Immediate former Mathare United goalkeeper Job Ochieng has joined the high spending Football Kenya Federation Premier League debutants Kenya Police.The law enforcers who broke the bank in the last transfer window to beef their squad ahead of their debut in the top flight have returned to the player market where they have already acquired the shot stopper, former Sharks captain Eric Juma and David Owino.Ochieng is among the lucky few players whose signatures were acquired by top flight clubs shortly after writing the final secondary school examinations as he joined Mathare late in 2017 straight from school.GOODBYE|Mathare United has been home since I was a toddler and saying goodbye today is one of the toughest things I have done in life. They took me in when I was learning the ropes and entrusted me with the goalkeeping duties for their first team since I left school in 2017. pic.twitter.com/sN6aCp9u7b— Job Ochieng (@JobOchieng13) January 18, 2022 The custodian made his debut for the 2008 league champions in 2018 against Wazito and has been the first choice in the last two seasons. Before his departure, Ochieng had fallen down the pecking order as coach Ezekiel Akwana openly preferred Byrne Omondi in between the sticks.The youthful goalkeeper took to his social media accounts to bid the Mathare faithfuls farewell and at the same time announced his new home.“Mathare United has been home since I was a toddler and saying goodbye today is one of the toughest things I have done in life. They took me in when I was learning the ropes and entrusted me with the goalkeeping duties for their first team since I left school in 2017. My debut was to come against Wazito late in 2018 and I have never looked back since,” he said.👷🏿♂️ | SlumBoys 20/21 NAME: Job Ochieng POSITION: Goalkeeper No: 30 APPEARANCES: 20CLEAN SHEETS: Four NICKNAME: Jobu #SlumBoys2021 pic.twitter.com/A9DU52tcgR— Mathare United FC (@MathareUtd) August 27, 2021 Ochieng who has worked under a numbe4r of coaches including Francis Kimanzi and Salim Ali called on his former teammates to save the struggling club from sinking to the second tier. Mathare are languishing deep in the red zone thanks to the poor run and will certainly have to step up in the second leg if they are to remain in the top tier. “To the players I played with, we defended the colors of Mathare with pride even when so many people had written us off. You were heroes in your own ways and I thank you for making me a better player. To the fans, keep the Mathare flag flying high. I know results might have not been the way we wanted but I believe in the abilities of the team,” he added.
