Uganda have long lived in the shadow of their more illustrious West African counterparts but the past 18 months have seen The Cranes begin to emerge from the football wilderness.
The man many hold responsible for their transformation is former Kilmarnock and Hibernian boss Bobby Williamson.
The Scot took charge in August 2008, replacing the Hearts bound Csaba Laszlo, and is slowly starting to change the mindset of players and fans alike in the East African country.
Having gained independence from Britain in 1962 Uganda have the unwanted distinction of having never qualified for a single World Cup finals while their last appearance at the African Nations Cup was way back in 1978.
Unsurprisingly Williamson was, at first, hesitant about taking the job, prior to the Scot’s arrival Uganda had failed to win away from home in seven years, but decided to take the plunge after exploring the country first hand.
“I had just left Chester City and prior to that I had been on gardening leave at Plymouth which kept me unemployed for seven months and at the end of the day people had forgotten about me,” he said.
“I knew this job was available and I got my agent on to it and I came over for an interview. Initially I turned the job down because I didn’t think I could settle here but after my flight home was delayed and I had to stay another night I decided to have a better look around. The weather was great, it was a nice climate, the people were friendly and once I thought about it I decided I would give it a go and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Despite losing his first game 3-1 to Niger - a result which saw Uganda miss out on a place at this year’s African Nations Cup to Angola on goal difference and also ending their hopes of making the World Cup in South Africa – Williamson soon began to build on the foundations laid by Laszlo by leading his youthful side to 13 wins in 14 matches with a 2-1 friendly reverse to Ghana 12 months ago their only other defeat.
“It was a big blow,” Williamson says of the Niger result. “I think these guys would have done well because I have seen other countries who have qualified who we had already beaten in friendly matches and beaten in CECAFA (Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations) matches and I think we could have graced it but it wasn’t to be and I am disappointed for the Ugandan players and the Ugandan people because I really believed we could do well in these tournaments.”
Williamson plays down his role in transforming the team’s fortunes on the pitch and insists that the players already possessed the ability and the will to learn needed in order to succeed.
High standard
“I have a big squad of local based players who are all doing well for each other and it is a joy to work with them,” he stated.
“I think they are of a very good standard. They play under difficult circumstances with the football pitches, the balls, and the equipment, everything is poor but they work hard, they don’t complain they are trying to improve which is very good.
“All they lacked was organisation on the park, where to pass to, where to run to. They all just played in their individual world but we are playing as a team now and we are organised and very hard to beat so it is all going well for the future.”
The 48-year-old Glaswegian has also captured the hearts of the locals, Williamson admits that he was “nearly carried off the park” following a recent 4-0 win over Burundi but at the same time he is all too aware that with success comes greater expectation.
“The fans have been fantastic, they are great people, they are always shouting encouragement and the players have responded to that,” he highlighted.
“You have to remember it has been 30 years since they have qualified for a major tournament, I have inspired them and the expectation is getting higher.
“We never won an away match for seven years until we went to Sudan last year and we beat them and then we beat Tanzania away and drew with Burundi. We won five out of the six games and drew the other one last year so the mentality is changing. We believe now that we can go away and win football matches. After the draw with Burundi people were actually complaining that we should have won the game but that’s just people’s nature.”
Frustratingly for Williamson despite the national team making giant strides forward on the field off it locals are still more interested in the English Premier League rather than their own domestic Ugandan Super League.
“My biggest bugbear is that the local people would rather watch the English Premier League than the local football over here and that disappoints me,” he pointed out.
“We get the English games on television over here on Saturday night. People in England don’t realise how passionate these guys are about the Premier League’s top sides. They run about the place when a team scores and they have never been to England let alone a live match in England. It is maniacal.
Entertained
“I enjoy the local league, there is talent there but it is not very well supported and not many people turn out to watch it. I do believe they could be entertained if they went along and they would enjoy it. It is difficult, even the press don’t write too much about the local football and it is difficult to find the scores or when a game is actually taking place. They would rather talk about the Manchester United’s, Arsenals and Chelsea’s as well.”
“I am working towards trying to change that but it is very, very difficult.”
Despite suffering heartache in the World Cup qualifiers Williamson insists he is in it for the long haul and has already sat down with FUFA (Federation of Uganda Football Association) over extending his stay.
