Eight minutes to the end of the Football Kenya Federation Premier League match pitting Nairobi City Stars and Gor Mahia, Anthony ‘Muki’ Kimani stood on the touchline waiting to be substituted in for the last time as a professional player.He came on for Kelvin Etemesi, City Stars’ ray of hope in the just concluded season, as they went on to lose to K’Ogalo. The final whistle in the match signified two things; Gor Mahia clinched their 20th title after the convincing 4-1 win, and the end of an era. The end of a career. Perhaps, not in the way the midfielder may have pictured his last game would turn out.Before the match kicked off, the club’s CEO Patrick Korir presented Kimani with the club’s official jersey as a memorabilia.##NAJAVA_MECA_7342431##Engraved on the jersey was the number of mathces that the midfielder played in the topflight since making his debut over ten years ago; 284.Nairobi City Stars (World Hope). Sofapaka. Nairobi City Stars again. Sofapaka again. Bandari. Break. And finally, Nairobi City Stars. This has been Muki’s path in the topflight, starting and ending at the Kawangware-based club.He made his premier league debut with City Stars in 2008, then known as World Hope before moving to Sofapaka the following season but returned to Simba wa Nairobi on loan until the end of the the 2009 campaign, then back to Sofapaka.until the end of the 2014 campaign. After sofapaka, bandari was his next stop until 2017 when he took a sabbatical after leaving the club. Two and a half years later, he returned to City Stars and aided their quest for promotion during the 2019/2020 campaign.Simba wa Nairobi has been home for Muki and it is the reason his best moment in his career came with his return four years ago: Helping Nairobi City Stars regain Premier league status.Matano urges charges to focus on Mozzart Bet Cup final after losing league title to Gor”Nothing beats the feeling I got when I returned to help the team that has made me whom I am today regain promotion to the Premier League in 2020. It was a very special moment for me, one that I will cherish a lot. They trusted in me when I was very young and I am happy that I could help them at that point point,” Muki recalled when speaking to Mozzart Sport after the match.During the 2019/2020 season, he played 24 games for City Stars’ in the National Super League (NSL), scoring three times and providing ten assists and was named the club’s MVP at the end of that season.Out of the 284 matches he played in the topflight, 109 of those matches were when donning the colors of Nairobi City Stars.Curtain falls on dramatic and chaotic 2022-23 FKFPL seasonHe was named the Kenyan Premier League midfielder of the year after a stellar campaign in 2010 while in his first full season with Sofapaka, helping Batoto ba Mungu win Kenyan Super Cup two times in a row as they beat AFC Leopards and Ulinzi Stars in 2010 and 2011 respectively, as well as clinching the 2010 FKF President’s Cup where he scored in the 2-0 win over West Kenya SugarA proper send of to our captain ANTHONY KIMANI who’s played a total of 284 games in the Kenyan Premier league and 109 games for NCS …You will surely be missed#simbawanairobi pic.twitter.com/AT9CHjnoiM— Official Nairobi City Stars Fc (@NrbCityStars) June 27, 2023 In 2015, he won the FKF President’s Cup with Bandari as they beat Nakumatt 4-2 at the Nyayo Stadium, scoring the opener for the Dockers from the spot.The following year, he was Super Cup winner again, scoring the lone goal as Bandari sunk Gor Mahia at the Municipal Stadium in Mombasa.At the national team level, Kimani was capped ten times between 2010 and 2012.As he calls it quits, the midfielder acknowledges that his lowest moment was when it dawned on him that age has caught up with him and it was time to hang up his boots.Muki’s send off #simbawanairobi pic.twitter.com/Ui895bKq8T— Official Nairobi City Stars Fc (@NrbCityStars) June 25, 2023 “When age catches up with you, there is nothing much you can do. You just step aside and leave it to the next generation to take over. You have to know how to balance things, have discipline and dedication and when you matser that you are good to go in any aspect of life,” he said.In the first half of the campaign, City stars started ernest preparations for the possible exits of Kimani and Peter ‘Pinchez’ Opiyo, and as a result brought in a couple of new midfielders, mostly premier league rookies.The players have since grown into their roles at the club and Kimani prides himself in being a guiding light during the time they spent together at the club.”When you look a the players who featured against Gor, most of them are not the same way they were when the season started. We have sat with them at different times and tried to guide them and transfer to them what might be useful in their careers and stay at the club. they have really developed within the season,” he added.The FKFPL Season in Retrospect: Reflecting on the concluded FKFPL seasonReflecting on his over a decade long career, Kimani termed it a fulfiling one, pointing out that he was content with what he managed to achieve in that time.Further, he is looking forward to starting out his coaching career in an attempt to give back to the community that that he says mentored him to whom he is.”It has been a long, fulfilling, sweet career. I don’t regret anything. At the end of the day, you cannot get it all. Everyone starts their career with hopes of making it to Europe but not everyone makes it there so whatever you get here, you appreciate. And I appreciate what I had. I am looking forward to coaching and when an oppoortunity comes I will consider it. Either way, we have to give back to the community,” he sums it up.
