# 2009 in Kenyan football

The following article is a summary of the 2009 football season in Kenya, the 46th competitive season in its history.

## Promotion and relegation
### Promoted to Premier League

* A.F.C. Leopards
* Sofapaka

### Relegated from Premier League

* Mahakama
* Mathare Youth

## Premier League

The 2009 Kenyan Premier League began on 7 February 2009 and ended on 21 November 2009.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Sofapaka (C, Q) | 30 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 39 | 21 | +18 | 59 | Qualification for 2010 CAF Champions League |
| 2 | Mathare United | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 39 | 23 | +16 | 53 | |
| 3 | Thika United | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 31 | 19 | +12 | 51 | |
| 4 | Tusker | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 47 | 30 | +17 | 48 | |
| 5 | Gor Mahia | 30 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 46 | |
| 6 | Nairobi City Stars | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 30 | 29 | +1 | 43 | |
| 7 | Karuturi Sports | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 40 | |
| 8 | Chemelil Sugar | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 40 | |
| 9 | SoNy Sugar | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 29 | 31 | −2 | 40 | |
| 10 | Ulinzi Stars | 30 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 24 | 26 | −2 | 39 | |
| 11 | Western Stima | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 29 | 38 | −9 | 36 | |
| 12 | Kenya Commercial Bank | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 32 | 39 | −7 | 34 | |
| 13 | A.F.C. Leopards (Q) | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 28 | 36 | −8 | 34 | Qualification for 2010 CAF Confederation Cup |
| 14 | Red Berets | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 28 | 43 | −15 | 30 | |
| 15 | Bandari (R) | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 25 | 41 | −16 | 29 | Relegation to 2010 Nationwide League |
| 16 | Agrochemical (R) | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 20 | 43 | −23 | 23 | Relegation to 2010 Nationwide League |
* ↑ A.F.C. Leopards as winners of the 2009 FKL Cup qualified for the 2010 CAF Confederation Cup.

### Relegation

The two last teams, Bandari and Agrochemical, were relegated to the Nationwide League for the following season.

### Awards

The end of season awards were held on 9 December 2009.
| Award | Recipient | Club |
| Player of the Year | John Baraza | Sofapaka |
| New Player of the Year | George Odhiambo | Gor Mahia |
| Golden Boot | John Baraza | Sofapaka |
| Golden Boot | Joseph Emeka | Tusker |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Wilson Oburu | Sofapaka |
| Defender of the Year | Edgar Ochieng | Sofapaka |
| Midfielder of the Year | Peter Opiyo | Gor Mahia |
| Manager of the Year | Benson Mutinda | Sofapaka |
| Coach of the Year | Robert Matano | Sofapaka |
| Fair Play Player of the Year | Dennis Okoth | Nairobi City Stars |
| Fair Play Team of the Year | Sony Sugar | Sony Sugar |
| Special Award | Joe Kadenge | Joe Kadenge |

## Nationwide League

In 2008, the Nationwide League was divided into 2 zones of 16 teams each. In 2009, the league was restructured to contain two levels: Division One and Division Two, representing the second and third levels of the Kenyan football league system. Division One had 16 teams and Division Two had 2 zones.

### Teams

The following 16 teams participated Division One.
| Team Name | Town |
| AC Nakuru | Nakuru |
| Administration Police | Nairobi |
| Bidco United | Thika |
| Compel | Webuye |
| Dagoretti Green Santos | Nairobi |
| Homegrown | Naivasha |
| Kawangware | Nairobi |
| Kenya Revenue Authority | Nairobi |
| Magongo Rangers | Mombasa |
| Mahakama | Nairobi |
| Mathare Youth | Nairobi |
| Nairobi Stima | Nairobi |
| Opera FC | Sultan Hamud |
| Posta Rangers | Nairobi |
| Real Kisumu | Kisumu |
| Strathmore University | Nairobi |

### Promotion

The top two teams, Mahakama and Posta Rangers, were promoted to the Premier League for the following season.

## FKL Cup

The KFF Cup had its name changed to the FKL Cup, in line with the takeover of Kenyan football by Football Kenya Limited.
Though most Premier League clubs boycotted the cup, A.F.C. Leopards beat Congo JMJ United 4-1 in the final on 20 October at the Nairobi City Stadium.

## Super Cup

The 2009 Kenyan Super Cup match was played on January 24, 2009 between Mathare United, the 2008 Kenyan Premier League winners, and Gor Mahia, who set a record for the most KFF Cup titles ever won by winning their ninth title that same year. Gor Mahia won 3−0 at full-time.

## National team

Head coach Francis Kimanzi was sacked after the 2008 CECAFA Cup in January 2009 due to disputes between him and Kenyan football administrators. Kimanzi was replaced on caretaker basis by Bobby Ogolla, before Antoine Hey was appointed to coach Kenya in the World Cup Qualifiers. The latter resigned in November 2009, shortly before Kenya met Nigeria in their last World Cup qualifier match. Hey was replaced by Twahir Muhiddin.

### World Cup qualifiers – CAF third round (Group 2)

Kenya participated in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers third qualifying round, which also doubled as the 2010 African Cup of Nations qualifiers. Kenya finished last in its qualifying group winning only one match and missed both tournaments.
| Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| Nigeria | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 12 | Qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Tunisia | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 11 | Qualified for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Mozambique | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 7 | Qualified for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 |
| Kenya | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 3 | | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — |

### CECAFA Cup
#### 2008 CECAFA Cup

Due to postponement, the 2008 CECAFA Cup continued into 2009. Kenya played their 3 remaining group stage matches, the semi-finals and the final, which they lost to Uganda. Francis Kimanzi was sacked as the head coach shortly after the end of the tournament due to disagreements with the Kenya Football Federation.

##### Group stage

| Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Kenya | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 8 |
| Burundi | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 |
| Sudan | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |
| Zambia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 |
| Djibouti | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 1 |

##### Final
#### 2009 CECAFA Cup

Kenya hosted the 2009 CECAFA Cup, but lost to the eventual tournament winners Uganda 1-0 in the quarter finals.

##### Group stage

| Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Zambia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 9 |
| Kenya | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| Ethiopia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 3 |
| Djibouti | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 |

##### Quarter-finals
### Other matches

The following is a list of all other matches played by Kenya in 2009.