Even the most Gigantic started as a few people’s idea. This is the same case for Sports Club Villa; Uganda’s most successful football club.
Transforming from a village evening gathering of boys in the areas of Nakivubo to African Continental Club Championship Finalists and Uganda’s 16-time record league champions to the whims of extinction has been the story of Villa in its 45 years of existence.
Villa’s ardent fans have decided to rebuild the club to surpass its previous glory
What went wrong?
SC Villa became the first Uganda Club to play back-to-back continental club football before its 18th birthday and also lift the 16th record league title before its 30th birthday.
SC Villa got absorbed into the unmatched sporting success and slept on job for important matters of Ownership, Governance and Business. Even after being the first Ugandan Club to sell player (Magid Musisi RIP) direct to Europe in 1992 and obtain funds that were used to construct residential houses in the suburbs of Kampala, this was not enough to awaken the business potential that SC Villa had become.
The lack of ownership led to lack of proper governance systems that could create and supervise proper management. This gradually affected the sporting results and of course revenues became meagre too. The mighty SC Villa has since not won any league championship in the last 16 years and has romanced with relegation at some point.
Ownership Challenge Solved
In order to address the ownership challenge, the founders of SC Villa (then known as Nakivubo Boys then Nakivubo Villa and later as Sports Club Villa) have transferred the ownership of the club to the VILLA MEMBERS TRUST.
The VILLA MEMBERS TRUST is a body corporate, incorporated under the Trustee Incorporation Act (CAP 165). It is composed of Sports Club Villa fans (known as Members) who shall have paid annual membership subscription fees of 50,000 UGX.
The Members of the Villa Members Trust shall be entitled to;
1) 1 Vote for the Sports Club Villa President once every 4 (four) years
2) 1 individual Season Ticket per season of full subscription
3) Eligible to be part of the Sports Club Villa Congress and Executive
4) Eligible to be elected as Sports Club Villa President
The VILLA MEMBERS TRUST is the entity that owns Sports Club Villa and all its assets
Governance Challenge
There shall be Sports Club Villa Statutes that shall stipulate the governance bodies of the Club including;
1) Club Secretariat headed by the Club CEO undertaking the daily business
functions.
2) Club Congress as the legislative body.
3) Club Executive as the executive body.
4) Club President as the Political Head of Sports Club.
The Business Challenge
With reorganization of the ownership and governance structure, there will be an empowered and supervised management that will create commercial products to be bought by the multitude of fans. These will include;
1) Commercial and Media Rights (Not centrally sold by the FA/The League)
2) Merchandising
3) Loyalties and Licensing
4) Player Sales
5) Membership
6) Season & Match Day Tickets
With proper marketing and communications strategies, SC Villa will become the richest Ugandan Club again signing the best professionals and talents as Managers, Coaches and Players in Uganda and region around.
The Sporting Challenge
Combining the best football academy and acquiring the best players and motivating the best players in the Senior Team will create a formidable continental side that will honours again.
What is the way forward?
Along its colourful sporting journey of, SC Villa acquired it biggest competitive advantages over other clubs in Uganda and it is because of these extraordinary acquisitions that SC Villa is still a going-concern.
SC Villa’s competitive advantage are;
- A great football history
- Multitude of loyal fans yearning to buy the club commercial products
Populating the VILLA MEMBERS TRUST is the immediate action to be undertaken to revive the club. The VILLA MEMBERS TRUST will give birth to the Club Congress then the Club Executive and the Club President. This will eventually create a robust management.
It is therefore paramount that every SC Villa fan registers to become a member of the VILLA MEMBERS TRUST. Please tell a friend.
Registration of Members
This is an on-going exercise and the following means are available
1) Walk into SC Villa Offices (Already open)
2) Mobile Kiosks that will staged at various strategic locations (Soon to be started)
3) Mobile Money-Online Self-registration at www.scvilla.co.ug/membership (Already
Open)
4) Credit Card-Online Self-registration at www.scvilla.co.ug/membership (Soon to be open).
The Author is FUFA President Eng. Moses Magogo, an ardent SC Villa fan.
