Record Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) champions Gor Mahia have appointed Irish coach Johnathan McKinstry on a two-year contract.
According to the club Secretary-General Sam Ochola, the former Ugandan national team head coach is expected in the country this week and will be officially unveiled on Monday.
“We have settled on McKinstry due to his experience and performance in the teams he has coached. He is the right person to steer us for the next two seasons as we fight to reclaim our league title and win other accolades,” Ochola told Nation Sport.
“McKinstry has coached in Uganda, Rwanda and Sierra Leone and that shows you he has handled and nurtured great players,” added Ochola.
The 37-year-old served as Uganda Cranes coach for 18 months before he was fired in November last year.
McKinistry won the Cecafa 2019 with Uganda Cranes and was the Cecafa 2015 coach of the tournament while serving as the Rwanda’s national team coach.
He was coach of the Amavubi between March 2015 and August 2016.
He also had a stint as Sierra Leone head coach between April 2013 and September 2014.
The coach, who holds a Uefa Pro Licence, was the 2006 United Kingdom Grassroots Coach of the Year.
At club level, he coached FK Kauno Žalgiris A-Lyga in Lithuania from July 2017 to December 2017 and SAIF Sporting Club in Bangladesh from November 2018 to September 2019.
McKinistry will fill in the position left vacant by German tactician Andreas Spier after opting not to renew his contract at the end of last season.
The German, who had previously served as FKF Instructor in 2016, was with Gor Mahia for only six months.
McKinistry becomes the 11th coach to coach K’Ogalo since 2013.
Others who have managed the club are Bobby Williamson, Frank Nuttall, Dylan Kerr, Hassan Oktay, Steven Polack, Roberto Oliveira, Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omollo, Mark Harrison and Paul Nkata.
The arrival of McKinistry comes weeks after K’Ogalo landed a Sh76 million sponsorship with betting firm Betafriq.
The team began their pre-season training this week under assistant coach Michael Nam.
The new coach however will have to do with the current squad at the club as Gor, just like their arch-rivals AFC Leopards, are serving transfer ban.
The club has maintained most of the players in its squad last season apart from foreigners Sando Sando Yangayay and custodian Adama Keita, who left the club last week.
