The 2020/21 Kenyan Premier League concluded on Sunday 22 August 2021 with the 34th and final set of games ending a season that kicked off in late November 2020.
Overall Nairobi City Stars captain Calvin Apollo Masawa, at City Stars since joining in from Migori Youth back in 2011 – the longest serving player – was part of the Simba wa Nairobi squad that graced the league having returned to the topflight after four seasons in the lower tier.
Masawa was one of four players besides field captain Anthony Muki Kimani, Jimmy Bageya, Ezekiel Odera and Oliver Maloba who were making their second Premier League debuts having been part of the team that got relegated at the end of the 2016 season.
His view on the just ended season?
“The season was excellent given that we just got promoted from the second tier to KPL and finished seventh. That was a great achievement,”
“When we started the season, our sole aim was to survive relegation so anything beyond that was a bonus.
Not to be ignored by Masawa was playing the season in the midst of a the novel coronavirus season that cut short last season and delayed the current season by up to seven weeks.
“The season had so many challenges due to COVID-19 impact with all the restrictions, protocols and empty stadiums. Everything was never normal at all,”
“And to make it even more tough on us we lost our able Team Manager Mr Neville Pudo. May his soul rest in peace. That hit us hard being that he was a father figure to us. But we recollected ourselves and pushed on even harder,”
“The season was even more interesting being that every team was very competitive. It was full of surprises and very unpredictable since no team was guaranteed an easy win against any opponent, so that needed extra effort and a bit of luck for a team to win a match,”
“But with the financial support and motivation from our management, we were able to compete and even fought hard. It is our hope that next new season everything will be normal, and we are looking to better our seventh-place finish.” Concluded Masawa
The overall captain, gifted with power on both left and right feet, commands either fullback positions, as well as wings.
He featured in three games in the ended season but was a constant feature on the bench after being named 24 times.