Central region’s dream of having at least two premier league clubs from the region play in the top flight football – the Kenyan Premier League - came crushing down with a thud crashing the region's hopes. With Fortune Sacco finishing second in the National Super League, a slot in the Kenya Premier League beckoned, but all that now is water under the bridge, and probably a topic for writing, a whole book chapter perhaps. So the region has to contend with Bidco United, a team they associate with merely because it’s domiciled in Thika.

Fortunately or unfortunately, for the region’s football stakeholders, they have the FKF- NEC to lay the blame on, for their decision to not include their ‘own’ in the top league and to make it juicer to the local fans. Some may argue that that is cheap, a political decision if you may call it but to some, it might have resonated with the masses.

To properly understand the root cause of the football problem in this region, one needs to give a deaf ear to the shenanigans and blame games. A glimpse at how underutilized the stadiums in the region are tells it all. Out of about 25 stadiums given the green light by FKF to host matches in the country points out that some of them are from this region - Kinoru Stadium, Wanguru Stadium, Kirigiti Stadium and Thika Stadium.

But beyond the nod of approval, we need to ask ourselves the basic question: how well have they been utilized? Have they served their intended sports purpose or have they been converted to political pulpits? This is the mediocrity that befell the region with sports facilities being hitherto underutilized. It's a curse that weighs heavily on the shoulders of football talents. That instead of thriving in their region they have to go far looking for opportunities they would have otherwise gotten at home.

Because of this, it will take ages before the region produces the next generation of stars, good enough to lace the boots of say, Francis Kahata, Suleiman Ngotho and Sammy Irungu who were nurtured from the region and rose to command respect at the national stage.

For proper comparison, let’s take a walk to the western region, home to some of the big clubs, both men and women. But how many stadia do they have? Sudi Stadium in Bungoma, Bhukungu Stadium and Mumias Stadium in Kakamega County. To add salt to injury, they are not even equal to what Central has in terms of capacity yet they have more teams in the top leagues.

This begs the question: is lack of stadia a reason to have fewer clubs from the Central in the top leagues? Methinks otherwise. It’s time to call a spade a spade and tackle the real problem rather than looking for scapegoats.

Bernard Kitolo, head coach at Zitech Sparks, a ladies club playing in the Kenya Women Premier League, believes that for Central’s football to be revived, football perception has to change even before we talk about facilities.

“There is a common belief in the region (Central) that football is for guys from Western Kenya and other places, this has to stop if the region wants to be as competitive in this game because I do not see what we lack here that is somewhere else,” Kitolo quips.

“Yes, we lack proper stadiums with all the facilities but what have we done with the little we have? How many talents have we been able to give to the country from the little we have? We have to pose these hard questions to the leadership in this area,” charged Kitolo.

Timothy Muthike, the CEO of Fortune Sacco, one of the clubs from the region playing in the National Super League, is even more pronounced. “Though we don’t have all the stadiums we need as a region, we cannot point this as the reason for not playing in the top leagues. There is a lot of talent in this region and it’s only a matter of proper harmonization for us to fully realize our potential,” states Muthike.

“Our mindset needs to change, right from the top - that football is not alien and that we can play better and compete for slots in the National team and Kenyan top leagues,” Muthike said.

In conclusion, it’s time for the region to re-focus, and restrategize if they are to make their presence felt in Kenyan football.