Nairobi United

Samwel Born Maina had built a career as an investigative journalist before he turned to football, and in 2015 he set up a side called Balaji EPZ FC as little more than a training team for staff at his media agency in Nairobi. He had it formally registered as a club, and when the Football Kenya Federation's Transition Committee oversaw a wave of rebrandings after the 2021/2022 season, the side took the name Nairobi United. In September 2024 Maina sold the club to the Sakaja Foundation, backed by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, for KSh 50 million, and moved into a back-end role.

The takeover coincided with the club's fastest stretch of progress. Nairobi United won the FKF National Super League in 2025, earning promotion to the FKF Premier League, and added their first major trophy the same year, beating fierce local rivals Gor Mahia 2-1 in the FKF Cup final on 29 June. The win put them straight into the group stage of the Confederation of African Football's Confederation Cup for a debut season in Kenya's top flight. Fixtures against Gor Mahia, along with AFC Leopards, carry the most weight for a club still known locally as "The Naibois", who play at the 30,000-capacity Nyayo National Stadium.

Ernest Muhammed's penalty saves in the FKF Cup semi-final against KCB kept the run alive, but it was Enock Mashaka who settled the final, scoring the winning goal against Gor Mahia to hand Nairobi United its first major trophy.