Featured Image: Cabinet minister Tom Mboya is introduced to players by captain James Sianga
The formation of Gor Mahia in 1968 was necessitated by the fact that Abaluhya FC had dominated the league in 1966 and 1967. The perception was that Abaluhya were winning because they united all Luhya players in one team, whereas Luos were split into three teams namely Luo Sports club, Luo Union and Kisumu Hotstars. In partricular the rivalry between Oginga Odinga and Tom Mboya had caused pure mayhem in 1967 splitting players between the three teams and resulting in Luo Union being left out of the 1967 league.
It was with this in mind that a group of officials approached Tom Mboya with the idea to unite the teams into one in order to challenge the dominance of Abaluhya FC. After several marathon meetings at the residence of Tom Mboya, Gor Mahia was formed in February 1968, bringing together players from Luo Union and Luo Sports clubs which both dissolved into Gor Mahia, plus the players who had left Luo Union to join Kisumu Hotstars in 1967. It was a formidable squad that included goalkeeper James Sianga, Walter Molo, Chris Obure, defender John Otieno “Hatari” , goalscoring machine William Ouma “Chege”, playmaker Stephen Yongo and others.
Gor Mahia announced their intentions by beating defending champions Abaluhya FC 2-1 in the third round of the league with William Ouma “Chege” scoring a brace. Ouma “Chege” would end as the top scorer in the league as Gor Mahia were crowned champions in 1968.
