Who is Denis Onyango? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, achievements, and relationship with Barbara Namubiru, Dalio, Lillian Nabwire, Ivan Mudambo, Hellen Ajambo, Nakato Musoke Olive Onyango, Gabriel Onyango, Milutin Micho, Villa FC, Mamelodi Sundowns, the early life and education of a Ugandan professional footballer.
Denis Onyango also known as Denis Masinde Onyango is a professional football player from Uganda.
He currently plays for Mamelodi Sundowns club in the South African Premier Soccer League as a Goalkeeper.
In his football career, Onyango has played for Nsambya FC, and SC Villa in Uganda he then went on to join St George in Ethiopia, Supersport, Black Aces, Bidvest Wits, and Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa.
Early Life and Education
Denis Onyango was born on 15 May 1985 in Uganda as a third born to Gabriel Onyango from the Samia Balindu clan and comes from Buduli village, Butangasi parish, Masaba Sub-county in Busia District and Nakato Musoke Olive Onyango from Mpala village, near Nkumba University on Entebbe Road.
Onyango has three siblings; Lillian Nabwire, Ivan Mudambo, and the last born Hellen Ajambo who works as a librarian at Ggaba Seminary.
He is married to Barbara Namubiru and together with their children, they live in Gauteng, South Africa. Dalio is the last born of his three children.
Onyango’s father was born in November 1952 and attended Kololo Senior Secondary School before joining the enforcement branch of the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (DAPCB).
His mother is a laboratory assistant at Makerere University Medical School, which is currently sponsored by the Mulago National Referral Hospital Directorate of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Kawempe.
Gabriel and Olive Onyango went to Railway quarters in Nsambya after the DAPCB was disbanded, where they raised their children. And it was here that little Dennis Onyango began kicking the ball around throughout his primary school days in the teams they had at the railway quarters, ‘Mategula’ and ‘Mabaati’.
He then began attending the Sharing FC playground in Nsambya, where a coach took an interest in him and began taking him to competitions.
Onyango desired to attend St. Peters College in Tororo for his secondary education and was offered a spot there; but, his parents felt that taking him there and visiting him would be difficult and expensive, so they sent him to Kitante Hill School.
He would return home from school after dark between 7 and 8 p.m. because he played football, which worried his mother. When Ntanda College, near Gombe Secondary School, recruited him for his football skills from senior two onwards, the opportunity was highly welcomed.
After finishing high school, he joined the first-tier Sharing FC, from which he was purchased by Villa FC.
He was invited to join the under-23 national squad while still at Villa. When Onyango’s former coach at Villa FC, Milutin Micho Sredojevic, moved to St. George FC in Ethiopia, he convinced him to follow him.
Villa FC attempted to sell him to Yanga in Tanzania, but Onyango chose to stay with his previous coach for two years.
Micho has been instrumental in the growth of Onyango’s football career. While he left him in Ethiopia, Onyango followed his mentor to South Africa, where he played for several clubs including Palangwa FC, Super Sport FC and Mamelodi Sundowns FC.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Onyango began his career in Uganda with SC Villa in Kampala before moving on to the South African Premier Soccer League with Supersport United, Mpumalanga Black Aces, and Mamelodi Sundowns.
In 2006, Onyango joined Supersport United of the South African Premier Soccer League. On July 8, 2010, SuperSport United released him.
Onyango was signed as a free agent by the Mpumalanga Black Aces on July 26, 2010.
Bobby Williamson called him to the national team, and he progressed through multiple CECAFA competitions and wins to the point where he could replace Zambian Mamelodi Sundowns star keeper, Kennedy Mwene.
In 2011, Onyango joined Mamelodi Sundowns of the South African Premier Soccer League. On August 2, 2013, he was loaned out to league rivals Bidvest Wits.
Mamelodi Sundowns exercised their option to extend Onyango’s contract by a year in July 2014.
Onyango made his first appearance for Uganda in a World Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde on June 18, 2005, and eventually, he became an Uganda Cranes regular.
He made his debut during Gabon’s hosting of the 31st Africa Cup of Nations, which took place from January 14 to February 5, 2017. By conceding only two goals in six qualifying matches, Onyango helped the Cranes qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
He was selected captain of the Uganda Cranes national team in April 2017 and he announced his retirement from international football on April 12, 2021, after Uganda failed to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Achievements and Awards
Onyango is well-known for his penalty-saving abilities and one-on-one play. Mark Anderson, a former Sundowns custodian coach, characterised him as “all-round, very consistent, and calm.”
He has won seven league crowns in the previous years, three at SuperSport United and four with the Tshwane giants.
He won the 2016 CAF Champions League and competed in the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup with Mamelodi Sundowns.
He was selected African-based African Player of the Year in 2016 at the CAF Awards in Nigeria on January 5, 2017.
He was also named the tenth-best goalkeeper in the world by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 2016.
Onyango also captained the Cranes at the Egypt 2019 AFCON finals and he is famously remembered for his spectacular save against Senegal’s Sadio Mane.
In the 2015-16 season, Onyango was named PSL Goalkeeper of the Season (best player in South Africa’s premier division) after keeping 14 clean sheets as Sundowns set a new record with 71 points.
The Uganda Sports Press Association named Onyango the top sports celebrity in Uganda in October 2016.
