The countdown is on to the historic clash between English Premier League side Everton and Kenyan SportPesa Premier League Champions Gor Mahia. The two sides will contest the SportPesa Trophy, with Gor Mahia making history as the first African side to play against Premier League opposition in the UK.
Gor Mahia Football Club, commonly also known as K'Ogalo, is a football club based in Nairobi, Kenya. They have won the Kenyan SportPesa Premier League a record 17 times, four more than their arch-rivals A.F.C. Leopards, and have also won the FKF President's Cup a record 10 times.
Gor Mahia coach Dylan Kerr said: “I was really excited when we won the SportPesa Super Cup and qualified to play Everton. It’s a huge opportunity for the players to test their skills against European opposition and showcase what they can do. It’s not every day that you get the chance to face a (English) Premier League team and we’re going to make it count on November 6.”
Kelvin Twissa, Chief Marketing Officer at SportPesa said: “SportPesa is passionate about football and taking every opportunity, and there’s no bigger opportunity for Gor Mahia than facing English Premier League heavyweights, Everton. Playing in England will help the players improve and they will no doubt be able to take their experience back to Kenya which will help grow the game there.”
The Kenyan side secured a showdown with the Blues after they defeated Tanzania’s Simba SC in the SportPesa Super Cup final in June.
It will be the second clash between the sides, after Everton defeated Gor Mahia 2 – 1 in Tanzania in July 2017.
While in Tanzania the Blues, alongside SportPesa, won hearts and minds in the region when they participated in a range of promotional and charitable activities across Dar es Salaam.
