The island of Ireland has produced no shortage of talented and successful football managers from Martin O’Neill and Mick McCarthy to Chris Hughton and Brendan Rogers. You can now add Johnathan McKinstry to that esteemed list as he guided his side to a famous league title, not close to home but all the way over in Kenya!
Against all the odds, McKinstry’s side, Gor Mahia, lifted the Kenyan premier league title in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season.
Despite building up a comfortable gap to second-placed and defending champions Tusker, Gor Mahia’s form wobbled as the season drew to a close meaning they had it all to do in their final game against Nairobi City Stars last month.
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Pressure was building on McKinstry’s side who picked up just five points from a possible 15 in their five fixtures leading up to the final game. Things didn’t get any easier when Samuel Kapen opened the scoring for the Nairobi City Stars on the stroke of halftime.
However, undoubtedly a rousing speech during the interval by McKinstry meant his side turned things around in the second half. Benson Omala equalised first before Peter Lwasa doubled their tally. Late goals from Austin Odhiambo and Alpha Onynago sealed a 4-1 victory and secured Gor Mahia’s 20th league title.
Speaking to Mozzart Sport after the game, McKinstry said “So few coaches and players get to experience moments like this. There are 18 teams in this league with 30 players at each of them, yet it is us who get to experience this.”
He added “If you went and asked 100 people on the street in July last year, did they think Gor Mahia had a chance of winning the league, maybe five or ten of them would have said yes. But the players have stepped up and grown up a lot. It is just fantastic.”
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Despite not being a household name in Ireland, McKinstry has plenty of football coaching experience that has led him to his recent success. He started his coaching career in youth development at clubs like Newcastle United, New York Red Bulls, the Right to Dream Academy and the Craig Bellamy Foundation.
He entered senior coaching in 2013 when he was appointed manager of the Sierra Leone national football team where he enjoyed great success before being appointed manager of the Rwanda national side.
He had stints in Lithuania and Bangladesh before returning to national team management with Uganda. Finally, he ended up with Gor Mahia a year ago and found a team few had predicted would be capable of winning the league but McKinstry and his side beat the odds to claim the historic title win.
We certainly haven’t heard the last of Johnathan McKinstry. The Lisburn man has a very high reputation in football coaching and his latest victory will only enhance his standing in the game. Alongside his coaching work, he also does plenty of charity work too, working with the charity Common Goal and the Sir Stanley Matthews Foundation.
Conor Paterson