Stage two — building the game
How To Build Football In One Kenyan County, Step By Step
Three tracks, because they are not the same job. The professional game is how one licensed club gets built in one county, from incorporation and land to a modular stadium. The grassroots game is how the community game in that same county gets organised, surfaced, refereed and paid for. The national game is the Harambee Stars camp base that sits on top of both, so a call-up does not mean leaving your club or your county. Pick a track, pick a county, and every step below is priced for that county — its own courts, pitches, academies, teams and stadium, not a national average.
The order is taken from how professional clubs in the Premier League and the divisions beneath it were actually developed — the FA on legal structures, England Football Accreditation, the Football Foundation’s feasibility-before-funding rule, EFL academy licensing — and then priced with Kenyan statutory fees and Kenyan build and wage costs. Statutory fees are published rates. Everything else is our estimate, in the open to be argued with.
Eight steps for the community game in the same county: audit what exists, constitute and safeguard the clubs, lay the courts, run the leagues, train the adults, reach the schools and girls, open a route to the professional club, and pay for the maintenance.
Five-year cost
$2.23m
One-off plus five years of running
estimateas at 12 Sept 2026Our estimate, Kenyan cost inputsWhat gets built here
3 courts · 1 pitch
1 academy · 1 stadium · 201 teams
officialas at 12 Sept 2026KNBS 2019 census and our county allocationFilter by KPL Strategic Plan pillar — see only your own workstream
County Football Plan and Partnership
Find out what already exists in the county before proposing anything new, and agree who does what with the people who own the land.
The work
- Audit every playable pitch, school field and open space in Kiambu, with condition and access.
- Agree a memorandum with the county government and the FKF county branch.
- Publish a county football development plan with a five-year facility priority list.
- Map the demand: schools, existing weekend leagues, women's teams, refugee and disability groups.
What you end up with
- A published plan for Kiambu
- A signed county partnership
- A ranked facility priority list
What it costs in Kiambu
Constituted, Safeguarded and Accredited Clubs
Make the community clubs real organisations with adults accountable for children's safety.
The work
- Constitute and register about 50 community clubs with officers and bank accounts.
- Train and vet a safeguarding officer at every club, with a reporting route that works.
- Run an accreditation standard: constitution, safeguarding, coaching, first aid, insurance.
- Register every player and team on Kenya Connect.
What you end up with
- About 50 accredited clubs
- A safeguarding officer in every club
- Every player registered
What it costs in Kiambu
Courts and Pitch Upgrades
Put surfaces on the ground that survive the rains and can be played on every day of the week.
The work
- Build 3 stackable five-a-side and futsal courts, fenced, floodlit and drained.
- Upgrade 1 community eleven-a-side ground with drainage, goals, line marking and changing provision.
- Deliver 1 indoor football arena for year-round play.
- Train a local maintenance team during the build, not after it.
What you end up with
- 3 courts and 1 upgraded ground
- A 3.0:1 small-sided to full-size ratio
- A trained county maintenance team
What it costs in Kiambu
Leagues and Organised Competition
Give every team a fixture list, because unstructured football does not hold players.
The work
- Run about 17 divisions of twelve, home and away, for roughly 201 teams.
- Publish fixtures, results and tables so the season means something.
- Appoint referees to every fixture and run a discipline process.
- Add a girls' and women's division from the first season, not the third.
What you end up with
- 17 divisions of twelve
- 5,226 matches a year
- A published table and discipline record
What it costs in Kiambu
Coaching, Refereeing and Volunteers
Train the adults. A court with no coach is a car park with lines on it.
The work
- Put 181 people through CAF and FKF entry coaching badges, weighted towards women.
- Run referee courses and mentor new officials through their first season.
- Train first aid and pitchside response at every club.
- Train groundskeeping so the surfaces last their design life.
What you end up with
- Badged coaches in every club
- Enough referees to cover the fixture list
- Trained groundstaff
What it costs in Kiambu
Schools, Girls and Inclusion
Reach the children who will never walk into a club on their own.
The work
- Link every court to the schools within walking distance, with timetabled hours.
- Run a girls' league and reserve equal court hours for it.
- Run disability football and, where the county hosts camps, refugee sessions.
- Feed the orphans' and community programmes into the same fixture list.
What you end up with
- Timetabled school hours on every court
- A girls' league from season one
- Disability and refugee provision
What it costs in Kiambu
Talent Pathway Into The Professional Club
Connect the county's weekend football to the professional academy above it, so talent does not have to move to Nairobi at fourteen.
The work
- Run 1 county academy and coach-education centre as a centre of excellence.
- Hold open county trials on a published calendar, scouted against agreed criteria.
- Agree a written route into the professional club's 10–14 and 15–21 teams.
- Keep education in the deal: no player leaves school to chase a trial.
