Will Villa stay title course? 

This year marks 19 years from the time SC Villa last lifted the league championship. Since 2004 when a certain Sam Timbe guided the Jogoos to a sixth title in succession, it has been a period of despair and anguish for Uganda’s most successful soccer club of all time.

The club has flirted with relegation, undergone a series of power struggles and watched on with envy as rivals KCCA FC, Express FC and Vipers dominated the Ugandan game. It has been 19 years of agony for SC Villa faithful, the 2015 Uganda Cup title notwithstanding.

But SC Villa, who sit on top of the Uganda Premier League today, are finally looking the part. A run of six straight victories has thrust them to the summit of the league and for the first time in almost two decades, SC Villa have the look and feel of a team capable of lifting the Championship.

Two seasons ago, SC Villa’s lifelong fan and former treasurer Ahmed Omar Mandela ended his 19-year exile from the club by returning to the club as president. He was unopposed. It is not a coincidence that Mandela’s departure from the club in 2004 heralded the leanest period in the club’s illustrious history.

MAGERA’S PHILOSOPHY

The mogul’s return has led to stability in the club’s management structure and almost inevitably the club’s finances. Gone are the days of SC Villa players making headlines off the pitch for non-payment or outstanding arrears.

Mandela was present at the club’s last two UPL matches, at home to Bright Stars and away to Wakiso Giants, and his imposing figure has had a desired effect on the team’s fortunes.

On the field, the club’s coach Nelly Jackson Magera has succeeded in building a unit where everyone works tirelessly for the other – there is no tremendously outstanding individual. Magera, a former protégé of Mike Mutebi, is inclined to expression and fluidity while his assistant Ibrahim Kirya is pragmatic.

Strange as it sounds, the two coaches have struck a chord on the touchline and Villa indeed play with shades of Magera’s philosophy and Kirya’s. That explains why the Jogoos have registered eight 1-0 wins; they are very hard to break down.

Yet they always pose an offensive threat as witnessed by Charles Bbaale’s emphatic finish at Wankulukuku stadium against Bright Stars. Bbaale’s willingness to run himself into the ground has done SC Villa a world of good. He loves to shoot, is aggressive and never stops moving inside or outside of the channels.

Bbaale is not as gifted as, say, Travis Mutyaba, but his positive attitude has helped him fire the club into the championship equation that will have fans and neutrals on the edges of their seats.

Mutyaba is arguably SC Villa’s most creative attacker but his involvements with the Cranes Chan squad, the U-20 side and the senior Cranes team have limited his availability for Magera. Somehow the club hasn’t missed him.

In midfield, the mid-season acquisition of former player David Owor has given the Jogoos a new dimension. He has been purposeful in midfield on the left, middle or right to give Magera more options ahead of the home straight in the title race.

QUALITY OPPOSITION

The last time SC Villa came this close to winning the league was in the 2014/15 season. Vipers edged them by six points. In the 2017/18 season under coach Wasswa Bbosa, Villa led the table going into the final six games. They finished third eventually by seven points behind Vipers and KCCA.

In both those seasons, Ben Misagga was the club president. It is against such background that coach Magera has warned against any sort of complacency. He said: “We can’t call ourselves champions unless we win all our games.

“There is still the threat of KCCA and Vipers; two tough teams. We must take one game at a time.”

According to Mujib Kasule, a Fifa coaching instructor and Uganda Premier League pundit, he feels it would be nonsensical to dismiss Villa, when they are on this five-game winning run.

“But the fact is that KCCA FC and Vipers SC have more quality in depth. Besides, those two have games in hand on Villa, which makes them favourites to win the league in my view,” Kasule said.

While Villa have the second best defence in the league, having conceded 13 goals, six more than Vipers, a remarkable feat in a title chase, they have scored 22 goals in 21 games.

KCCA have scored 31 goals while Vipers have only 23 goals. Villa have the sixth best scoring record. But considering how important goals are, Villa will have to be more ruthless in attack and kill off opponents.