Football has a duty to save Nsambya FC from extinction

When the oldest among peers adds a year, it is a momentous occasion.

In the history of Ugandan football, Nsambya is the oldest club, having been founded in 1911. Over the years, the club has enjoyed some highs and lows, but the highlight of its existence has been the 1978 Uganda Cup triumph.

During this peak time, Nsambya was renowned for unearthing several top prospects who went on to feature for the Uganda Cranes, but due to limited funding in the eighties, many of their top players defected to rival clubs. This kick-started their descent.

The Old Timers, as they are nicknamed, spent 16 years in the top flight, but it has now been 28 years since they last played in the top tier.

Nonetheless, just when we should be continuing to cherish their long existence, all is not well because the club faces extinction if no urgent action is taken.

Nsambya FC is a Catholic church-founded club, and for all its existence, it has been sustained by the church’s development initiatives.

However, an eminent figure in the club recently intimated to me that whereas the club’s funding has been dwindling and the club has been struggling to keep itself afloat, there is a feeling among key people that the club has become a liability, something that has created an overriding desire to fold the club and turn its training ground in Nsambya-Gogonya into a commercial facility.

So, it’s ironic that just as some club members were preparing to celebrate the clubs’s 112th anniversary, it became clear that some key stakeholders had lost interest and may actually want it folded. I am also reliably informed that the team was recently forced out of the training ground, which is now fenced with iron sheets.

This is understandable because the Nsambya area is fast-becoming a key commercial zone, with many high- rise buildings being erected.

Granted, some unrelenting people at the club have relocated its training sessions to the nearby St Peter’s SS playground, but it remains to be seen whether they can sustain it.

Which begs the question: if Nsambya FC needs to be relocated, why don’t investors strike a deal with the club to create a win-win situation by granting the club some shareholding on the projects being mooted?

It doesn’t help to push the club to the point of extinction at the expense of money. Nsambya is the longest legacy in Ugandan football, and it cannot just be erased because a few individuals want commercial development.

It is also important for all football stakeholders to become interested in the matter because the sport needs to have Nsambya as a living testimony rather than something we read about in history.

bzziwa@observer.ug