Kenya premier league is one ugandan soccer must envy

Buru58 · 2014-07-09T10:41:41+00:00

The Kenyan Premier League is one Ugandan soccer must envy Share Bookmark Print Rating Gor Mahias Ugandan striker Dan Sserunkuma scored for his team in the 2-2 draw with rivals AFC Leopards on Sunday. Courtesy Photo. By Mark Namanya Posted Wednesday, August 28 2013 at 00:0 Inevitably, we had to come back to football. Over the last 12 months, football and to be precise the top flight league has been a topic that required anti-depressants for those who were engaged with it. The news in and around it was anything but exciting. The rival leagues, stop-start televised games and direct threats to players and blackmail of individuals are some of the very many issues that left the game in an abyss. There is no point dwelling on that chapter. The least we can do is see how our eastern neighbours Kenya are progressing. It is likely that many Kenyans would beg to differ seeing how they have had problems not too dissimilar from the ones in Uganda. And then of course there is the maxim of grass being greener on the other side. What cant be denied is that the Kenya Premier League (KPL) is street miles better than the topflight of Uganda, whatever name it is called. The KPL has grown to a level that we have to envy. On Sunday, SuperSport 9 East screened live the Kenyan derby between eternal rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. That match is the KPLs el clasico and true to form offered the drama usually associated with highly billed derbies. The build-up to the match in Kenyan media had extensive hype and coverage that Ugandan league football hasnt witnessed in more than one and a half decades. The atmosphere at Kasarani Stadium was evidently electric and the winner in the end was the KPL despite the game ending in a stalemate. The Ugandan game today can only watch on and wonder what became of the lustre of old. There are no crowds in the league. The biggest attendances come with the national team. The irony is that the Cranes brands incredible growth is inversely proportional to the diminishment of the topflight league. There was a time when a match between SC Villa and Express brought the city to a halt. There was also a time when you could tell that SC Villa was going to play KCC simply by reading the frenzied atmosphere in Kampala or Masaka on Match Day. You didnt need to be in possession of the league schedule. Those times, football meant everything. The passion was abundant, almost to a dangerous level. The level of competitiveness was such that violence and hooliganism became a common occurrence. Anti-riot policemen became major players in the league. They were of utmost importance because of the deep rivalries among the biggest clubs in the league. These days, a part of me actually does miss hooliganism. Why? Because unbeknownst to the game at the time, the thugs who hurled stones were a product of a league that had built welcome rivalries. The hatred Express had for SC Villa and SC Villa for KCC is sadly gone. Many things have changed since. Today, Ugandan football has a host of sides dominating. That era when the league was a preserve for Villa, KCC and Express is consigned in history. The advent of sides like Bunnamwaya, URA and Sports Club Victoria University has swung the pendulum in another direction. Yet at a time when they should have been building fan bases and establishing their chapter however young in Ugandan football, theyve been thwarted by uncertainty and confusion that still exists. Watching Gor Mahia and Leopards, I couldnt help but wonder if the Ugandan topflight will have a much of similar intensity, rivalry and interest. No amount of money buys a rivalry. Rivalries are built over decades. The rivalries the Ugandan league is supposed to be witnessing are dead. How can the VEK (Villa, Express, KCC) rivalry exist when there were two Villa and Express teams supposedly competing in different leagues last season? The KPL for all its problems has stayed afloat. Matches are screened on SuperSport and the clubs are enjoying increasing sponsorship. -------- Mour must show he can build a team out of youngsters Jose Mourinho has won it all in the last decade, lifting League and Cup titles in four different countries by employing solid and experienced individuals all through. 1 | 2 Next Page»

Thread starter Buru58
Start date Jul 9, 2014

Buru58

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Kenya premier league is one ugandan soccer must envy

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