Gor Mahia Coach Reveals AFC Leopards Warning He Received and the Game that Made Them Champions

Gor Mahia coach Charles Akonnor has shared some of the challenges he experienced on his way to delivering the FKF Premier League title.

Akonnor guided Gor Mahia to a record-extending 22nd league crown, seeing them reclaim the title that had slipped away in 2025, when Kenya Police pipped them.

The Ghanaian tactician experienced many bumps along the road and says he learned of the bitter rivalry that exists between Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards on his first day in the job.

“The day we were unveiled, we were warned, you cannot lose against AFC. We lost in our first game but the second was challenging so we had to think,” Akonnor, whose side lost 1-0 to Leopards last December before winning by the same margin in April, said on NTV.

The 51-year-old says while losing to Leopards was an ‘abomination’ he had already felt the pain and pressure of managing Gor Mahia before that when his side started the season with a shock 1-0 defeat to Bidco United in September.

“Our biggest challenge was when we lost our first match which was a wake-up call. It made the technical team think deeper every now and then,” he added.

“I have a solid technical team led by myself, Kobi-Mensah Bismark [assistant], Ben Owu [goalkeeper trainer] and Joshua Kofi Boafo who is the video analyst and we have Steve who joined us later in terms of physical fitness. So we worked very hard, a lot of thinking behind every action the boys take and also tactical play.”

Since that opening day loss, Gor Mahia went on a seven-match unbeaten run, winning six over that period, which saw them start believing but it was a match in January that convinced Akonnor that K’Ogalo were capable of winning the league.

“We did so well but the most defining moment was against Murang’a Seal where we were 2-0 down in the first half,” Akonnor recalled the game which his team won 3-2. “They came back in the second half to score three goals which was a difficult thing and that is how mentally, we were able to prepare them and that helped us believe."

“That helped us work on their mental toughness for them to be aware and understand tactically what we wanted them to do so the boys have coped very well and everything paid off.”

Overall, Gor Mahia won 20 of their 34 games, drawing nine and losing five, to end the season with 69 points, five more than second-placed Leopards.