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The Mid 80s
club Having won the league title in 1983, Gor Mahia qualified to represent the country in the CECAFA cup and the Africa Champions cup. The CECAFA cup was held in Nairobi at the newly built Nyayo National stadium. On there way to the final , Gor Mahia had beaten Al Hilal of Sudan 3-0 , Printing Agency of Somalia 3-1 and drew 1-1 with KCC of Uganda. In the semi final they beat Berec Power Pac of Malawi 2-0. They were thus regarded as hot favourites to win regain the title they last won in 81. The stage was set for an all Kenyan final pitting Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. Despite dominating the game Gor Mahia went down 2-1 to AFC in the final.
Gor Mahia now had an array of talented stars especially in midfield where new signings George Onyango "Fundi" and Abbas Khamis Magongo teamed up with the other regulars. The defence was manned by Bobby Ogolla , Otieno Bassanga , Austin Oduor and the "never say die" George Otieno Sollo. Sammy Onyango operated on the left wing while Hezborn Omollo and Abdalla Shebe played upfront. Omollo finished as the league leading scorer.
On the continental scene Gor Mahia eliminated Yanga of Tanzania 2-1 aggregate in the first round . In the second round they faced Zamalek of Egypt. The first leg was played in Cairo Egypt. The Egyptians had expected to run up the score on Gor Mahia but this was not to be. 40 minutes into the match the match was still scoreless much to the chagrin of the 100,000 Egyptian fans who had crammed the Nasser stadium to cheer on their team. Then came the defining moment: Abass Magongo attempted to tackle an Egyptian player a few yards outside the penalty box. The player took a tumble and rolled into the penalty box. The match referee who was from Sudan inexplicably awarded Zamalek a penalty kick and ejected Abass Magongo. Gor Mahia players who were already enraged at the referee for making several dubious calls against them set upon the referee with a series of punches and kicks. The referee then called off the match. Gor Mahia were disqualified from the tournament and suspended for 2 years. Additionally , 6 players : Abbey Nassur , Otieno Solo , Abass Magongo , Onyango fundi , Bobby Ogolla and Abdallah Shebe, were banned from international soccer for 2 years along with coach Julians.
Despite this massive setback, Coach Len Julians re-grouped his troops and the club won their second sucesive league title.
In 1985 despite the continental ban , Gor Mahia were able to participate in the CECAFA cup held in Sudan. With 6 of their best players banned, and without there coach, they were not expected to make the semi-finals let alone win the trophy. However Former club player Maurice Ochieng stepped in as interim head coach. With several new faces in the team such as George Nyangi "artllery" , William Obwaka and Swaleh Ochieng Oswayo . These teamed up with the remaining veterans and managed to pull off a spectacular coup in making the final and beating compatriots AFC Leopards 2-0 to lift the cup. This remains one of the biggest success stories of the club: KHARTOUM 1985.
The went on to lift the national league cup later that year.
In 1986 despite performing disatrously in the league , Gor Mahia saved face by winning the inaugural Moi golden cup by beating Bandari 1-0 in the final. In the CECAFA cup they were eliminated in the preliminaries.
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