Hats off to SC Villa and it's well deserved

Uganda's most successful club in history has thrown the gauntlet; they now want to take the lead off the pitch as well.

The establishment of a Villa Trust which saw the start of a members registration exercise  nationwide last weekend to spread the news that the club is now officially a community club, is a blinding initiative.

The sense of belonging which is absent from almost all Ugandan clubs has been resolved in one sweeping offer - ownership. Membership data; without which potential club sponsors can't make an informed decision, is a historic club problem that is as old as the first organized football competition in the country.

KCCA and Vipers SC; besides dominating the domestic game in the past decade, are the quintessential  examples of progressive local football clubs in a way of brand marketing and promotion. That has been the secret behind their success in attracting corporate sponsorships either towards stadium sponsorship, shirt sponsorships or other club property sponsorships. Even their initiatives to market their games by selling season tickets, selling club  merchandise or advertising on various media platforms have been vastly impressive.

Yet, these text book innovations have not necessarily helped in achieving the most important club mission - growing fan bases. Both KCCA and Vipers still operate below the acceptable threshold of supporter numbers considering their pedigree and reputation. Both have been unable to overtake either Villa or Express on the supporters front during the period when they have been the Premier League's flagship bearers. It hasn't helped that they can't even verify their support base to date. KCCA has largely remained a club for the arm chair middle class and corporates in the cities, while Vipers appeals mostly to the X-generation. No wonder the two clubs need sponsorship to survive as ticket revenues will never be enough to sustain their business. This is their greatest failing.

Express, like Villa, have operated from a disadvantaged position in comparison to KCCA and Vipers. Their internal wrangling not only pushed away potential sponsor suitors, it scattered their fans as well. Express particularly, has suffered from a lack of identity, ownership and membership. This is the problem Villa has addressed with the launch of a Trust. Right from the 1960s,70s,80s and early 1990s, the Express sold the story that their club had a royal endorsement of the Buganda kingdom. The earlier support the club enjoyed at grassroot level was premised on this falsehood.

With time however, it became clear that just like other clubs, Express beginnings owed to individuals who had close ties with the kingdom, which is how they secured the adoption of Mutesa II Stadium at Wankulukuku as their home. The time of Bbale Mugera, Godfrey Kirumira, Kavuma Kabenge revealed the previously unspoken secret - this club was surviving on individual merit. Whoever had the money called the tune and hence the birth of two Express clubs as we saw between 2012 and 2014. The rest is now history as the disintegration  of the supporters fraternity completely destroyed the club fabric.

This is the time to credit their traditional rival, Villa. First, they acknowledged that there was a problem of identity, ownership and membership. Rather than attempt a short cut to overcome an historic problem, they sacrificed a few years of potential success on the field and went back to the drawing board. Their diagnosis has led them to focus on the club foundation which is identity, ownership and membership. In the medium and long term, they could gain more than any of KCCA, Vipers or Express.

Not only will the club gain stability from within, there will be stability from without. A restoration of the old Villa brand this time complemented by a formal existence, constitution and clear administration structure will inevitably attract the sponsors and their unmistakable fans. This was strategic forward thinking. The kind that KCCA and Express cannot afford to ignore. As a KCCA lifelong supporter, I shudder that the Lugogo club with all it's financial might, organization, city authority patronage and  stadium ownership advantage have allowed our biggest rival to take this lead. Hats off.