VIPERS SC; A CASE STUDY FOR SPORTS TEAM OWNERS

I have never watched a Vipers SC football match, ever.

A function of me not making the habit of watching live soccer matches – I have only watched one half of a live match. This was between the Uganda U-23 and Zimbabwe, maybe 20 years ago.

Vipers SC is enjoying major success. Last weekend in the southern DRC city of Lubumbashi, in the CAF Champions League, they wrestled favourites TP Mazembe to a goalless draw. In the ensuing shootout they overcome major nerves to beat TP Mazembe – who are five times Champions of Africa, in front of their home crowd. The final score, 4-2.

The victory meant that for the first time in Vipers SC history, they will play in the group stages of the tournament. While the local press were excited by the guaranteed sh2.1b they are set to earn, I marveled at the work it has taken to get that to that point.

I have had my eye on them for a while now. And not for their on-field prowess.

This is the story of Vipers SC, as I know it.

In 2001 teacher and entrepreneur Lawrence Mulindwa opened St Mary’s Boarding Secondary School - Kitende off Entebbe Road. The school first made a name for itself by churning out high scoring candidates at O- and A-level, upsetting the dominance of the traditional schools.

But it also started to dominate in soccer, emerging the best soccer secondary school in Uganda ten times and in east Africa 13 times, including 11 times in a row between 2004 and 2014...

Mulindwa did not stop there. He took over straggling Bunamwaya FC changing it to Vipers SC. This served as a useful up taker of his school’s talent. The team has won the premier league five times since 2010.

The success of his team makes for good reading on the sports pages, but the real untold story is the behind-the-scenes work needed to bring on this success.

Starting with a school to source and nurture talent was an inspired move. Owning a team to funnel that talent was the logical next step.

And in case Mulindwa had not made believers of us yet, he went and built a 25,000 capacity stadium to house Vipers SC, the biggest built in the country in almost three decades – Mandela Stadium was opened in 1997. And it is the only privately owned one that meets CAF’s standards to host its matches.

And suddenly Mulindwa, if it wasn’t clear before, was no ordinary soccer team owner.

Mulindwa’ stated ambition is to make Vipers SC the best team in Africa. If that is so the work has only just begun.

His actions suggest he understands what it takes to build a soccer team from the ground up. He has understood correctly that for success to happen the team has to be driven by an “impossible” vision, have a pipeline of talent and has to be able to sustain itself beyond his own means.

And this last part, building a self-sustaining organization to support the team, is what will give Vipers SC the best chance of attaining the dream, and ensuring that it joins the continental dynasties of the game.

There are richer teams on the continent than Vipers Sc that have not attained the heights they have. More than money will be the way the team improves its institutional capacity, its corporate governance. It’s a cliché these days but one that cannot be ignored.

At the most basic level it means the club will formalize how it earns and spends its money and how it plans for long term viability. The team will become an asset on the books like the stadium. The organization will supersede the team and must supersede its owner.

This is true because I suspect the team has gone as far as it can go on the will power of one man. But I am sure Mulindwa knows this and is working towards this end, otherwise he will not realise his dream.

As an indicator the most successful team in African football is Egyptian team Al Ahly. Al Ahly was started in 1907 and is thought to be the most valuable team on the continent, valued at $28m(Sh104b). In 2021 they had a budget of $129m(sh477b) and a transfer budget of $12.7m (sh47b).

It has a seven-man board, management and branches dotted around Egypt. It is no wonder that they are among the most successful teams in the world by trophy count –115 and have endured for so long. Long after their founders and their children were dead and buried.

Al Ahyl boosted by its tens of thousands of paying members and corporate sponsors is gone beyond being a soccer team with teams in the national basketball, handball, tennis and gymnastics leagues.

To be the best on the continent Al Ahyl are the ones to watch.