Jerry’s 200th game: Gor Mahia keeper Jeremy Onyango looks back on tumultuous football career

BY TOM BWANA

Gor Mahia captain and Kenya International goalkeeper Jeremy Fredericks Onyango will be making his 200th appearance for Gor Mahia on the competitive front when the club faces league giants Tusker FC today- a mega milestone for a player in the local league.

If one describes a career as having ups and downs, it has been Jerry’s. 

“Football is an unfair game. Today you are excellent and everyone sings your praise, but tomorrow you make a blunder and you are the biggest enemy of the club,” he regrets.

“In one match, just within the 90 minutes, a goalkeeper can make all the dazzling saves but lets in one goal at the end of the match and the fans will give you a dismissive hand of ‘umetuuza’ (you have let us down),” he says.

Joining Gor Mahia in August 2008 from KRA FC, the young goalkeeper was merely testing waters whose depth he could not tell. 

“When I came to the club it was coach Sammy Omolo who was the head coach.”

“I was not sure what path my career would take. A bit jittery, I was but hopeful at the same time.” he recalls.

When Jerry joined the club, he had no clear chance of playing in that season. Not even a chance of staying on the bench because the club had two top goalkeepers in Jacktone Odhiambo and George Odhiambo (now the late).

diligent, patient

Jacktone was not only the first choice keeper of the time but good at it so the poor Jerry had to contend with the bench on the occasions he was lucky to make it to the squad.

But what Jerry has excelled in over his close to six years in the club is diligence and patience. He soon rose from merely training to a regular on the bench then a few matches in the main team. Soon he was a regular figure between the posts for Gor Mahia and would later be named captain in 2011 when captain Julius Owino hung up his boots.

hard work

His hard work and competitive spirit is admired by his teammates and adversaries alike. Former teammate and competitor for the number one jersey Ronnie Kagunzi, who now plays for league debutants Top Fry All Stars, says Jerry is special.

“We usually don’t associate newcomers with excellence, but when Jerry joined Gor in 2008, his agility and dedication surprised quite a number of us. He looked like he was almost fully made,” says Kagunzi.

“By making his 200th appearance this weekend is inspiration to many but is not a surprise,” he said.

Kagunzi, who was at one point k’Ogalo’s first choice keeper ahead of Jerry, attributes Jerry’s rise to the dedication that he puts to his work on and off the pitch.

“I think Jerry is different from other players as he takes his training as a job.”

Sony Sugar FC coach Zedekiah Otieno, who worked with Jerry at Gor and in the national team, says: “When other players take training as mere tizi (practice), Jerry sees it as a job. That separates him from the rest. Making 200 appearances is in itself a major milestone.”

A major milestone for sure it is to play 200 competitive matches for a club, more so in a country where player contracts are rarely, if at all, taken seriously by clubs and players.