Sunday morning on November 24, Luzira Prison grounds were quiet. In the normal games, five teams went into the final bend with an outside chance of winning the coveted football trophy.
A few games in, and Tropical Bank knew it was their trophy to lose. Then the noise started. Results from their adversaries, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL), Quality Chemicals Industry Limited, and Centenary Bank, never went according to script.
In one particular frustrating mid-morning game, when Centenary Bank drew 1-1 with Vision Group, their captain turned to the Vision team and asked, “Mufaaki.”?, loosely translated to Why frustrate us when you have nothing to play for?
It was music to the ears of Tropical Bank’s captain, Stanley Musoke, who called it a great campaign. “We’ve been a strong team throughout the campaign, and we are not champions by accident,” he bragged.
As if on cue, he ordered his charges to don special jerseys with the words Champions emblazoned on them. They had a victory parade with more games to spare.
To the keen observers, no team provided more entertainment than Tropical Bank and Uganda Revenue Authority. They scored for fun. Ironically, Tropical Bank were initially branded dark horses, and no one expected them to win.
The Tropical Bank football team was buoyed by a Partsian fanbase. File Photo
As the 2024 football season came to a close, it’s time to reflect on the major storylines, performances, and key moments that defined the year.
Tale of the tape
In a season of goals, goals, and more goals, Tropical Bank won with a total of 91 points. They matched their action on the pitch with a clean disciplinary record, as they never got any cards (yellow or red) and only lost two games of the 34 played.
Uganda Revenue Authority was second, five points adrift of the champions, with 86 points. Their pursuit was dented by slight disciplinary issues on the pitch. To URA’s credit though, they had the highest goal difference of 58 after scoring 76 goals and conceding 18.
Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) was one of the most combative teams. They could only settle for third. A red card to one of their petulant players in an early outing hit them hard. They finished on 82 points.
Uganda Breweries’ Limited tactician, Victor Munialo, buoyed his team to a respectable third-place finish. CSN photo
Quality Chemicals Industries Limited (81 points), Centenary Bank (80 points), Mogo Loans (80 points), Case Hospital (80 points), Vision Group (80 points), Housing Finance (79 points), and Hotel Africana (77 points) completed the top 10 positions.
UCAA wins over 35
In the 35+ Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) defied odds to defeat much-fancied Stanbic Bank in a pulsating final. Dfcu Bank’s football season has been a roller-coaster, but they managed a respectable third in the category, defeating Centenary Bank by a solitary goal in the third-place play-off.
URA wins the golden boot.
It is only proper that the team with the golden boot winner takes over the overall gong. URA was only bridesmaids. However, they produced the league’s top scorer in Ignatius Majwega. (36 goals). His haul of 7 goals in the August outing, followed by 8 goals in October, made him a clear favourite. Tropical Bank’s talisman, Aaron Kamwada (31 goals), was a distant second. Commercial Bank of Africa’s Joshua Muhereza, who only discovered his scoring boots in the June outing, managed a respectable 22 goals in third position. Much fancied top scorer, the dreadlocked Hotel Africana’s Felix Muhabuzi could only manage 11 goals this season.
Among the female players, Housing Finance Bank’s Jefa Sarah was the overall Golden Boot winner with 7 goals. Hafizu Nabulamu (Case Hospital) scored five goals, and Viola Namuddu of QCIL bagged four goals.
Better next time.
If Corporate Sports Network was a relegating league, we should have bade farewell to SCD Darling, DHL International, Jubilee Life Insurance, SGA Security, and Platinum Credit. They were the drubbing boys with their goal average in negatives. DHL were the whipping bous with a -56 goal difference, and close on their heels were SGA Security with -50. They should pick themselves up next season.
