Can unstoppable Vipers walk into mighty Villa’s footsteps?

There was a lot more to Vipers SC’s Uganda Cup victory over KCCA last Saturday at Fufa stadium, Kadiba, than winning a second domestic league and cup double.

The Kited-based side eased through the league and breezed through the Uganda Cup without engaging second gear. So, Vipers looks to have the momentum to dominate the local football, the way SC Villa did some 21 years ago.

For the record, SC Villa has won six doubles, followed by Vipers, which has so far registered two. I know many football fans might think the comparison is too early, but going by Vipers’ no-nonsense approach against opponents plus a highly passionate management, the Venoms are on the right track to follow in the footsteps of the mighty SC Villa.

RECORDS AND SIMILARITIES

I recall in 1986, when SC Villa won its first double, many football pundits and fans called it a one-off and predicted the team’s collapse the following season.

In the 1987 season, SC Villa resumed their previous level of performance. They won that year’s league and al- though they missed out on the Uganda Cup, they went ahead to clinch the Cecafa Club Championship trophy.

Then in 1988, Geoff Hudson’s Villa outpaced rivals by winning the second double, losing just one league game and conceding only nine goals. They also defeated Express 3-1 in the cup final to race away with another double.

Like SC Villa, Vipers have won their second double in just two years (2023 and 2025), taking the club to 11 major trophies in just 15 years (seven league and four Uganda Cup titles).

On its part, SC Villa claimed 14 major titles (nine league, four Uganda Cups and one Cecafa title) between 1982 and 1997.

The other similarity which can’t be overlooked is the football passion of Vipers’ leadership, led by Lawrence Mulindwa and his team of Simon Sekankya, George Mulindwa, Haruna Kyobe and Dr Vincent Sajjabi, among others.

This can also be compared with SC Villa’s leadership at the time, headed by Patrick Edward Kawooya, Henry Bala- maze Lwanga, Franco Mugabe and Fred Kawuma, among others.

Recently, Mulindwa awarded a cash prize of Shs 250m to his team for winning the league and is also expected to reward the same team with another cash prize for defeating KCCA in the Uganda Cup final.

This is what SC Villa used to do whenever the team won major titles. Kawooya used to give the players a share of the club’s gate collections at major matches. Where Vipers is yet to reach SC Villa is the area of player recruitment.

The Villa Park side was known for signing top players. These included the likes of Paul Hasule, Rogers Nsubuga, Ronald Vubya, Magid Musisi, Godfrey Kateregga, Sunday Mokiri, Sula Kato, William Nkemba and Geofrey Higenyi, among others.

This cannot be said about Vipers; besides Allan Okello, Milton Karisa, Abdul Karim Watambala and Hilary Mukundane, the rest can hardly claim a place in The Cranes side.

However, where both teams are even is the technical area. Like Villa, Vipers are impatient with unproductive tacticians. This happened to tacticians like Miguel Da Costa, Nikola Kavazovic, Alex Isabirye, Edward Golola, Fred Kajoba, Richard Wasswa and George Nsimbe, among others.

Back in the day, Villa sacked the likes of George Mukasa, David Otti, Polly Ouma, Timothy Ayieko, Paul Hasule and Sam Timbe. Where Vipers hold the clearest advantage is having its own home ground.

For all the time Villa dominated Ugandan football, with all its 17 league and nine Uganda Cup titles, the club has failed to construct its stadium. Villa continues to hire different stadiums for different seasons. As for the fan base, Vipers is yet to reach the heights of Villa support.

OKELLO EQUALS OBWIN

As far as I can remember, Allan Okello and Phillip Obwin are the only players who have won two domestic doubles with different clubs. Okello first achieved it with KCCA in 2017 but before him, Obwin won his first double with Express in 1995 and repeated the feat with SC Villa in 2002.

The no-nonsense defender holds the joint record for winning six Uganda Cup titles (1992, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, and 2005). The other player is Richard Kirumira. Okello, who has won the third Uganda Cup title on Saturday (2017, 2018 and 2025), is Vipers’ talisman, having scored 18 league goals to emerge as the 2024/2025 league top scorer.

In Okello, Vipers could continue to dominate local clubs and who knows in 10 years’ time? They could be in the same league with Villa’s greatest era.