Sofapaka coach resigns

By GILBERT WANDERA

Stewart Hall has quit as Sofapaka coach and is going back to his former club Azam of Tanzania.

Hall, who was appointed at the 2009 Kenyan Premier League (KPL) champions on September 15, quit by mutual consent after Sofapaka agreed to let him go since they could not match Azam’s offer.

Sofapaka President Elly Kalekwa said the coach received a lucrative offer from the Tanzanian side and they cannot stand in his way.

“Azam have doubled his salary and other incentives apart from offering him a three-year contract. After consultations with the club’s leadership, it was agreed that he leaves by mutual consent. We do not intend to stand in his way as he seeks a better life elsewhere and wish him well.

“We have agreed not to demand anything from him despite the fact that he is leaving in the middle of his contract.

“He has done so much for us and we appreciate how far this club has come since he joined almost two months ago. He has laid for us the best foundation to move forward in a big way,” he said.

Kalekwa confirmed that David Ouma will take charge of Sofapaka as they search for Hall’s replacement next season.

Azam are reported to have apologised to Hall over the way they mistreated him especially after he sent the club to the finals of this year’s regional club championships held in Tanzania.

Under Hall, Azam threatened the dominance of Tanzanian’s big clubs Simba and Yanga. He took up the Sofapaka job in mid September and after five matches in charge he admitted the team couldn’t win the KPL title after falling far off in the title race.

The team, however, remains in contention to lift the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Cup where they will play Tusker in the semi-finals next month.

He was the most successful coach at Azam despite his short stint. Apart from helping them reach the final of the regional club championships this year, the club also won the Mapinduzi Cup and managed second position in the local league.

With this performance, Azam for the first time managed to threaten the dominance of Simba

Prior to coming to Africa, Hall was a director at Birmingham and also handled Pune in the Indian league.

He first came to Africa in 2010 and was employed as coach of Zanzibar national team but left immediately after over a contractual dispute.

Hall became the third foreign coach handling a KPL side. The other two are Gor Mahia’s Zradvko Logarusic and Jan Koops of AFC Leopards. He replaced Salim Ali who was fired.