SC Villa eager to win RPF anniversary tourney

SIXTEEN-TIME Uganda league champions SC Villa are ready to compete in the 25th RPF anniversary football championship scheduled to kick off on December 15 at Stade de Kigali.In an exclusive interview with Times Sport, SC Villa’s technical chairman Sam Tamale Kapeera said that the team has been training at Villa Park under coach Paul Nkata for the past one month.“We are very ready for the tournament and we will be representing Uganda well. RPF and its leaders are very attached to the club,” he said.He added, “The late Fred Rwigema used to sit on our bench when we used to play while President Paul Kagame was a club’s diehard fan and a real sportsman. His desire for sports encouraged many to play football.”SC Villa chairman Fred Muwema said recently that President Kagame supported SC Villa during his stay in Uganda in the 80s and early 90s. Muwema noted that the late Rwigyema was a distinguished supporter of the club.Villa SC, Uganda’s leading football club, has won more laurels than all others put together. They won 13 league titles and 7 Ugandan Cup titles. SC Villa was the first Ugandan club to clinch a local ‘Double’. That record was extended to six ‘Doubles’ in 2002. From 1998 through 2004, they won 7 consecutive championship titles.Villa SC a.k.a. Jogoo (Big Cockerel), who are ranked sixth on this season’s football league standings, are the most consistent on the continent, featuring in two consecutive finals of the Cecafa Kagame Cup and CAF Cup in 1991 and 1992, respectively. The 25th RPF anniversary football tournament starts on December 15 with giants APR locking horns with Burundi’s Vital’O at Stade de Kigali.On December 16, Rayon Sports will face SC Villa on the same venue. The third position play-off and the final match will be played on December 18.