. He took five quarters of whisky, and what surprised Marshall Mulwa and the rest of the players when they landed was that Bobby seemed to be the soberest person in the team; he was not even staggering one little bit.
This Story was narrated by Basil Jambason Otieno
