The 2015 Ethiopian football season was a perfect mix of the good, some disappointment but overall a good antidote for 2016 .Ethiopia football season  doesn’t end so much as it slips back into itself.

As soon as the whistle is blown one last time, the recaps, the nostalgia, and the smart surmises begin. However the specifics start to stretch beyond the immediate recall they enjoyed during 2014/2015.

The locations and stadia whose names were on the tip of your tongue begin to hang back as you go forth with your life after a glorious season that saw top goals,mixed reactions,losers,winners, all in the same breath.

In a year of bouquets and barbs, the indefatigable spirit locally known as “Walia Walia” gained currency as Ethiopians once again suffered another heartbreaking early exit from the 2018 World Cup at the second phase of Africa qualifying.But the CHAN qualifyfication came as a sweet surprise and a third place finish in the 2015 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup.

From the rubble of shattered dreams, domestic club titans St.George embarked on an incredible run into the history books that enchanted all corners of the nation and beyond getting their 12^th title .

Soka25east.com takes a football tour of 2015 to summarise how the year was in Ethiopian football.

ST.George 12^th time Champions:

St.George were crowned champions of Ethiopian Premier League for the 12^th time after crushing Arba Minch Kenema 3-1.

Retired National team player Adane Girma’s brace helped St.George to the fabulous win celebrated by thousands of fans who were eagerly awaiting the glorious moment.It was barely a week after Adane announced his retirement from Ethiopia Walia Ibex that he turned up in style to help demolish Arba Minch.

Meseret Manni Break record:

History was made in Ethiopia and the entire Africa after the first ever Woman coach Meseret Manni led her team Dire Dawa Kenema to the Prestigious Ethiopian Premier League.

It was a one off moment in the Ethiopian National League semi final as Meseret’s side produced a virtuoso performance to crash Jimma Aba Bunna 2-0 with goals from Abdulfelah Kemal in the 12th minute and Belay Ababneh in the 64th minute.

Ethiopia Walia Ibex qualify for CHAN:

Ethiopia Walia Ibex

Ethiopia qualified for Chan 2016 in style after whitewashing visitors Burundi 3-0 in a one sided match return leg clash played on Sunday in Addis Ababa.

Walia Ibex came into the game needing to score three goals after they were beaten 2-0 last weekend in Bujumbura and they responded with a fine display to qualify for next year’s tourney.

Gatoch Panom was the hero with two goals Walia to the massive victory to qualify for their second Chan after their 2014 debut.

Native Yohanes Sahle Appointed as Ethiopia coach:

Ethiopia Football Federation appointed Yohannes Sahle as the new national team coach.

Sahle replaced Portuguese Mariano Barreto, who paid the price for failing to qualify the team for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

The 49-year-old’s first task was to prepare the team for the 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers, that started in June as he immediately embarked on rebuilding the team with young players.

Sahle is an Ethiopia-born US citizen who had a successful playing career in the mid 1980s with the top Ethiopian teams before leaving for America.

He returned to Ethiopia in 2010 to take the technical director role at Ethiopian Football Federation. Later he managed the U-17 national team and his last role was as coach of Dedebit, one of the top teams in the Ethiopian Premier League.

Ethiopia U-20 Women team So near Yet So Far:

Ethiopia U20 Women team were so near yet so far from qualifying for the 2016 FIFA World Cup to be stages in Papua New Guinea.

After a 2-2 draw against opponents Ghana in Addis Ababa  the ladies who had been exceptional throughout the competition  lost steam in the return leg falling to a 4-0 loss to Ghana at Baba Yara Stadium to  seal qualification to the 2016 FIFA U20 Women World Cup.

The Black Princesses booked a ticket to the World Cup after sealing a 6-2 aggregate scoreline in the final qualifying match.But it was a great fight by the Ethiopia U20 ladies who reached a new standard and were just almost there to achieve their dream.

BGI Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) to become the title sponsor of the Ethiopia Premier League.

According to the agreement signed by the two parties,the beer makers will sponsor the league for the next 2 years under their Castle Beer brand. The deal is reportedly worth 7 million birr ($350, ooo) per year and will see the country’s top flight football officially be named as the Castle Ethiopia Premier League.

However its paramount to note that  the deal that was to bring change  between the two parties was later cancelled because of conflict of Interest issues raised in the league.

The Arsenal Connection:

Arsenal announced a new partnership with the Ethiopian Dashen Brewery in a deal described by Dashen’s CEO as a win for Arsenal, for the brewery and for Ethiopia.

Under the terms of the three-year deal Arsenal Football Club becomes the first Premier League side to secure a regional partnership in Ethiopia with the Dashen Brewery as its Official Beer Partner and with the club supporting Dashen Brewery’s community based initiatives with coaches from the club taking part in grassroots football development projects.

Ethiopia Successfully  host 2015 Cecafa Senior Challenge:

Ethiopia stepped in to replace Rwanda as hosts of November’s east and central Africa’s regional championship, the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup

Rwanda had been due to host the event but have withdrawn as they preparing to host the African Nations Championship (CHAN), next January. The tournament had to be cancelled last year(2014) after Ethiopia’s decision they could not hosting the event.

Ethiopia football federation under President Junedin Basha scored high and were the the talk of the region hosting a successful Challenge Cup that lived up to the high expectations from both players,officials and federations across the region.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com