Abaluhya Football Club Leopards Sports Club, officially abbreviated as AFC Leopards, is a Kenyan professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. It currently competes in the

Kenyan Premier League The Kenyan Premier League (KPL), officially known as the FKF Premier League, is a professional league for men's football clubs in Kenya. Standing at the top of the Kenyan football league system, the league was formed in 1963 under the Kenya Foo ...

, the top tier of the Kenyan football league system, and was founded in 1964 by football lovers from the Luhya community. With 12 top-flight league titles to their name, AFC Leopards is Kenya's third most successful club behind Tusker FC (13 titles) and Gor Mahia (18 titles), the latter with whom they regularly contest the Mashemeji Derby. The team currently plays most of its home games at the Nyayo National Stadium AFC Leopards' standing as one of the most successful clubs in the region is underlined by the fact that it has won the

12 times. AFC Leopards has also won the Kenya Cup 10 times, and the CECAFA Club Championship 5 times. The club was formed in 1964 as Abaluhya United Football Club. In 1973 the club changed its name to Abaluhya Football Club when a number of small clubs amalgamated. In 1980 the club was renamed AFC Leopards, the name it holds until present. In 2008 they played in the Nationwide League and won the title in their zone. They returned to the

for the 2009 season in which it also won the KFF Cup.

History

The 1960s

From the 1960s or even earlier; the notion and formation of various Abaluhya teams for invitational matches became the forerunner of what eventually would become Abaluhya United. On 12 March 1964, the East African Standard newspaper published a report on the birth of a new club known as Abaluhya Football Club, which resulted from the amalgamation of Marama, Samia United and Bunyore; all Nairobi based clubs that were in Division 1 of the Kenya National Football League. The amalgamation process also included lower division clubs such as Kisa, Tiriki, Bukusu Brotherhood, Busamia, Lurambi, Butsotso, Bushibungo and Eshirotsa thus building its base and establishments that would make it a success in the future.

The 1970s and 80s: Legacy building and golden era

This was a period of sustained performance from the club, which brought it more fame. This included winning the Kenya National Football League in an unbeaten fashion, in the process becoming the first Kenyan club to do so. AFC Leopards marked the 80s by marking a period of dominance majorly in the domestic and regional scene.

The 1990s and 2000s

In the 90s, achievements became less frequent, although in general, the team continued to win some championships thus never suffering a considerable title drought. The beginning of dismal campaigns for the following 10 years, including relegation from the top tier.

Honours

League

* Kenya National Football League/Kenyan Super League/Kenyan Premier League ** Champions (12): 1966, 1967, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1998 *

Kenyan Nationwide League The Kenyan Nationwide League was the second-division football league in Kenya, until it was replaced by FKF Division One. There is promotion and relegation with the Kenyan Premier League and the Kenyan Provincial League. History In 2008 Nationwid ...

**Champions (Promoted): 2008

Cup

FKF President's Cup The FKF President's Cup is the top knockout tournament in Kenyan football and is the Kenyan equivalent to the FA Cup. It was started in the 1950s, but during its existence, the knockout tournament has had different names depending on largely, sp ...

: 10 ** Champions (10): 1967, 1968,1984, 1985, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2009,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, 2017 **Runners-up: 1987, 1997, 2000, 2003 * CECAFA Club Cup: 5 ** Champions (5): 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1997. **Runner's Up: 1974, 1980, 1985 * CECAFA Nile Basin Cup **Runners-up: 2014

Performance in CAF competitions

African Cup of Champions Clubs/CAF Champions League

*First round exits:

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

*Second round exits:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

*Quarter-finals: 1974,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

*Semi-final:

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

*Preliminary round exits:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

CAF Cup

*Quarter-finals:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and w ...

*First round exits:

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

*Second round exits: 1986 *Quarter-final exits: 1988 *Semi-final exits:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Players

Current squad

Out On Loan

Footballing and medical staff

Board of directors

Coaches and managers

References

Sources * The Standard, 23 July 2006: * Kenya Premier League,8 February 2009
Over-flowing crowds finally a 'crisis'? Hope Centre ground fails to cope

External links

*
A.F.C. Leopards Livescores
{{Football in Kenya Kenyan Premier League clubs Football clubs in Nairobi Association football clubs established in 1964 1964 establishments in Kenya