Vipers eager to join double club

Police coach Angelo Lonyesi has already sounded a warning to Vipers SC that they are coming for a beating in the Uganda Cup final on Saturday.

But the Ugandan champions, Vipers - fresh from defending the league title - have just too much motivation to beat Lonyesi and his comrades in arms.

First, Vipers coach Alex Isabirye will be seeking to win the Uganda Cup with his fourth club having lifted it with Victoria University, URA and Bul.

Should he win it, Isabirye will also be joining Polly Ouma, Geoff Hudson (British), Paul Hasule, Jimmy Muguwa and Mike Mutebi as the only coaches to have won a season double. 

And should Vipers clinch it, they will also join the esteemed ‘double’ clubs, who have won both the national league and Uganda Cup in the same season.

Only three clubs have done it including SC Villa - the only ones to do a double a record extending six times - Express and KCCA. 

Let us roll back the years to when the three clubs did it, starting with trend setters - SC Villa. 

SC Villa, 1986, under coach Polly Ouma

Captained by the great Paul Hasule, coach Ouma’s Villa became the first Ugandan club to win a league and cup double in 1986. They beat Tobacco 2-0 to lift the Uganda Cup days just after clinching the league.

SC Villa, 1988 & 1989, all under coach Geoff Hudson

British coach, Hudson, picked from where Ouma left, with captain Hasule remaining the ever present engine. The two men, leading from the dugout and the pitch, sealed league titles in 1988 and 1989 before beating bitter rivals Express 3-1 and 4-2 in the Uganda Cup finals respectively to confirm their second and third consecutive doubles.

Express, 1995, under coach Jimmy Muguwa

After painful experiences of watching rivals Villa do things only Villa did, coach Muguwa - who had replaced legendary David Otti - and captain George Ssimwogerere also helped themselves to the club’s first and only double. The year 1995 belonged to the Red Eagles, who also made a continental semifinal in the same period. Express beat KCCA 4-3 on penalties to lift the Uganda Cup after a goalless draw in normal time.

SC Villa, 1998 & 2000, under coach Paul Hasule

After eight years since the last double, Villa struck again. V8, as Hasule was famously known, had since transitioned from the pitch to the dugout, with midfielder Edgar Watson the captain. The two guided Villa to the 1998 and 2000 league titles before beating Simba 2-0 and Military Police 1-0 in the Uganda Cup finals of the said years respectively to seal the club’s fourth and fifth doubles. Hasule remains the only Ugandan to win ‘two doubles’ as a player and coach - all with SC Villa.

SC Villa, 2002, under coach Micho Sredojevic 

Villa’s last league and cup double came in 2002, this time under Serbian tactician and current Uganda Cranes coach Micho Sredojevic, but with Watson still wearing the armband. The Jogoos, who had now won five successive league titles (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 ), beat Express 2-1 in the Uganda Cup final to clinch their sixth and last league and cup double.

KCCA, 2017, under coach Mike Mutebi 

For all these years, KCCA never sat at the table of men and only heard of ‘doubles’ in passing. Finally, all this changed in 2017 when coach Mike Mutebi revolutionised things at Lugogo. It was around this time that KCCA also twice made the group stages on the continent. KCCA, captained by Denis Okot, beat Paidha Black Angels 2-0 in the Uganda Cup final to seal their double. 

SC Villa

Double years, coaches & captains

2002: Under Micho Sredojevic (captain Edgar Watson)

2000: Paul Hasule (Edgar Watson)

1998: Paul Hasule (Edgar Watson)

1989: Geoff Hudson (Paul Hasule)

1988: Geoff Hudson (Paul Hasule)

1986- Polly Ouma (Paul Hasule)

KCCA

Double year, coach & captain

2017: Mike Mutebi, (Denis Okot)

Express

Double year, coach & captain

1995: Jimmy Muguwa (George Ssimwogerere)