Ulinzi Stars Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nakuru, Kenya. They compete in the Kenyan Premier League, where they won three consecutive titles from 2003 to 2005. They are the only team to have done so, along with AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia, and won their most recent league title in 2010.[2]
 | |
| Full name | Ulinzi Stars Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | KDF Ulinzi |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Ground | Afraha Stadium Nakuru, Kenya |
| Capacity | 8,200 |
| Owner | Kenya Defence Forces |
| Head coach | Stephen Ocholla[1] |
| League | Kenyan Premier League |
| 2023–24 | KPL, 12th |
History
editUlinzi Stars represent Kenya's Defence forces (the Kenya Army, the Airforce and the Kenya Navy). It was formed in 1995 when several military sides were combined. These teams were:[3]
- Waterworks
- Scarlet (Third Battalion of the Kenya Rifles, based in Lanet, Nakuru),
- Kahawa United (Kahawa Barracks, Kahawa, Nairobi)
- Silver Strikers (12th Engineers, Thika),
- Kenya Navy (Mombasa)
- Spitfire (Kenya Air Force, Moi Air Base, Nairobi).
Ulinzi have played in the Afraha Stadium since 2004, after moving from Thika. They won the Kenyan Sports Team of the Year award in 2010.[4]
The team doubles as the Kenya national military football team, which qualified for the 2011 Military World Games.[5]
Other clubs
editUlinzi used to have a successful basketball team, Ulinzi Warriors, until 2007 when it was disbanded, despite being the reigning national champion, having won five consecutive league titles.[6] They also had a rugby team, Ulinzi RFC, but was disbanded.[7] They also had volleyball[8] and handball[9] teams.
Achievements
edit- 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010
Performance in CAF competitions
edit- CAF Champions League: 2 appearances
References
edit- ^ "Captain Opuko returns, Nyaudo is promoted in Technical Bench changes". Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ "Kenya – List of Champions". Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
- ^ "Ulinzi Stars website – history". Archived from the original on 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
- ^ The Standard, December 11, 2010: Rudisha and Lagat crowned Soya best athletes[permanent dead link]
- ^ Daily Nation website, December 14, 2008: Ulinzi epitomise KPL’s strength Archived 2019-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Daily Nation, May 4, 2007: Champions Ulinzi And Telkom Pull Out of Basketball League Archived 2012-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Daily Nation, June 2, 2009: Rugby is the game and Injera man of moment]
- ^ 2006 Volleyball World Championships: Kenya Names Provisional Squad of 22 players Archived 2008-09-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ KBC, December 13, 2006: Kenya's cereals team retain men handball title
External links
edit- Ulinzi Stars – Official Website