Football, Christianity and school are indistinguishable and form a local version of “holy trinity” that feed off one another in western Kenya.

Peter Lichungu, one of the greatest stars to have played at Bukhungu Stadium when he was a student at Kakamega High School and Motcom FC after school, says the Friends Church played a big role in football development.

“My grandfather Chiseremi Lichungu played for the local team at Shanderema. He started a tradition in the family that was followed by my father Jonah Musisi. My father part of the North Nyanza that beat Remington FC in 1936 at what is today Bukhungu Stadium. My uncle Jared Musisi, who worked for Nation Media in 1960s, was instrumental in the formation Abaluhyia FC (now AFC Leopards) in 1964. My grandfather was instrumental in the construction of the Shanderema Friends Church that has had a strong impact on education and sports in Kakamega,” says Lichungu, who like his father, played for national team.

John Nyawanga, shares Lichungu’s sentiments and adds that the church was instrumental in the discipline and dedication that propelled Kenya to success.

“Today, we have drifters who do not understand the value of a badge. We were taught to be patriotic to club and country,” says Nyawanga, a dreaded right winger in his heyday. He says he found inspiration in the North Nyanza team that beat Remington FC at Bukhungu.

The 11 men who put Remmington FC to the sword, led by Peter Muchuma, Shem Chimoto, Elijah Lidonde, Jonah Musisi and one Mutswenje Opaka – are legends in the Luhyia and Kenyan football folklore. The win against Remington FC and the construction of the stadium was a pivotal moment in the development and entrenchment of the sport in the psyche of local people who believe “football is ours” – hence AFC Leopards’ slogan “Ours Forever.”

There are parallels between the recent match between St Anthony Boys High School versus Dagoretti High School and North Nyanza versus Remington FC in 1936.

“People walked long distances to partake of the spectacle. It was the first time a Whiteman’s team was playing in Africa. My father described the attendance as phenomenal – the kind that you would come across when Nabongo Mumia was visiting. The match attracted more fans when legendary Luhyia ‘prophet’ Elijah Masinde Nameme was part of the North Nyanza team,” says Lebanon Muchuma, son of the North Nyanza team captain Peter Muchuma.

During the final that pitted Kitale’s St Anthony High School and Nairobi’s Dagoretti High School, the 40,000-capacity Bukhungu Stadium filled to the bream, holding more than twice the capacity of the stadium.

Additional police officers had to be called in to restrain the crowd that threatened to spill onto the playing pitch.

Nicholas Musonye, the former Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) secretary general, estimates the match attendance was between 40,000 and 60,000 daily and the number peaked to 100,000 during the final. By comparison Kenya Premier League matches hardly attract more than 1,000 fans to the stadium.

Thus it was a spectacle to behold when thousands jammed Bukhungu Stadium to watch students play the beautiful game. It left little doubt that football and sports in general is a religion in the defunct Western Province that was administratively headquartered in Kakamega, the venue of the football spectacle, is riddle Football Kenya Federation needs to unravel to bring fans back to the stadium.

Match attendance, it turns out, was a rendition of the 1936 match that saw people walk 50-100 kilometres, trekking through bushes to be part of the history making event.

Remote in the minds of the local fans, however, was the victory that catapulted the 11 players iconic status. The win a domino effect on football in Kakamega and Kenya, observes Musonye.

“Every footballer worth his name dreamt of playing at Bukhungu Stadium in those days. It was like going to Mecca or Jerusalem for pilgrimage. It is true the stadium is ‘cathedral’ but we have ignored this important part of our football history and concentrated on Nairobi. We had an experience of this love for football in 2013 when some Cecafa matches were played in Kakamega and Mumias. The gate collections were always high compared to Nairobi. In the match between Zanzibar and Uganda, we raised Ksh800,000. When Uganda played Malawi, we collected Ksh1 million that was used to pay for bills for teams playing in Nairobi.”

