The 22nd of April 2012 for most Manchester United fans is a date worth forgetting quickly. With four matches remaining and their team leading their city rivals by 8 points the match against Everton was going to be key in their quest for a 20th Premier league title . The match started off on a low note perhaps a befitting start to the classic encounter it proved to be in the end
Complacency has been a cliché overused in footballing circles but united this season have been guiltier of this than any other time in their history. Their exit in Europe left a lot of people dumbfounded. As if that was not enough, further losses to Blackburn rovers and Newcastle United followed and from both you would have thought it would have been a lesson well learnt. Fast forwad to the fixture that many pundits believed would set United up for a record 20th title. Everton have had mixed results and big sides have fallen by their wayside among them Chelsea and Manchester city. When the toffees came to Oldtrafford everyone expected it to be an easy cruise to the premier league summit for the defending champions. However as it turned out to be, Everton had other ideas . They equaled United pound for pound goal for goal sending the old Trafford faithful who had been enjoying a sunny afternoon with their side scoring with almost every attack they mounted into shock and disbelief.
Complacency had come to bite Manchester United right at their own backyard and eventually sacrificing their title advantage at the altar of conceit. A few weeks ago whether u call them mind games or not everyone including the City faithful conceded it was just a matter of time and the reds would be up in the city atop an open bus celebrating. How quickly things turn around , now city have fate in their own hands. Whatever they do on the 30th of april at the Etihad will decide where the marathon that has been the 20th premier league will be celebrated.

And like the manager himself put it the short visit to the etihad will be the most important in his career. This time round there is a lot more at stake unlike in previous meetings where the city’s bragging rights would be at stake, there is plenty to fight for with the title being key. Manchester united will also be looking to avoid an embarrassing double loss to city with the 6 -1 thrashing memories still fresh in their minds. If United go on to lose at the Etihad then they will have no one to blame but themselves having had such a profound lead with 4 games left.

To say football is a passionate game would be as obvious as saying base jumping,high altitude climbing and motor cycle racing are some of the most dangerous sports. Generally spectator sports usually elicit lots of passion but nothing beats the passion in football. What makes people who rarely say a word to you on the street shout their lungs out and celebrate as if they have just become first time parents when their team scores a vital goal? What makes grown men curse and hurl all manner of unprintable words to match officials whenever decisions do not go their way?  Well the answer to these and many other related case in points is  simply, passion! Passion is  the only thing that could explain why logic is thrown-out-the-window when football is involved.
Over the years, football hooliganism has been witnessed across the world from ‘football-mad nations’ such as; Brazil and Argentina, to England, Italy, Egypt and other sub-Saharan African countries. The ugly face of the beautiful game of football, is indiscriminate. Today, Kenya got a share of what football hooliganism is, during a high octane fixture pitying perennial rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. The stadium was filled almost to capacity with both sets of fans, clad in their team colors cheering their teams the best way they know how. Some fans started streaming into the stadium from as early as 9.am, never mind, the match was set to kick off at  3 O’clock  in the afternoon.
As expected, the match started on a high note and fans were treated to end-to-end action, as both teams tried to break the deadlock. At half-time,  none of the teams was yet able, to see the back of the net of the other. The action was similar in the second-half,  with AFC leopards seeing most of the ball. Come the 66th minute,  Gor Mahia’s Victor Ali, was red carded for a high boot challenge on Leopard’s Amon Muchiri and what followed were 25 embarrassing and uneasy minutes for Gor. Gor Mahia’s fans, incensed by the decision to have Ali sent off, walked off  the stadium, while others hurled all manner of objects into the field of play. The referee had to stop the match for 25 minutes as he consulted with the other match officials. Eventually the game went on and ended in a barren draw. However,  the rivalry fans of either  team took the battle for supremacy, to the streets of Nairobi, where one fan, believed to be a Leopards supporter, was killed and scores others injured.
This is not the first time that both Gor Mahia  and AFC leopards fans, have clashed. The stakes involved in this highly publicized derby, maybe to blame more so, even alcohol and rogue fans. Whatever the reason for crowd trouble in the Kenya premier league, needs to be addressed and fast. We do not need to witness scenes such as those in Egypt in back  February where, close to one hundred people were killed, and thousands more injured, following acts of hooliganism in a league match. Its interesting to hear that FKF proposes having foreign referees officiate matches pitying Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. Is this really the solution? Will this stop thugs posing as fans from carrying rocks into stadia, and causing havoc? Those in charge of football in the country need to act quick and cautiously, to avert a looming disaster. England had some of the worst hooligan incidences in the 70’s and 80’s,  resulting  in a resolution to reduce  the number of fans in stadiums. A similar resolution seems inevitable in the Kenyan football fraternity following today’s events ..It’s time to save Kenyan football, what happened before in England, is a good reference point.