Mathews Ottamax: Former Harambee Stars’ goalkeeper pays glowing tribute to departed Mathare United boss Bob Munro

Former Harambee Stars goalkeeper Mathews Ottamax has paid a glowing tribute to the late Bob Munro, the celebrated Mathare United FC chairman.

After his death, Ottamax has looked back at how Munro’s initiative was a key opportunity for him to launch his career as a footballer.

“Allow me to celebrate the life of this great legend, a true father of a football community, a mentor to many, a beacon of hope, and a guardian to a multitude of ghetto children, in my own words, as history can best remind me.

“Since the wake of the sad news of his passing on, a lot of people have spoken about how good Bob Munro was, and I want to speak about how Bob Munro strove to make my life good.

“I pride myself as a pioneer member of the Mathare Youth Sports Association, his brainchild in August of 1988 at Eastleigh Community Centre. Lucky was me when a group of predominantly white men came to survey the field at lunch hour. With most of my colleagues having taken that important lunch break to their respective nearby homes, I was left alone juggling the rugged polythene mound that served as our soccer ball,” Ottamax said in a post on Facebook.

According to the retired goalkeeper, his interaction with Munro was also a blessing for his family at large.

“In a nutshell, my first interaction with Bob Munro was a business opportunity for my family, which went a long way to support the livelihood of the Otama family. I formed a very tight bond with Bob since that day, and today, I will openly say here that the regrets that I have had in life are not following Bob Munro,” he said.

Career growth

The former AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia custodian also explained how MYSA, Munro’s brainchild initiative, helped him grow his career.

“Growing up in the MYSA setup, and with the immense rare footballing talent that I exhibited, Bob introduced me to all necessary leadership classes and training to achieve a complete person both on and off the pitch.

“By the time MYSA was two years old in 1990, through my talent, I inevitably made it in the group of 16 boys that did the maiden Norway Cities tour and Norge Cup tournament participation to open the way for many thousand others because we displayed great talent on Ekeberg pitches and an exemplary show of discipline off the green grids of football.

“Bob Munro exposed me to the local and international football world; everyone who saw me wanted to have my services as a player, but Bob saw beyond just playing football in Kenya,” he added.

Apart from Ottamax, former players, current ones, and even clubs have poured their tributes for Munro.