Football is the national sport in Uganda. The

Uganda national football team The Uganda national football team (nicknamed ''The Cranes''), represents Uganda in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations, which is a part of Confederation of Africa ...

, nicknamed ''The Cranes'', is the national team of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and is controlled by the

Federation of Uganda Football Associations The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) is the governing body of association football in Uganda. The association was founded in 1924, became affiliated with FIFA in 1960 and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 1961. In 1 ...

. They have never qualified for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

; their best finish in the

African Nations Cup The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

was second in 1978.

History of Ugandan football

Early development of the game

In the late 19th century the sport of association football first obtained a foothold in the major port cities of Eastern Africa before spreading into the interior with the establishment of railway lines, missionary schools and military bases for the colonial armies. In the words of Sev A. Obura, the former General Secretary of the Uganda Olympic Committee, football was introduced into Uganda "by missionaries from the United Kingdom, our former colonial masters". These missionaries included Robert Henry Walker, George Lawrence Pilkington and Alexander Gordon Fraser. Foremost is Rev. Archdeacon R. H. Walker of the

Namirembe Namirembe is a hill in Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. It is also a common name given to girls in several Baganda clans. Namirembe comes from the Luganda word "mirembe" meaning ''peace''. Namirembe loosely translates into ''Full of ...

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

who in 1897 introduced the game of football in Uganda having arranged for a football to be sent out from England. Walker was supported by G. L. Pilkington who diligently coached the boys at the Mengo school with games being first played at Kakeeka in Mengo on a large grass field situated between

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 ...

and

Rubaga Lubaga is a hill in Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. It comes from the Luganda word ''okubaga'', describing a process of "planning" or "strengthening" a structure while constructing it. For example, ''okubaga ekisenge'' means to str ...

. The second playing field established was near Old Kampala hill below Lord Lugard's palace. Another missionary was A. G. Fraser who carried a football to Uganda in 1900 and four years later laid out a soccer field at King's School in Budo, a school established for the sons of Ugandan chiefs. An officer of the British Army, Captain William Pulteney, also gave an early stimulus to the development of the football in Uganda while serving with the Uganda Rifles from February 1895 to September 1897.

United Old Budonians Club

The King's School Budo was at the forefront in the development of football in Uganda. Following the early work of A. G. Fraser, the Budo Old Boys was established around 1909 including the development of an alumni football team. Football practices took place regularly at the Coronation Ground at the Old Kampala, which became the Old Kampala Senior Secondary School Sports Ground. After the move of the Mengo High School from Namirembe to Budo Hill soon after 1927, the Budo Old Boys became the United Old Budonians Club. Over the next two decades the United Budonians remained a dominant force in Ugandan football and won the Kampala and District League as late as 1949.

Kabaka's Cup

The Kampala Football Association (KFA) was established in 1924 and a major cup competition followed known as the Kabaka's Cup presented by Kabaka Chwa II. Both the Budo School and the Old Boys fielded separate sides in the competition, each winning the trophy on a number of occasions. The nature of the competition eventually changed with teams like Public Works Department ''(PWD or Piida)'', Entebbe Government Printing Press ''(Puleesi)'', Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours ''(Leerwe)'' coming to prominence in the tournament. The game became more physical and as a consequence school teams like Budo School dropped out of the competition. In the 1950s the Kabaka's Cup was administered by the Uganda Football Association and more than 30 teams entered the competition. By 1957 political problems had arisen when the Buganda Football Association were refused permission by the parent body to run the Kabaka's Cup competition. In turn the Buganda Football Association suspended all clubs which entered for the Kabaka's Cup. Up until the launch of 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 ...

in 1971 the Kabaka's Cup remained the most prestigious cup competition in the country. Other cup tournaments in the pre-independence years were the Aspro Cup, Buganda FA Challenge Cup, Coronation Cup, Luwangula Cup, Victory Cup and Wardle Cup.

Kampala and District Football League (KDFL)

The main league in Uganda spanning at least three decades was the Kampala and District Football League (KDFL). By 1966 the league had three tiers with a First Division, Second Division and a Third Division which was divided into two sections comprising a North Zone and a South Zone.

Kampala City Council FC Kampala Capital City Authority Football Club (Abbreviated as KCCA FC) and also known as Kampala City , is a Ugandan football club based in Kampala, the largest city and capital of Uganda. Kampala City Council was rebranded to Kampala Capital Ci ...

competed in the Third Division South and gained promotion to the next level for the 1967 season. Other teams that are known to have played in the KDFL include Aggrey Memorial, Army FC, Bitumastic,

Coffee Kakira Coffee United Sports Club, or short Coffee, is a Ugandan football club from Kakira. They play in the Second division of Ugandan football, the Ugandan Big League. In 1970 the team has won the Ugandan Super League. Honours *Ugandan Super Lea ...

Express FC Express Football Club, abbreviated as Express, is a Ugandan football club from Kampala, the largest city and capital of Uganda. The club play their home games at the Muteesa II Wankulukuku Stadium. History Express FC is popularly referred to by ...

