For the first time, a team from Murang’a County will play in Kenya’s top football league.
On Sunday, Murang’a Sports Excellence Academy Limited (Murang’a Seal) qualified to play in Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) next season with four rounds of matches left to the end of the season after beating Coastal Heroes 1-0 in a National Super League (NSL) match played at Mbaraki Sports Club.
Ally Yusuf scored the all-important goal for Murangá Seal in the first half. Murangá Seal qualified to play in the top league after collecting 64 points in 29 matches.
The team was promoted to the 2023/2024 FKF-PL season alongside second-placed Shabana FC, who also beat Migori Youth 1-0 on Sunday at Gusii Stadium. Shabana last played in the top league 17 years ago.
Muranga Seal are yet to play Kibera Black Stars, Shabana FC and Gusii FC in the second-tier NSL.
Murang’a Seal players and fans could not hide their joy after learning the promotion of the team.
Fans posted congratulatory messages on social media as soon as they learnt of the team’s promotion.
“Finally! We have had a long wait but it is finally over,” Alfred Maina, a staunch supporter of the team, wrote on Facebook.
Murathi Magochi was mesmerised by the journey the team has taken to the top league. ‘This is historic! For the first time we will have a team from Murang’a in the premier league, putting Murang’a County on the national map,” he wrote on Facebook. He urged Murang’a County government to support the club.
Other fans in Murang’a expressed optimism that the team will do well in the top league next season.
“I’m optimistic that the team has what it takes to challenge the crème de la crème of Kenyan football,” George Maina said.
“It has been an extraordinary journey,” said Henry Gathamaru.
“We can’t wait to host teams like Gor Mahia, AFC leopards, Tusker and many others at our home ground. They will know there is a new sheriff in town. This will become a slaughter house for those teams,” he added.
Murang’a Seal’s promotion to the FKF-Premier League is a culmination of three years of hard work. Since 2020, the team has come close to earning promotion, which came this season in a large part due to the effort of seasoned coach Vincent Nyaberi.
“We are happy to have earned promotion to the top league but we are not there yet. We want to finish the league on top, so we have to win all our remaining matches,” Nyaberi told Nation Sport on Monday.
Murang’a Seal displaced Shabana from the top of the league after winning ten games.
Established in 2016, the team beat the odds to secure promotion to the NSL in 2019.
The team, largely made up of rookies and part-time players, has worked its way to the FKF Premier League without a sponsor.
At first, the team held its training sessions at the dusty Kiharu Stadium. The club’s president, Robert Macharia, has played a leading role in its rise, supporting it financially from his salary for six years till 2021 when SportPesa became the club’s sponsor in a three-year deal worth Sh26 million.
Macharia has lauded the players for exemplary performance despite the challenges the team faced, saying the future looks bright.
In 2019, Macharia acquired a 16-acre piece of land and started constructing a playground called St Sebastian Park, which became the club’s home ground. It is located in Githuri, Kiharu Constituency, some 16km from Murang’a town. It cost Sh350 million.
“St Sebastian Park project has taken longer to complete due to financial constraints, but it has helped the club to cut costs,” said Macharia. “We still have a long way to go but my dream is to create a football network,” he said.
