Express Football Club, abbreviated as Express, is a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, the largest city and capital of

. The club play their home games at the Muteesa II Wankulukuku Stadium.

History

Express FC is popularly referred to by the club fans as the Red Eagles and has also been known as the Express Sports Club. The club is one of the oldest football clubs in Uganda, having been founded in October 1957 by managers of the Uganda Express Newspapers. The main architect of the club's foundation was Jolly Joe Kiwanuka, the owner of the newspaper, who was ably supported by Paul Ssengendo, Hannington Kiwanuka, Dr. Banabas Kiwanuka, Gaster Nsubuga and Bishop Dr. Dunstan Nsubuga. The Red Eagles were among the first Ugandan clubs to use football boots and since the club was revived in 1979 they have ever been relegated from the top tier league. They are the only Super League side that has never featured in the promotional mini leagues.

Hassan Mubiru Hassan Mubiru (born 16 December 1978 in Lukuli, Makindye division, Kampala district) is an Ugandan football striker who played for Express FC. Early life Born in Lukuli, a suburb of Kampala district in Makindye division, Hassan Mubiru is one of t ...

finished the club and league's top scorer for three consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2003. In total Express FC has won six league championships and ten Uganda Cup titles with the 'double' (league & cup winners) being achieved in 1995.

League history

Express joined the Kampala and District Football League (KDFL) and by 1964 had become a leading force in the competition by winning Division One championship, with the club's leading scorer Ali Kitonsa netting 54 goals in 18 appearances. In 1968–69 the club participated in the inaugural season of the National League First Division, finishing in fourth position. The Red Eagles won their first Uganda National League championship title in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

and repeated the feat the following season in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. In the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

season Express defeated the Army side

Simba FC Simba is a fictional character and the protagonist of Disney's ''The Lion King (franchise), The Lion King'' franchise. Introduced in the 1994 film ''The Lion King'', Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation's List of Walt Disney Anim ...

2–0 in a crucial league match and were subsequently banned for allegedly being involving in anti-government activities, by the Governor of the Central Province, Col. Abdallah Nasur, who was unhappy about his side's loss. In 1979 the ban was lifted after the regime of

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

had ended and Express returned to the National League for the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

season. The Red Eagles brief interlude from National League football had lasting consequences as it gave rise to the development of its youth side Nakivubo Boys. All officials of Express turned to Nakivubo Boys and engineered their new team to become a footballing force in Uganda. Nakivubo Boys changed its name to Nakivubo Villa and then later changed its name to Sports Club Villa. It was not until the

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

season that Express won the Super League championship and there followed the most successful period in the club's history with further league titles in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. Then a match fixing scandal involving Express' arch rival Villa interrupted this successful period. The scandal climaxed in 2002–03 season. and at the end of this season seriously tainting Ugandan football with Villa scoring 22 goals past Akol FC and then going on to take league title on goal difference from Express. Over the last ten years the club's league performance has diminished although in 2011–12 the Red Eagles secured the Super League championship title once more by finishing one point above

Bunamwaya SC Vipers SC is a football club based in Kampala, Uganda. They are nicknamed the Venoms or Nyokas (Snakes in Kiswahili). History The club was founded as Bunamwaya FC in 1969. Vipers SC have played in the Uganda Premier League since 2006 after wi ...

. The following season in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

the club finished in 11th place, their lowest top tier position. In 2018 a fundraising campaign was held in order to help save the team from relegation. Express barely survived relegation in the 2017-18 season, ensuring their spot only after defeating bottom club Masavu 1-0 in the final game of the season. Their 13th place finish became their lowest finish in the top flight.

Cups

In contrast to their league performances, Express have been the most successful club in the

Ugandan Cup The Uganda Cup is Uganda's main national cup competition in football. This annual competition is open for member clubs of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations. The Uganda Cup is the second most prestigious competition in Uganda footba ...

winning the competition on 10 occasions in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, 2002–03,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and 2006–07. They have also made numerous appearances in African cup competitions, including one appearance in the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

, six appearances in the

African Cup of Champions Clubs The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and cont ...

, two appearances in the

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organi ...

, two appearances in the

CAF Cup The CAF Cup was an annual competition organised by the CAF for domestic leagues runners-up of member associations who have not qualified to the pre-existing CAF international club competition the African Cup of Champions Clubs. History The tou ...

and five appearances in the

CAF Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

. In

the Red Eagles reached the semi-finals of the African Cup of Champions Clubs before going out 2–1 on aggregate to South African club,

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

, the eventual champions. In addition the club has twice finished runners-up in the

CECAFA Clubs Cup The CECAFA Club Cup is a football club tournament organised by CECAFA. It has been known as the Kagame Interclub Cup since 2002, when Rwandan President Paul Kagame began sponsoring the competition. It is contested by clubs from East and Central A ...