The former Cecafa boss says attendance in Mumias and Bukhungu in 2013 reminded him of the stories his father had told him about the North Nyanza versus Remington FC match.

Retired journalist Nathan Iyadi, says unlike today when technology makes it possible to relay information – sometimes real-time – in the early years of colonial administration, dissemination of information was by word of mouth.

In the case of the Noth Nyanza versus Remmington FC, says Iyadi, the regional colonial administration used to use isikuti to disseminate government agenda. Isikuti, a traditional drumbeat that interfaces in performance with xylophone (manyanga in Luhyia) and dance, is an enduring culture that defines football in Western Kenya and one that has become a permanent fixture when AFC Leopards and national team Harambee Stars play.

“It’s was said Poko, the famous isukuti man who hailed from around Lukume, was part of our footballing culture as he was used by colonial chiefs to announce important event like the games around villages. He is said to have played a similar role in this memorable match of 1936,” recalls former KBC journalist, Iyadi.

On the day of St Anthony played Dagoretti High School in national schools football final, fans began steaming the Cathedral as early at 5am, nearly eight hours before kick-off. Lebanon says his father told him that some fans arrived at the Cathedral two days before the North Nyanza versus Remington FC match.

Bukhungu was just “o luyia” – a natural open plain field used for cultural events like wrestling, athletics, bull fighting or chiefs or king’s barazas. When the colonial administration and church introduced school education in western Kenya,  Bukhungu became a natural choice for sports, a history that rhymes with the history of nearby Kakamega High School as a centre of excellence, which has for close to 40 years has dominated school and college football.

The school is synonymous with “carpet football” – the samba style of football associated with Brazil and Argentina – that resonates with isikuti beat and dance, explains Nyongesa. Why the reverence and emotional attachment to football?

“When the Whiteman arrived in Kenya in the 1880s the only politically organised structure was the Luhyia (Wanga) Kingdom. The core of the kingdom was North Nyanza (previously North Kavirondo). Under the King Mumia, there were vassal kings like Mulupi for Kabras, Odanga for Maragoli, Sudi Namachanja for Bukusu. The colonial government used Mumia and the vassal kings to penetrate the grassroots. The same applies to church. It was therefore easy to introduce football and organise competitions between the smaller dominions under Nabongo Mumia,” explains Lebanon.

Thus, each vassal king or paramount chief had a football team and it was prestigious.

The connection of the church and football explains in-part why football icons are venerated. Musonye says their legendary status has strong connection with religion, particularly the Friends Church (Quakers).

Some footballers, adds Lebanon, were brought up believing that they were God’s chosen people. The explanation is intriguing.

History books and legends have it that when Europe wanted to resettle Jews, they chose western Kenya as the ideal place create Israel, citing the kingdom, culture and political organisation. The idea of creating Israel in western Kenya was quashed in 1901 by then colonial governor Lord Chamberlain. However, the belief that this was a God’s community reinforced the belief that football too was their gift from God Were Khakava), hence the veneration of football icons like Jonathan Niva Muchuma, Joe Kadenge, Madegwa, Elijah Lidonde, Elijah Masinde Nameme, Mzee Nate, Omari Wembe, Mutswenje Opaka, Arthur Okwemba, Mzee Tiema, Shem Chimoto and many others.

Lebanon says the political structures of the kingdom enabled the church and the colonial government to organise football matches between chiefdoms – Kabras, Wanga, Bukusu, Maragoli, Bunyore, Samia, Kisa, Marama, Isukha and Idakho.

“There was no such organisation in Luoland. The few Luo who became prominent had relatives in North Nyanza or went to school there. Some were born there. And since there was no league, football was just a sport to be enjoyed,” explains Lebanon.

 He says the knock-on effect football success in western is the reason Gor Mahia draws its layers from neighbouring Siaya and Kisumu, but rarely from far-flung Migori or Homa Bay.

• A Tell report