What you end up with
- 1 county academy
- A written route into the professional club
- Schooling kept in the pathway
What it costs in Kiambu
Operating Model and Maintenance
Pay for the upkeep out of the site's own income, so year six looks like year one.
The work
- Sell evening and weekend court hours at local prices, with subsidised school and girls' hours.
- Employ a county maintenance team across all the sites.
- Hold a sinking fund for surface replacement at the end of design life.
- Publish income against running cost every year for every site.
What you end up with
- Running costs covered by court income
- A funded replacement cycle
- Published site accounts
What it costs in Kiambu
Anchored to
England's grassroots game, in published numbers
England is the closest thing to a full audit of what grassroots football costs, what it returns and how many jobs it carries. We use it as the yardstick, not as a template.
£15.9bn
Annual social and economic value of grassroots football
Up from £10.2bn in 2021
The FA / England Football£5.8bn
Health and wellbeing value inside that total
Including an estimated £3.2bn of NHS savings
The FA / Sheffield Hallam University1m+ people
Workforce and volunteers carrying the game
Generating £5.8bn of societal value a year
The FA / England Football£1.3bn
Facility investment since 2000
Attracting £1.5bn of partnership funding — £2.8bn in total
Football Foundation1,300+
Artificial grass pitches delivered
Plus 15,000 grass pitches improved and 1,700 pavilions upgraded
Football Foundation2 in 3
Grass pitches rated poor quality
And 96% of local authorities short of artificial pitches
The FA / England Football12,000 pitches
The FA's 2024–28 targets
Plus 300 new artificial grass pitches by 2028
The FA / England Football1.54
Benefit to cost ratio of the government facilities programme
With participation up 52.2% a year where a pitch was built or upgraded
UK Government (DCMS)England's own evidence is that the binding constraint is playable surfaces and the people who run them — not stadiums. Two in three of its grass pitches are poor and almost every local authority is short of all-weather pitches, in the richest league market on earth. Kenya should not repeat that mistake by starting at the top.
The five-a-side case
Why Brazil is the model for five-a-side
Brazil did not produce its players on eleven-a-side pitches. It produced them on hard courts, indoors and outdoors, in volume, from the 1930s onward.
POI Data / Confederação Brasileira de FutsalHow it happened
1930s–40s
Futebol de salão is developed in urbanising South America, where full-size pitches are scarce. The YMCA in São Paulo formalises it on existing basketball courts, borrowing rules from water polo, handball and football.
1954
The first state federation is founded in Rio de Janeiro, followed by the other states.
1979
The Brazilian futsal confederation is established to govern the game nationally.
Today
1,911 futsal courts are verified as trading in Brazil, concentrated in São Paulo (384) and Minas Gerais (288) — a floor, because it excludes school, municipal and community courts.
Why the court produces players
- A smaller, heavier ball stays on the ground, so aerial play is pointless and close control, first touch and passing accuracy are forced.
- A court of 28–40m by 15–20m means constant possession, constant decisions and far more touches per hour than an eleven-a-side game.
- Pelé, Zico, Romário, Ronaldinho and Neymar all credit futsal for their technique and their ginga.
- Brazil has won five FIFA Futsal World Cups while treating the game as the teaching floor for the eleven-a-side team.
The point is participation per shilling. A hard court takes a fraction of the land, a fraction of the cost and almost none of the maintenance of a grass pitch, and it can be played on all day, every day, in the rain, under lights. Eleven-a-side pitches should be reserved for what genuinely needs them — academies, professional clubs, leisure facilities and the national team's county camp bases and headquarters. Everything else should be small-sided, because the aim is more people playing, not more pitches empty.
TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027
AFCON is in June 2027. The build runs before it, through it and after it.
Kick-off 19 June 2027 · Final 17 July 2027 · Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
Kenya co-hosts the continent's tournament in June 2027. That is the fixed point every phase below is timed against. Nothing here depends on the tournament being won; it depends on the facilities still being in use in 2030.
Until kick-off
279
days
05
hours
25
minutes
21
seconds
Finished by kick-off
- The first wave of five-a-side courts in the ground and trading, county by county.
- County leagues playing on them, with fixtures, referees and a published table.
- Coaches and referees through their first FKF and CAF courses.
- Clubs incorporated, affiliated and inside the licensing process.
- One Harambee Stars county camp base commissioned and in use.
- Every figure in this plan re-checked against its published source.
Before
Now to June 2027
Courts and pitches in the ground and in use, county leagues running, coaches and referees qualified, clubs incorporated and licensed.
Small-sided courts are the only facility class that can be delivered at volume in this window. Grass and hybrid eleven-a-side work starts now but lands later.
During
June and July 2027
Every county venue used as a fan park, a training base or a community programme site while the continent is watching.
