Whenever, Rishadu Shedu reminisces about his long career in football, as a player and coach, the English proverb ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’ resonates.
The 62-year-old football guru has surmounted career-threatening injuries that have left him pensive over what the future holds but each time he has emerged stronger.
Six years ago, a freak leg injury kept him away from the game as he sought treatment and recovery. That meant time away from his new side Kenyan Premier League club KCB.
“In 2014 when I joined, KCB were struggling in the relegation zone. I was away seeking treatment when I returned to find the team in a tricky situation. Everyone had written us off as relegation bound. We won many games in succession but were still not safe. We looked doomed when we met Gor Mahia in a must-win match. Paul Kiongera scored a late goal to win us the game against all odds. I forgot I had an injury and jumped in jubilation and aggravated the injury,” he recounted.
KCB survived that season but were relegated the following year with Shedu absent with most of the times unable to take the team through training. Experienced player Elvis Ayany was in charge for most of the campaign.
Shedu recounts: “I had a surgery in February 2015 and was away for most of the season. I saw the team struggling and even with my injury, I wanted to help out but sadly just appearing on the bench without actively training the team was futile and KCB were eventually relegated.”
That was to be his last coaching job in the KPL but it was not his first misfortune with injuries. While still a player in 1981, Shedu was named in the travelling party for the national football team, Harambee Stars’ trip to Ghana for a friendly. But as fate dictated, he was involved in an accident when the motorcycle he was riding was involved in a collision with a car and he sustained a leg injury. With no way to communicate with team officials, he was considered to have played truant as his compatriots flew to Ghana.
“Back then, there were no specialists for leg injuries hence having an injury like the one I had sounded a death knell to the careers of many sportsmen. In my case, the injury affected my playing career. When I was at Kenya Textile Mills (KTM), I was on and off in the team due to persistent swelling of my knee as the injury I had sustained from the motorcycle accident was not fully attended to,” explained Shedu, whose love for football started as a kid growing up in Majengo slums in Kamukunji constituency and blossomed at Eastleigh High School.
The motorcycle accident injury inadvertently led Shedu towards coaching, wherein 1985, he got his first job as an assistant coach to David Asibwa at Maziwa, a second-tier side that was determined to join the top division.
A desire to chart his own coaching career saw him move to another ambitious club Barclays. His performances on the technical bench for a rival club saw his employer KCC transfer him to Nakuru. His nascent coaching career was at a crossroads as he had to work nightshift and had no time to engage in coaching. Subtly in 1987 after ending his blossoming relationship in the dugout with Barclays, he was named Maziwa head coach.
“I did very well at Maziwa but the constraints of working while at the same time coaching made it difficult for me as I loved football more hence I resigned and returned to Barclays,” narrated Shedu.
He, alongside Hussein Kheri, catapulted the Ruaraka-based club to the top division then in 1989 known as Super League. But once again circumstances conspired to halt his upward mobility.
“Upon our promotion, the top manager of Barclays sought to congratulate us. As the players introduced themselves, the European boss soon realised that almost the entire team was made up of non-staff members. With all the resources Barclays had invested in the team, he demanded that players be recruited from the bank's employees.”
Barclays then had talented players like Mike Khaduli, Peter Mwololo and his three brothers Bramwell, Edwin and Gideon as well as goalkeeper Haggai Azande.
“This was a team with talented players and most decided to leave. Mwololo went to Tusker and Khaduli joined Gor and the struggles of Barclays began and eventually the club was disbanded,” Shedu said.
A return to his former club KTM beckoned in 1993, where he teamed up with Twahhir Muhhidin. The team emerged as a real challenger for the title but tailed off to finish third. That very year, Shedu received an invitation to improve his coaching skills in Hungary coming back to join Alaskan, then under Jack Johnson. Boardroom politics led to the disbandment of the club as Shedu moved to Utalii in 1995.
“Utalii had survived relegation under Marshall Mulwa when I took over. My interpersonal relationship with the players meant we had a chance in 1996. We started the season well and were clearly among contenders for the title. I, however, left mid-season to join Two Fishes in Mombasa who had offered me double my salary. It was an offer I could not refuse and I switched allegiance very quickly,” Shedu recalled with a knowing wink.
Ill luck was to follow him again as Two Fishes who were bound for promotion was disbanded after the infamous ‘Kaya Bombo’ fires that razed down the hotel business which supported the club. Shedu was on the move again joining Ulinzi with whom he won his first cup as a coach— the Hedex Cup.
