The rise and rise of Murang'a Seal

Without a doubt, Kenyan Premier League newbies Murang’a Seal have announced their arrival in style — having accomplished their lifetime dream of gracing the top-flight stage.

Seal, founded in 2016, earned promotion to the country’s top tier after placing second in the preceding National Super League season with 69 points, four adrift of champions Shabana.

With three victories out of five games, Seal have proven their mettle in the fierce top-tier competition. They are currently second on the log with nine points, four behind leaders Posta Rangers.

A remarkable 1-0 win over Shabana at the Raila Odinga Stadium in Homa Bay county marked the beginning of their adventure in the 2023–24 season.

They went further and registered another surprise 1-0 victory over last season’s FKF champions Kakamega Homeboyz at St. Sebastian Park in their second top-flight appearance.

However, they experienced a drastic transformation in their fortunes after losing back-to-back fixtures against more established opponents.

Seal crashed 1-0 to Posta Rangers at home before losing by the same margin to Talanta at Kasarani Annex.

They eventually found their footing again to stun Nzoia Sugar 1-0 at Sudi Stadium last weekend.

Club chairman Robert Macharia says Murang’a Seal (an acronym for Sports Excellence Academy Limited), have their sights firmly trained on becoming the best footballing academy in the region.

“Our main objective is to nurture talent to feed both local and international clubs. Of course, playing in the league will accord our players the best platform to showcase their talent locally,” Macharia says.

“We intend to assign an experienced pool of coaches with the expertise to hone the required level of footballing skills.”

Given the blueprint, the Kiharu-based club has already acquired a 26-acre parcel of land where it will put up a boarding house, restaurant, clinic, entertainment hall, gym, swimming pool, and stadium.

Macharia said he got inspired to embrace the concept after attending an encounter between English Premier League giants, Arsenal and Manchester City.

“The players I saw there are not far much different from those we have locally in terms of quality. They are propelled to greater heights by the level of coaching and the infrastructure they get exposed to from a tender age.”

“What I saw when I visited the Southampton Academy amazed me. I got to understand why they have always produced the best talent in the country. There is a clear progression in different age grades right from Under 10 to Under 17.

“We have some excellent talent in the country who can make a big impact on the international stage if properly groomed,” he added. Macharia said the infrastructure he saw in Southampton equally drew his attention and he strongly believes he can replicate the idea at home.

“We already have a master plan in place and we are in the process of establishing the relevant infrastructure and selecting players on merit,” he said. “We seek to mould players who will inspire upcoming generations of young people, who are eager to pursue football as a career.”

Seal had always clung to the dream of flexing muscles with the big guns on the country’s most coveted platform as they rose through the lower tiers of the football hierarchy.

They were about to realise their target two years ago when they cracked a top-three finish in the NSL. That, however, turned out to be just another mirage after several unforeseen factors connived to deny them a perfect opportunity to join the big stage.

A court ruling derailed Seal’s promotion bid and turned their lofty goals into a nightmare. The unfortunate turn of events was precipitated by the country’s football arena’s heated and protracted squabbles. A ray of hope appeared on the horizon when the Sports Disputes Tribunal ordered that the club be awarded the six points deducted from their matches against Muhoroni Youth and Zoo Kericho.

They, eventually, settled for third place and competed in the playoffs for a promotion spot against Wazito, who had finished third from bottom in the KPL.

Seal fought valiantly in the two-legged playoff but, ultimately, fell short on aggregate score. If the ruling had been implemented, Seal would have automatically won the National Super League.

Despite the defeat, they did not give up. The club lodged a petition in court, claiming Wazito fielded an ineligible player in both games, an offence that has earned Seal an automatic spot in the top tier.

However, even before the case was resolved, a sudden shift in the local football landscape threw Seal’s KPL ambitions into disarray.

Following the expulsion of the Football Kenya Federation, led by Nick Mwendwa, by former Sports CS Amina Mohamed in November 2021, the government formed a Caretaker Committee to oversee football in the country.

The Transition Committee was tasked with managing all tiers across the country, including club promotion and relegation, and was even involved in Seal’s case that season.

The FKF Transition Committee’s term expired, and the government-appointed body was forced to make way for the reinstatement of the expelled administration.

When the expelled FKF administration reclaimed its mandate at Kandanda House, the National Executive Committee declared the previous season’s league results null and void.

The FKF NEC stated that it would not recognise any activities managed by the Transition Committee and that everything would be restarted from scratch.

With that, any hopes of Murang’a Seal playing in the KPL were dashed. But playing in the Premier League is not Seal’s ultimate ambition, according to Macharia.

Undoubtedly, the private football enterprise based in Kiharu Constituency has enhanced the status of football in the Mt Kenya region.

The region has gone for years without a formidable representative in the top tier. Before Seal’s arrival, Thika-based Bidco United had held forte for Mt. Kenya for the last three years.

Macharia said he is equally surprised by the heights that the project he envisioned a few years ago has attained thus far.

Head coach Gabriel ‘Kingi’ Njoroge said they could just as well be the competition’s dark horses if they maintain their impressive record.

“We started the season well with two back-to-back wins but got jolted a bit by the two losses,” Njoroge said adding that they will continue to work on their weaknesses in their quest to bag the national title.

“I am glad we have eventually regained our form after noting our weak areas and working on them,” he said.

Assistant coach Vincent Nyaberi says the club boasts sufficient depth to assert authority in their maiden KPL appearance.

Nyaberi is credited with steering the side to the top tier last season before he paved the way for Kingi to take over the reins.

In a warning shot, the gaffer said they had sharpened their claws well enough to prevail over any opposition posed on the top-flight stage.

“Nobody should expect us to be pushovers. We are not coming to donate points to other teams in the league. We are ready to make ourselves count,” Nyaberi said in an interview before the league kicked off.

Nyaberi was, however, emphatic that their key objective will be to maintain a topflight status, warning his charges not to expect a walk in the park.

“I am preparing them psychologically for the uphill task we expect ahead. I strongly believe they are ready to make their presence felt and prove that our promotion was not a mere fluke,” Nyaberi said.

“We have reached a unanimous decision as a team that we will have to fight tooth and nail and remain in the top league at the end of the season. We must do whatever it takes to avoid relegation.”

Nyaberi admitted that it would be a challenge for them to stay afloat if they failed to unleash all their potent arsenals.

“There is an entirely different ball game in the Kenyan Premier League and as such we shall have to push our performance above and beyond if we intend to rise to the occasion,” Nyaberi said.

He, however, noted that they equal to the task since some of the players have played in the topflight league before.

“We have some players who have experienced the cutthroat competition that comes with KPL matches and I believe they will be in a good position to offer the necessary guidance to their inexperienced teammates,” Nyaberi said.

“We have teams like Bidco United and Police which successfully managed to maintain their presence in the league after earning promotion and I believe we can learn a lot from them.”

The former Shabana FC player, however, warned his charges to expect an entirely different experience on the topflight stage, adding that the playing surfaces are ways apart.

“We shall have to get used to playing in a different environment, where the quality of the pitch is comparatively better than what we are used to seeing in the NSL,” said Nyaberi.

“It’s obvious that FKF has set aside better pitches for the Premier League matches compared to those used by teams in the NSL.”