Attention is the cheapest marketing the game will ever get. Courts already trading can convert it into memberships, leagues and sponsorship on the spot.
After
August 2027 onward
The facilities keep trading, the leagues keep running, and the academies keep producing.
The test is not the tournament. It is whether a child in a county town still has somewhere to play in 2030 and a pathway that leads somewhere.
What every cost here is built from
Kiambu cost index x1.784
Every Kenyan cost line below is built from Kenyan wages, electricity, water, rent, materials and published statutory fees. Where a cost genuinely varies locally — wages, rent, materials — it is indexed to Kiambu at x1.78 of the national average rather than to a flat national figure. Tariffs and statutory fees are national published rates. The outcomes — what a produced player, a licensed club or a filled stadium is worth — are priced on established professional football markets. Statutory fees and cost inputs are re-checked automatically and any change is held for review before it appears here.
officialas at 12 Sept 2026KSh 129 to US$1 · exchangerate-api.com (open access endpoint)| Input | Basis | National rate | In Kiambu | Published by | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wages | Statutory wage orders and average earnings, uprated by CPI | KSh 18,000a month, entry level | KSh 32,112 | Ministry of Labour, Kenya (Regulation of Wages Order) Official Statisticpublished 2025-05-01 | official · annual |
| Electricity | Retail tariff including the monthly fuel adjustment | KSh 28.5per kWh | National rate | Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority Official Statisticpublished 2026-07-01 | official · monthly |
| Water | Approved utility tariff for the county's water service provider | KSh 105per cubic metre | National rate | Water Services Regulatory Board Official Statisticpublished 2026-04-01 | official · quarterly |
| Rent and land | Commercial rent and county land rates | KSh 950per m2 a month | KSh 1,695 | County land rates and commercial rent listings KSKF Estimate | estimate · quarterly |
| Materials and construction | KNBS construction cost and producer price indices | x1.0against the national average | x1.78 | Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Official Statisticpublished 2026-05-01 | official · annual |
| Statutory fees | Published rates, re-checked into the review queue | Incorporation KSh 10,650, trademark KSh 27,000one-off | National rate | Business Registration Service, Kenya Official Statisticpublished 2025-07-01 | official · quarterly |
| Football governance | FKF affiliation, club licensing, coaching and referee courses | Affiliation $1,200, licence $3,500one-off | National rate | Football Kenya Federation Official Statisticpublished 2025-01-01 | official · monthly |
| Outcomes and valuations | Priced on established professional football markets, not on Kenyan wages | Market values and transfer records | National rate | Transfermarkt Unverified / Reported | benchmark · monthly |
How the steps and the prices were set
Statutory fees are published rates. Build, wage and operating costs are our own estimates for Kiambu, sized from its census population and its share of the national allocation. Nothing here is a quotation, a budget or an awarded contract.
The commercial case
Can you deliver any of this better?
We would rather back the right partner than build everything ourselves. Submissions are open to the diaspora, county governments, clubs, schools, contractors and coach educators — including ones that re-scope or re-sequence these steps entirely.
Kenya Premier League Strategic Plan 2022–2027
The Recommended Steps, Anchored To The League's Own Plan
Every step recommended here delivers something the Kenya Premier League Strategic Plan 2022–2027 already asks for. The pillars are the league's; the costs, facilities and sequencing are ours, published so they can be argued with.
01 · Grass Roots
A primary and secondary schools programme creating sporting, health and education outcomes.
Courts, community grounds and the county league that gives a schools programme somewhere to play, in every one of the 47 counties.
02 · Football Business Academy
Education and training for the people who will run professional clubs.
The business plan, financial model, audited books and coach and referee education lines, priced county by county rather than taught in the abstract.
03 · Club Structures
Guiding member clubs on the legal structures that attract capital and strategic investors.
Incorporation with an asset lock, a board with a finance and safeguarding lead, FKF affiliation and the licensing evidence pack.
04 · Multi-Sports Division
Building facilities for young people to play more professional sports and attract fans and sponsors.
Every court, hall and stadium specified for basketball, volleyball, netball, handball and futsal from the drawing, so the same concrete earns on more days.
Where the plan says run two steps as one
Club Structures
Run incorporation and licensing as one workstream
Incorporation and Governance + FKF Club Licensing and League Entry
Both answer Club Structures, and licensing asks for the same governance evidence incorporation produces. Doing them together means the licensing file is written once, not twice.
Football Business Academy
Teach the business plan through the Football Business Academy
Business Plan, Financial Model and Trademark + Trading, Revenue and Sustainability
The plan and the trading model are the same document at two points in time. KPL's academy is the natural place to write and then defend it.
