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Former Cranes Tactician Appointed new Gor Mahia Head Coach
Kenya Premier League giants Gor Mahia have confirmed the appointment of former Uganda Cranes tactician Johnathan McKinstry as their new head coach.
The Northern Irish succeeds Andreas Spiers, who left in early July.
Gor Mahia have struggled in the past two seasons, leaving space for Kakamega Homeboyz, and Tusker – the league winners in the last two campaigns – to dominate the Kenyan top-flight league.
Unusually, Gor Mahia will not be taking part in any continental competition next season and thus McKinstry’s task will now be to bring back the glory at the record Champions, and end Tusker’s dominance in the league.
In 2013, he was appointed Sierra Leone head coach and was relieved of his duties in September 2014 after he had led Sierra Leone to their highest ever FIFA world ranking position of 50th.
In 2015, McKinstry was appointed to take charge of Rwanda and the experienced tactician guided the Amavubi Stars to their first away win in four years; a 1-0 victory in the opening round of the 2017 Africa Nations Cup qualifier against Mozambique.
In the same year, Rwanda ended up as CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup runners-up after they were beaten by Uganda 1-0 in the final.
In 2016, he led Amavubi to the knock-out stage of a major competition for the first time in their history when he guided them to first place in Group A of the 2016 edition of the CAF African Nations Championship and advanced to the quarter-finals.
However, he was sacked in August 2016, and in July 2017. Then Lithuania’s Kauno Zalgiris appointed him as their head coach. He left in January 2018 following the expiration of his contract.
In December 2019, he was appointed by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations to take charge of the Cranes.
After winning all six games in the CECAFA Cup, he helped Uganda win the regional tournament before he left in April 2021 after being in charge for 18 months.
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