Allan Thigo was not only a good player but a great leader

Former Gor Mahia and Harambee Stars player Allan Thigo. [Migori Youth, Instagram]

Allan Thigo, former Gor Mahia and Harambee Stars player who died on May 9 in Bungoma, was cremated in Kisumu on May 13.

Thigo, who hailed from Kano plains in Kisumu County, had moved and set up home in Bungoma County, where he was enjoying his retirement, occasionally coming out to grace football events.

I never watched Allan Thigo play, but reading football stories about him and listening to people talk about “Ogango Wuon Pap” gave me a larger-than-life picture of Thigo. He was one great footballer back in the 1970s until he retired in 1982. When he was inducted into the Kenyan Football Hall of Fame in December 2017, I was not surprised.

Thigo was born in 1949 and at 18 he was playing for Kisumu Hotstars. Hotstars recruited him from Onjiko High School. He joined Gor Mahia from Hotstars to pave the way for other players like John Bobby Ogolla who also followed a similar path. He joined Gor Mahia in 1970, where he won three league titles in 1974, 1976 and 1979. The 1976 title was the icing in the cake of titles.

He wore jersey number 13, which Gor Mahia retired because there will only be one Allan Thigo. The nickname “Wuon Pap” is Dholuo for the owner of the pitch. Before that he had been christened the “90-minute man” because from kick-off until the final whistle, he ruled the play, specifically the midfield.

The quintessential number eight attacking midfielder of the olden days. He also managed to score some crucial goals whenever a chance came along apart from his dribbles and super deft passes.

Thigo was a great player no more than he was a leader in tact and charisma on and off the pitch. A trait that came in 1974 when defection shook Gor Mahia club. The 1973 elections ended acrimoniously and a section of players, fans and officials bolted out and revived Luo Union. The club had folded in 1968 together with Luo Sports Club to give birth to Gor Mahia. He was the most senior player in the club and a stabilising factor they won the league in 1974.

Harambee Stars and Gor Mahia legend Allan Thigo.[Dennis Okeyo, Standard]

In 1972 he graced the Afcon in Cameroon. Kenya managed to score in all the three group matches but failed to proceed to the knock out stage. The midfield was manned by Thigo, Steve Yongo, Kadir Farah and Peter Pele Ouma. Kenya played to two 1-1 draws and a 2-1 loss to the hosts.

Luo Union won the 1975 league and it was a big deal for them. It ignited a rivalry that would spill over to Cecafa tournament through the 1970s. In 1976, with Thigo as player-coach, Gor Mahia won the league unbeaten. He would remain the player-coach until the end of 1979 season.

I believe Thigo’s two biggest losses in football were the 4-2 loss to Luo Union in Tanga, Tanzania in the 1977 Cecafa Club Championship Group A match. It was a grudge match because Gor Mahia had won the league title in 1976 and Luo Union were there to defend the 1976 regional title.

The second loss that must have hit Thigo hard was the 8-0 aggregate loss to Cannon Yaounde of Cameroon in finals of 1979 Cfa Cup Winners’ Cup. Gor Mahia suffered a humiliating 6-0 loss at City Stadium to the Cameroonians.

The two losses, Thigo was player-coach, which was a double loss for a man who was also christened “Marshall” by his teammates. A player taking a team to continental finals as player-coach is no mean feat.

The huge gain was his trust in young players. As player-coach, he would bench himself to give youngster Sammy “Kempes” Owino play time. He is also the coach who eased Nahashon Oluoch Lule, then a schoolboy, into the team. These were top talents that Thigo nurtured.

In 1980, Ugandan David Otti was hired as a coach. Thigo remained as captain, where he helped the club to win its first Cecafa Championship title in 1980 in Malawi and 1981 in Nairobi. In total, Thigo won five titles with Gor Mahia. He scored an impressive 88 goals from the midfield for Gor Mahia. He won the inaugural Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in 1975 when Harambee Stars won it in Zambia.

Thigo got 81 caps, the third after Musa Otieno and Jonathan Niva. He scored 11 goals for the national team.

After his retirement, he delved into coaching and even coached Gor Mahia briefly in 2008 when the club’s fortunes had dwindled.

Not much is known about his family, but he is the father of Philip Thigo, a diplomat and technology and public policy expert.

The family lived in Kibera in the early days where their father Thigo brought them up with the same discipline he had on the pitch.