, Kampala Police FC, KDS ''(Kampala District Bus Services)'', Kitegombwa, Luo Union, Mengo Old Boys, Mulago Hospital, Old Agrarians, Prisons FC Kampala, Railways, Nsambya, Sudanese FC, UEB, United Budonians and Young Salumbey. Little is known about champion clubs in the KDFL other than United Budonians winning the league in 1949 and Police taking the title in 1953 and the Railway African Club football team winning the second division in the same season.

clinched the Division One title in the 1964 season. The demise of the KDFL began with the formation of the National Football League in 1968 but the two competitions were run concurrently for a few seasons and the KDFL was still operating in 1971. The KDFL was then abandoned to allow room to a wider national competition with several divisions. Teams like

, Nsambya and NIC became members of the newly formed second division of the National League. In terms of records the highest goalscorer in KDFL history was Ali Kitonsa of

who scored 54 goals in 18 appearances during the 1964 season. In terms of high scores Express defeated Kitegombwa 17–0 in the 1960 season although this result has probably been surpassed.

Key dates

*1897 - R. H. Walker introduced the game of football to Uganda. *1909 - Budo Old Boys football team founded. *1924 - Kampala FA established. *1926 - Uganda and Kenya contested the Gossage Cup for the first time. *1932 - Uganda defeat Kenya 13–1 in the Gossage Cup final. *late 1940s - Kampala FA became the Uganda FA. *1956 - National side travelled on first overseas tour to England. *1960 - Uganda FA affiliates to FIFA and CAF. *1960 -

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...

and the

AIK Stockholm AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. T ...

team make visits to Uganda. *1962 - National side reaches semi-finals of

. *1964 - Ali Kitonsa of

scores 54 goals in a KDFL season. *1967 - Uganda FA renamed

(FUFA). *1968 - FUFA launch the

National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club football after the South African Premier Division. Both the NFD and South Afr ...

which is won by Prisons FC. *1971 - FUFA launch the

which is won by

. *1972 -

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 ...

are finalists in the African Cup of Champions Clubs. *1973 - National side win the

CECAFA Cup The CECAFA Cup, is the oldest football tournament in Africa. It is organized by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations ( CECAFA). A FIFA competition, it includes participants of football playing national teams from the East ...

. *1976 - National side win the

. *1977 - National side win the

. *1978 - National side loses to Ghana in final of

. *1978 -

win 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 ...

. *1982 - FUFA launch the Super League which is won by

SC Villa Sports Club Villa is an association football club based in Uganda. Overview SC Villa had humble beginnings in 1975, playing under the name Nakivubo Boys. The club was renamed Nakivubo Villa in 1981. SC Villa won promotion to the top flight of ...

. *1987 -

win the

. *1989 - National side win the

. *1990 -

win their fifth consecutive Super League title. *1990 - National side win the

. *1991 -

are finalists in the African Cup of Champions Clubs *1992 -

are finalists 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 ...

*1992 - National side win the

. *1996 - National side win the

. *1999 - Andrew Mukasa of

scores 45 goals in a USL season. *2000 - National side win the

. *2003 -

win the Kagame Interclub Cup. *2003 - National side win the

. *2004 -

win their seventh consecutive Super League title. *2005 -

win the Kagame Interclub Cup. *2006 - Police FC win the Kagame Interclub Cup. *2008 - National side win the

. *2009 - FUFA launch the

Big League ''Big League'' was the official magazine of the National Rugby League. Its predecessor, ''The Rugby League News'', was first published in 1920; in 1974 it was rebranded as ''Big League''. In 2020, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in ...

which is won by

Maroons FC Maroons Football Club also known as Prisons Football Club, is a Ugandan football club from Kampala owned by Uganda Prisons Service, currently playing in the FUFA Big League. Playing as Prisons FC, the club won the first two editions of the U ...

. *2009 - National side win the

. *2011 - National side win the

. *2012 - National side win the

Leading figures

Badru Kakungulu Wasajja

Badru Kakungulu was a prince in the Buganda Royal Family, and leading political figure and leader of the Muslim community in Uganda in the twentieth century. In 1925, he played in the famous football match between Budo and Makerere for the Kabaka's Cup. He was vice-president of the Uganda Football Association and president of the Buganda Football Association. FUFA changed the title of the Uganda Cup to Kakungulu in 1992 in recognition of him.

Polycarp Kibuuka Kakooza

Polycarp Kakooza was a distinguished author, musician, sportsman, sports administrator, artist, and teacher. He composed the Buganda anthem in 1939 at the age of 25 and was secretary of the Uganda Football Association from 1949 to 1952. He was manager of the Ugandan team which traveled to England on the nation's first overseas tour in 1956. He later managed the Ugandan side in the African Nations Cup 1962 which reached the semi-finals of the competition. He was also former Secretary General of the Uganda Amateur Athletic Association (UAAA) and President of the Uganda Amateur Boxing Association (UABA). He died in Kampala on 12 January 2003, aged 90.

Football association

In 1924 the Kampala Football Association (KFA) was formed, and Kabaka Chwa II was its first President. One of the first new clubs to affiliate to the KFA was the Nsambya Football Club in 1926. In the late 1940s the Kampala Football Association (KFA) became the Uganda Football Association (UFA), Polycarp Kibuuka Kakooza being the secretary of the organisation from 1949 to 1952. In 1967 the Uganda Football Association (UFA) was changed to the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA).

Football stadiums in Uganda

References

{{Football in Africa