Slum Boys turned around a season which seemed destined to end in relegation in a storming fightback
By Barry Silah, August 20, 2021Following the miraculous survival of FKF Premier League side Mathare United on the penultimate stage of the competition, queries are being asked as to how the Slum Boys got into the unfortunate status and how they managed to crawl out of the dark hole.
After their slim 1-0 over former League Champions Ulinzi Stars on Wednesday afternoon, the team is now safe from the chop and assured a place in the forthcoming season.
The popular club owned by Norwegian Bob Munro has, since being formed 27 years ago, won the championship once in 2008 and the then Moi Golden Cup twice in 1998 and 2000. However this is the first time they had to dig deep to escape relegation.
Mathare United, who had a contractual beef with the Football Kenya Federation over broadcast arrangement with StarTimes, started the season rather late thus affecting their momentum.
After signing the broadcast deal following prolonged negotiations, the team then also entered into a deal with Triple5Bet as sponsors but the agreement fell through shortly for reasons yet to be revealed.
The former champions began their campaign with a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Zoo FC in mid-January under Salim Ali who later on was to be replaced by Frank Ouna in the second leg of the campaign.
In January, they lost four matches, won once and drew once — an indication that the season was going to be long for the team who did not even have a chance to sign players.
Ali was to leave the job on May 18 having overseen 15 matches with only two wins under his belt with the management seeking to salvage the sinking ship by bringing in former KCB and Wazito tactician Ouna.
Fast forward to August where Ouna has overseen 16 matches winning five including big scalps against 13-time champions AFC Leopards (1-0) on July 23 and Sofapaka FC (2-1) on July 31 which set the tempo of renewed optimism.
Mathare United are now on 27 points off 31 matches thanks to a buzzing mood with all home matches seeing their boss Munro and CEO Jecktone Obure present to push the boys.
Ouna believes they just needed a bit of a push to get things in order. “The club has gone through many challenges but the good thing is that there was a good vibe and optimism.
I thank the players for constantly pushing which has brought us here. This is a fantastic squad and I believe we will do better in the coming season with good planning.”