1989 Kenya National Football League
AFC Leopards further strengthened their formidable side from 1988 with additional players like Ali Timani who joined from Re Union , Sammy Simiyu who joined from Shabana and attacking ace Abdallah Shebe who previously played for Gor Mahia and had been the first person to go from the Kenyan League to Europe.
AFC Leopards, still sponsored by Crown Paints, were consistent throughout the season and went on to win the league by 7 points.
Kenya National Football League Standings 1989
1989 CECAFA Club Cup
The 1989 CECAFA club cup was held in Nairobi and Mombasa. Kenya Breweries played as the defending champions while AFC Leopards were Kenya’s representatives.
Breweries were a stronger side than the previous year with the addition of Henry Motego, Mike Okoth Origi and others. They were coached by Briton Tony Banfield.
Breweries opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over Coastal Union of Tanzania, before beating MDC of Malawi 3-1. They lost their last group game 2-0 to Nchanga Rangers of Zambia. AFC Leopards started with a 1-0 win over Villa of Uganda, beat Al Hilal of Sudan 2-0, drew 0-0 with Small Simba of Zanzibar and beat MBC of Somalia 5-0.
In the semis, Breweries beat Villa of Uganda 2-0 while AFC lost on penalties to Coastal Union. Breweries went on to retain the title by beating Coastal Union 3-0 in the final. Paul Onyiera scored two goals while Motego added the third.
1989 Harambee Stars Campaigns
AFCON Qualifiers
In qualifying matches, 1989 was a successful season for Harambee Stars. They qualified for the 1990 Africa Cup of nations. 1989 was also the closest Harambee Stars has ever come to qualifying for the World Cup. Coach Mohamed Kheri did very well while working under difficult conditions.
In the 1989 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Kenya started against Sudan, losing the opening leg 0-1 in Khartoum. In the second leg, the game was scoreless in the waning moments when coach Kheri introduced Peter Dawo as a late substitute. Dawo rewarded Kheri when he scored a late goal after pouncing on a rebound. The game went to penalties and again Dawo scored the winning penalty after Washington Muhanji had saved two penalties.
In the second round, Lenya faced off against Malawi. The first leg played in Nairobi ended 0-0. After the match, Harambee Stars players refused to resume training citing unpaid allowances and at one point vowed not to board the plane to Malawi. In fact Harambee Stars hardly trained for the two weeks before the return leg. Nobody expected good results. But Harambee Stars shocked fans with a 3-2 victory in Blantyre. Anthony Ndolo scored twice with Bernard Otieno adding the other.
World Cup Qualifiers
Kenya was placed in group B in the African qualifiers for the 1990 World Cup. Kenya had drew with Malawi and Egypt at home, drew with Liberia away and then beat Liberia 1-0 at home with a goal from George Onyango “Fundi”. Liberia had the legendary George Weah in their team.. On the last day of qualifying, Kenya was second in the standings with 5 points, one behind leaders Egypt. They traveled to Cairo knowing that a win over Egypt would put them atop the group. The game was televised live on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. The first half was scoreless and Kenya surprised everyone by holding their own against the hosts. In the second minute of the second half, captain Austin Oduor scored from a goalmouth melee resulting from a corner kick. Howver the goal was called off by the centre referee who claimed the goalkeeper was infringed upon. The disallowed goal seemed to demoralize Harambee Stars who went on to lose 0-2. Nevertheless it is the closest Kenya has ever come to qualifying for the World Cup.
