FKFPL: AFC Leopards 28-year title push begins with Sofapaka clash
.jpg)
Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 20.09.25. | 07:45
The two former champions are chasing a positive start to their campaigns with Ingwe banking on the Ambani brothers to propel them to a trumphant season
Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) round one continues with two matches lined up for Saturday, 20 September.
The league resumes after a three-month break occasioned by the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN), which Kenya co-hosted alongside Uganda and Tanzania in August.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for more news
Kenyan giants AFC Leopards open their season with a match against Sofapaka scheduled to take place at the Ulinzi Sports Complex, Lang’ata, from 1600 hrs.
Leopards will be hoping that the new era of former club striker Boniface Ambani as club chairman will also turn into a new era of results that will bring an end to their 28-year wait for the league title.
Boniface is the younger brother of Ingwe coach Fred Ambani. Interestingly, the last time the club won the league, in 1998, the Ambani brothers were at the club as strikers, Fred ending up as the top scorer.
The duo will be keen to replicate the feat, albeit in different capacities.
Fred, who had been acting on an interim basis since November 2024, was confirmed by the club as the substantive coach and begins his title push with a clash against Sofapaka.
The 1998 champions will be encouraged by their off-season additions, including the signing of hitman Samuel Ssenyonjo from Ugandan outfit Express FC.
Sofapaka, on the other hand, will be starting life without a good number of last season’s first eleven and first team players who departed the club largely due to the financial situation at the club.
Coach Ezekiel Akwana lost key players, including captain Humphrey Mieno, his assistant Baron Ochieng, top scorer Edward ‘Ondimo’ Omondi, and midfield star Jack Ong’anya, among others.
The last four matches between the two sides, which were played in the last two seasons, all ended in stalemates, with the last win in the fixture traced back to 21 June 2023, a 2-1 win for Batoto Ba Mungu.
The other match of the day will see Kariobangi Sharks host coastal side Bandari FC at the Kasarani Annex from 1500 hrs.
The match promises to be an entertaining clash as both sides prefer to build from the back, string passes in midfield, and launch attacks from the wings.
The match also pits former Harambee Stars assistant coaches, William Muluya for Sharks and Ken Odhiambo for The Dockers, all of whom served under former Kenyan coach Engin Firat.
Bandari have not lost any of their last five matches against Sharks, winning four and drawing one, with Sharks’ last win coming back in January 2023, an 87th-minute strike by Shariff Musa, who has since joined Gor Mahia.
.jpg)
