After a decade and a half of professional football Allan Wanga is set to retire at the end of the current Football Kenya Federation Premier League season.
With the Kakamega County government job at stake, Wanga says it is high time he concentrated on his current job.
The Kakamega Homeboyz captain was appointed as the County Sports Officer, Kakamega County in 2018 and he has juggled between playing football and office work for three years now.
Former teammate Charles Okwemba has paid tribute to the retiring hero, recalling his major contribution towards the revival of the current AFC Leopards set up.
“Allan made a huge contribution towards the revival of the current AFC Leopards. In 2013 he was in the frontline in ensuring that we won the GoTV Shield trophy that enabled us taste a piece of continental football in 2014,”
“He has contributed immensely towards improving the state of football in the country and his contributions even to the national team have been immense,” Okwemba said.
Wanga who missed out on selection to the team that participated in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, retired from international football in June 2019 and decided to concentrate on club duties.
In his message to his fans, Wanga,35, says he has achieved most of the things he wanted both locally and internationally and now it is time to pave way for the youthful players.
“I have done my best in the last 13 years or more in top flight football and I think it is time for me to vacate the scene for the young generation to take over,” said the Homeboyz captain.
“I have achieved what any footballer would desire to achieve in his career. Apart from playing football overseas I have featured for the national team Harambee Stars for 12 years which is a big achievement,” Wanga said.
“Coach Muyoti and most of players were at pain to accept that I will no longer be with them at the end of the season. They still believe I was energetic enough to play for one season,”
“Homeboyz is my second home…I have had a very nice time with the club since joining them. Everybody here from technical bench, players and fans are too good to deal with. I will miss them dearly,” he added.
“There is bad blood between Ingwe and Homeboys and when they (Homeboyz) sought my services It was hard to make a decision because I felt that my Ingwe fans would not be happy with my move but I had to make a decision,” he added.
“So my decision to join Homeboyz was to pay back and I think I have done so as they club has made a lot of improvement since I joined them…most of the players have learnt a lot from my experience.He added that he will miss the club and their fans.
Wanga featured for Harambee Stars 44 times, scoring 22 goals.