“Ulinzi approached me and told me they wanted to form a joint military team from Scarlet, Waterworks, Kahawa and Navy. I brought on board players like Francis Onyiso, Tom Ogweno and Lawrence Owino who were in my Under 17 team. They made a good blend with more experienced players like Benjamin Nyangweso (current Ulinzi coach), Dunstan Nyaudo and Elijah Karanja among others,” Shedu said.
“It was a foundation that saw Ulinzi enjoy success at the turn of the millennium,” he asserted. His knack for spotting talent also saw him pick future Uefa champions league winner McDonald Mariga and Afcon 2004 alumni Andrew Oyombe to play for Ulinzi. These players, he believes, altered the playing style of Ulinzi to the current modern way of football. He had his first stint as KCB coach between 2004-2007.
After KCB were relegated in 2015 and his leg injury not getting better, Shedu sought specialised treatment abroad in India that cost him over Sh2 million.
“Had it not been for the generosity of the players who passed through my hands, I don’t know whether I could have received such kind of treatment that has now enabled me to walk on my own two legs,” he said. Now Shedu is rekindling his passion for coaching by training Women Premier League outfit Makolanders.
“I see myself staying with the girls if the league will be run in a more serious way, unlike last season where there were no sponsors and teams gave away a lot of walkovers. Kenyan women football is on the rise and we need to support it as we would the men’s game,” urged Shedu.
With more spare time on his hands since his last stint as a KPL coach, the Majengo native has rekindled some of his passion as a youngster. He now rears pigeons, rabbits, chicken, ducks, turkeys, geese as well as Guinea fowls. He also tends to a small garden behind his house in California estate where he grows vegetables and fruits like oranges, bananas and avocados.
“I do much of this as a hobby but not mainly for commercial purposes. With my advancing age, I get fresh vegetables and fruits from my garden which keeps me healthy. Sometimes when I have visitors, I can slaughter a chicken or two for them from my poultry,” he chuckled proudly.
With soccer being a major part of his life, Shedu founded Star Soccer Academy to nurture the next generation of players. The academy which takes budding footballers aged between seven and 14 years from across Nairobi County, currently has seen several of them called up to the junior national. Mohamed Mosha, Yusuf Mohamed and Mohamed Jabiro are part of the national Under-25 team at the FKF Centre of Excellence while Said Kaoneka and Keith Ombali are regulars in the Rising Stars Under-20 squad.
Yusuf Muchoki,19, is their most successful product so far featuring in the National Super League side Modern Coast. The Star Soccer Academy does not involve itself in football alone. They are taught life skills and also engage in communal activities like clean-ups. They have been lucky to be trained by legendary former footballers like Sunday Oliseh, Nwankwo Kanu and German World Cup-winning skipper Lothar Matthaeus.
“I am happy to be setting a foundation for the development of future talent. With the support of my former players Richard Asabe, Allan Odhiambo, Mike Okoth and many others, we get playing boots and uniform and also we have secured financial support for some of the boys to join secondary school. I believe the current federation is doing very well in setting up youth structures and giving coaches technical support. This should be embraced by all future regimes,” he said.
Shedu also advocated for the empowering of coaches because it is them who pay the price for a teams failure. “The situation currently has tied the hands of coaches and they cannot work freely. They do their job fearing the sack. They do not have a final say in the recruitment of players. They sometimes work at cross purposes with their coaching staff. Cases of officials arm twisting coaches to have their players of choice signed up are rampant,” he alleged.
“Coaches need to have a safety net with a say in who they work with. An expanded technical bench with experts in particular fields is also required in the modern game. This, in my opinion, will reduce the cases of sabotage among coaches and also get more opportunities for hundreds of coaches who are without a job to make meaningful use of their skills,” Shedu suggested.
Shedu finished by challenging aspirants for particular positions to rise up now and show what they can do when they take over leadership positions at the Football Kenya Federation and not give empty promises to stakeholders when campaigning.
“We want to see tangible things that an aspirant has done. Which sponsors are backing him once he or she takes office and not the incessant politicking we have witnessed for far too long,” he opined. Shedu desires to have a crack at winning the Premier League title that has eluded him throughout his long career. “My dream remains winning the league. I have shown I am a good coach by turning teams from also runs to title challengers. If I get an opportunity with a top side, I will win the league.”
He concluded: “A coach is as good as his players.”