, the regional club competition covering East and Central Africa, in 1994 and 1995. Another success was winning the East African Hedex Super Cup in 2001–02.

Record in the top tier

African cups history

Achievements

Ugandan Premier League The Ugandan Premier League, also known as the StarTimes Uganda Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations. The league was previously known as the Uganda Super League but changed in ...

: 7 ::

, 2011–12, 2020-2021 *

: 10 ::

, 2002–03,

, 2006–07. * East African Hedex Super Cup: 1 :: 2001–02.

Performance in CAF competitions

: 1 appearance ::

– First Round *

: 6 appearances ::

– Second Round ::

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

– Second Round ::

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

– Second Round ::

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

– First Round ::

– disqualified in First Round ::

– Semi-Finals ::

– Preliminary Round *

: 2 appearances ::

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

– First Round ::

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

– First Round *

: 2 appearances ::

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

– Second Round ::

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

– First Round *

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

: 5 appearances ::

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

– First Round ::

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

– Second Round ::

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

– First Round

Managerial history

Since the formation of the club a total of 44 men have been appointed as head coach of Express. The coaches that have served Express are detailed below: * Jolly 'Joe' Kiwanuka ''(1959–73)'' * Robert Kiberu ''(1974–77)'' *

Ashe Mukasa Ashe Mukasa (born April 1952) is a former Ugandan football midfielder who played for Uganda in the 1978 African Cup of Nations. Career Born in the Lungujja neighborhood of Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. Th ...

''(1979)'' * John Dibya ''(1980)'' * Emmanuel Nsubuga ''(1980–82)'' * Henry Buyego ''(1983)'' * George Mukasa ''(1984–85)'' * Charles Masembe ''(1985–86)'' * Dan Lutalo ''(1986)'' * George Mukasa ''(1986)'' * Robert Kiberu ''(1987–90)'' * Billy Kizito ''(1990)'' *

David Otti David Otti was one of Uganda's most respected coaches and one of the most decorated persons in Ugandan football. He was born in Gulu, northern Uganda and he died at the age of 71 on 3 March 2011 at Case MedCare Hospital in Kampala. Preliminary me ...

''(1990–95)'' * Jimmy Muguwa ''(1995–96)'' * Dragan Popadić ''(1996–97)'' * Jimmy Muguwa ''(1997–98)'' * Abo Korouma ''(1998–99)'' * Godfrey Nyola ''(1999)'' * Rashid Shedu ''(1999–00)'' * Godfrey Nyola ''(2000)'' *

Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...

''(2000–01)'' * Asumani Lubowa ''(2001)'' * Godfrey Nyola ''(2001)'' * Jimmy Muguwa ''(2002)'' * Abdul Kadir ''(2002)'' * Leo Adraa ''(2002–03)'' * Jan Fray ''(2003)'' * James S'ianga ''(2004)'' * Leo Adraa ''(2004–05)'' * Godfrey Nyola ''(2005)'' * Polly Ouma ''(2005)'' * George Ssimwogerere ''(2006)'' * Kefa Kisala ''(2006)'' * George Ssimwogerere ''(2006)'' * Kefa Kisala ''(2006–07)'' * Ibrahim Buwembo ''(2007)'' * Kennedy Lubogo ''(2007)'' * Sam Ssimbwa ''(2007)'' * Polly Ouma ''(2007)'' * Jimmy Muguwa ''(2007–08)'' *

''(2008–11)'' * Sam Ssimbwa ''(2010–12)'' * Moses Basena ''(2012–13)'' * Frank Anyau ''(2013)'' * Sam Ssimbwa ''(2013)'' * Wassawa Bossa ''(2014 – 14th February 2022)'' * James Odoch ''(August 2022)''

References

External links

Uganda – List of Champions – RSSSF (Hans Schöggl)

* ttp://www.league321.com/uganda-football.html Ugandan Football League Tables – League321.com
Express Football Club Website (Internet Archive)
{{Ugandan Premier League Football clubs in Uganda Association football clubs established in 1957 Sport in Kampala 1957 establishments in Uganda

History

League history

Cups

Record in the top tier

African cups history

Achievements

Performance in CAF competitions

Managerial history

See also

References

External links