The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Those who watched Timothy Ayeiko play say he was a midfield dynamo whose superb skills won him favour with fans at clubs where he played such as KCC FC in Uganda and Gor Mahia in Kenya where he enjoyed heroic status.
Ayieko became Uganda Cranes coach at a time when appointing foreign coaches to manage the national team was a distant option. In 1995 when Ayieko was appointed Cranes coach, Federation of Football Association (FUFA) was keeping a tradition of either picking a former Cranes player or tasking one of the local coaches to take up the job.
Naming Ayieko was, therefore, a stamp of his not being considered a ‘foreigner’. After all he had made a name as a Cranes player and come through Uganda’s ranks of league football. Ayieko was part of the golden generation of Cranes players that qualified for the 1978 AFCON tournament and reached the final where they lost to Ghana.
But Ayeiko was, in fact, born in Kisumu, western Kenya, in 1954 to John Njoga and Hellen Anyango. His parents emigrated from Kenya to Uganda when he was a young boy.
Ayieko’s talent as a footballer was seen at an early age. Ayieko went to Nsambya Primary School and Nakasero SSS but only studied up to O-Level in 1970 due to financial constraints.
According to veteran sports journalist Badru Zziwa, Ayieko’s football career began in 1971 when he joined Nakivubo Boys. At the time, the club acted as a recruitment ground for Express FC, one of the most prominent clubs in Uganda.
In 1972, Ayieko joined National Insurance Corporation in search of a more professional service and two years later he joined Express as a more experienced footballer where he won league titles in 1974 and 1975. It is at Express that Ayieko’s midfield artistry started getting noticed and KCC came calling.
In a profile Zziwa wrote of Ayieko in 2010 in The Observer, he said the then Express midfielder was being courted by KCC manager Jaberi Bidandi Ssali. In 1976, KCC signed Ayieko and the highlight of his time at the club was during the 1978 CECAFA club championship where his exploits included a hat-trick in a 3-0 win against Luo-Union of Kenya.
“This match is best remembered for the drama after the final whistle when the Kenyans were angry that one of their own (a Luo) had destroyed them.” Zziwa wrote.
KCC FC won that championship, their only CECAFA club title to date, with a penalty shoot-out against Tanzania’s Simba.
At the time he started playing for Express, Ayieko had joined the Cranes fold and was part of the Cranes team that took part in the 1978 tournament although he was unlucky not to take part in any of the Cranes five games due to injury and a logistical mishap that denied him a chance to play as a substitute in the final game. According to Zziwa, Ayieko’s passport was forgotten in the team hotel denying him a once in a lifetime opportunity.