Grass Roots
Build the courts and the county league together
Courts and Pitch Upgrades + Leagues and Organised Competition
A court with no fixtures is a car park. Commission the surface and the season together so the schools programme lands on a working competition.
Multi-Sports Division
Specify the base and the stadium for multi-sport from day one
Club Base and Training Ground + Modular Stadium
Retrofitting a hall for basketball or volleyball costs more than drawing it that way. The Multi-Sports Division only works if the specification carries it at design stage.
The Multi-Sports Division, written into the buildings
The Multi-Sports Division is the pillar that changes the buildings. Marking a court for basketball, netball and volleyball at drawing stage costs a fraction of retrofitting it, and it is what turns a football facility into a venue that trades seven days a week. Hire rates and hours are our estimates.
| Facility | Also carries | Specification | Extra spec, per unit | Extra hire a year | Pays back in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stackable 5-a-side and futsal courts | Futsal, Basketball, Netball, Handball, Volleyball | Overlaid court markings, 3.05m basketball rings on the fence posts and sockets for volleyball and netball posts. Nothing structural, specified at drawing stage. | $2,400 | $3,31212h a week | 0.7 years |
| Community 11-a-side pitch upgrades | Athletics warm-up, Rugby sevens, Community events, School galas | A 200m grass loop marked around the pitch, sockets for rugby posts, and a hard apron for seating, stalls and school events. | $6,500 | $4,4168h a week | 1.5 years |
| Indoor football arenas | Futsal, Basketball, Volleyball, Netball, Handball, Badminton | Sprung multi-sport surface, retractable rings, divider nets and a spectator side, so the hall sells to five sports and to schools by day. | $48,000 | $30,36030h a week | 1.6 years |
| County academies and coach education | Multi-sport coach education, Strength and conditioning, Referee courses | A classroom and gym shared across sports, so the academy also hosts the county's basketball and volleyball coach courses. | $5,200 | $4,14010h a week | 1.3 years |
| Modular professional stadiums (Priority 18) | Football, Rugby, Athletics, Basketball show courts, Concerts and conferences | Demountable stands, a hard infield apron, power and broadcast tie-ins sized for non-football events, and covered concourse space that lets go on a weekday. | $210,000 | $154,56024h a week | 1.4 years |
| Modular county stadiums (remaining counties) | Football, Rugby, Athletics, County events, Volleyball | The same demountable specification at 3,000 to 5,000 seats, with a community hall under the main stand for indoor sport and county use. | $95,000 | $57,96018h a week | 1.6 years |
| Across the whole programme | All units | $7.71m | $5.51m |
Across the whole programme: $7.71m of extra specification, $5.51m of non-football hire income a year
KPL’s own county competition
The Governors' League
KPL's own proposal for a competition involving all 47 counties, using county-built stadiums that mostly sit idle, as the pipeline that finds young players where they live.
What it is
- Announced by KPL in October 2024 and taken to the Council of Governors, with the first county conversations reported in Trans Nzoia.
- A county-level competition sitting under the professional pyramid, built to be a development route rather than a rival league.
- Its stated purpose is twofold: find talent at county level, and put publicly funded stadiums into regular use instead of leaving them empty between rallies and rare fixtures.
Why it fits these facilities
- It needs exactly the facilities recommended here: one playable, floodlit community ground and a modular county stadium in every county, plus courts for the age groups below.
- It answers the geography problem in KPL's own plan — two thirds of top-flight clubs are in Nairobi while 87% of Kenyans are not.
- It gives the schools programme, the county academy and the professional club a competition to feed, which is the part usually missing when facilities are built.
| Season cost line | Per fixture | Per county season |
|---|---|---|
| Match officials, three per fixture | $45 | $990 |
| Pitch preparation and floodlighting per fixture | $120 | $2,640 |
| Match-day medical and safety per fixture | $85 | $1,870 |
| Ball, kit and equipment share per fixture | $40 | $880 |
| Team travel, county-level average per fixture | $210 | $4,620 |
| 22 fixtures a county season | $500 | $11,000 |
All 47 counties, one season: $517,000
Fixture costs are our own estimates at Kenyan rates, published so a county can argue with them. Nothing here is agreed with KPL, the Council of Governors or any county.
The league’s own roadmap
2022
Foundation year: strategic plan launch and stakeholder consultation
2023
Building blocks: academy curriculum, governance framework, early partners
2024
Partnership momentum: commercial and community partners onboarded
2025
Partnership consolidation: long-term alliances and private capital partners
2026
Commercial structuring: clubs incorporated commercially, infrastructure aligned
2027
Full implementation and sustainability metrics — the year AFCON arrives
Stage 2 of 4 — Building The Game
So what follows
Courts, leagues, coaches, academies and licensed clubs are the machine. On their own they are a shopping list. What turns them into a case is what they cost, what they return and who pays for them.