“We are talking with FUFA just now but it is a long process. I am enjoying working with these players they are very responsive and respectful and they want to be successful and they make my job easier,” he added.
“It has certainly been different. It has broadened my horizons, I have seen a lot of Africa now and it has been fantastic for me. I have no designs to go anywhere else, I would like to continue here but we will have to see.
“It would need to be a very good offer from a club to make me leave this climate and working conditions. I don’t even know if I want to go back into the day-to-day running of club football. I don’t miss much of it at all really I am too engrossed in what I am trying to achieve here.”
With his squad boasting a relatively young average age of 26 Williamson certainly has the time to mould a side that can one day compete with the giants of African football.
The man many hold responsible for their transformation is former Kilmarnock and Hibernian boss Bobby Williamson.
The Scot took charge in August 2008, replacing the Hearts bound Csaba Laszlo, and is slowly starting to change the mindset of players and fans alike in the East African country.
Having gained independence from Britain in 1962 Uganda have the unwanted distinction of having never qualified for a single World Cup finals while their last appearance at the African Nations Cup was way back in 1978.
Unsurprisingly Williamson was, at first, hesitant about taking the job, prior to the Scot’s arrival Uganda had failed to win away from home in seven years, but decided to take the plunge after exploring the country first hand.
“I had just left Chester City and prior to that I had been on gardening leave at Plymouth which kept me unemployed for seven months and at the end of the day people had forgotten about me,” he said.
“I knew this job was available and I got my agent on to it and I came over for an interview. Initially I turned the job down because I didn’t think I could settle here but after my flight home was delayed and I had to stay another night I decided to have a better look around. The weather was great, it was a nice climate, the people were friendly and once I thought about it I decided I would give it a go and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Despite losing his first game 3-1 to Niger - a result which saw Uganda miss out on a place at this year’s African Nations Cup to Angola on goal difference and also ending their hopes of making the World Cup in South Africa – Williamson soon began to build on the foundations laid by Laszlo by leading his youthful side to 13 wins in 14 matches with a 2-1 friendly reverse to Ghana 12 months ago their only other defeat.
“It was a big blow,” Williamson says of the Niger result. “I think these guys would have done well because I have seen other countries who have qualified who we had already beaten in friendly matches and beaten in CECAFA (Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations) matches and I think we could have graced it but it wasn’t to be and I am disappointed for the Ugandan players and the Ugandan people because I really believed we could do well in these tournaments.”
Williamson plays down his role in transforming the team’s fortunes on the pitch and insists that the players already possessed the ability and the will to learn needed in order to succeed.
High standard
“I have a big squad of local based players who are all doing well for each other and it is a joy to work with them,” he stated.
“I think they are of a very good standard. They play under difficult circumstances with the football pitches, the balls, and the equipment, everything is poor but they work hard, they don’t complain they are trying to improve which is very good.
“All they lacked was organisation on the park, where to pass to, where to run to. They all just played in their individual world but we are playing as a team now and we are organised and very hard to beat so it is all going well for the future.”
The 48-year-old Glaswegian has also captured the hearts of the locals, Williamson admits that he was “nearly carried off the park” following a recent 4-0 win over Burundi but at the same time he is all too aware that with success comes greater expectation.
“The fans have been fantastic, they are great people, they are always shouting encouragement and the players have responded to that,” he highlighted.
“You have to remember it has been 30 years since they have qualified for a major tournament, I have inspired them and the expectation is getting higher.
“We never won an away match for seven years until we went to Sudan last year and we beat them and then we beat Tanzania away and drew with Burundi. We won five out of the six games and drew the other one last year so the mentality is changing. We believe now that we can go away and win football matches. After the draw with Burundi people were actually complaining that we should have won the game but that’s just people’s nature.”
Frustratingly for Williamson despite the national team making giant strides forward on the field off it locals are still more interested in the English Premier League rather than their own domestic Ugandan Super League.
“My biggest bugbear is that the local people would rather watch the English Premier League than the local football over here and that disappoints me,” he pointed out.
“We get the English games on television over here on Saturday night. People in England don’t realise how passionate these guys are about the Premier League’s top sides. They run about the place when a team scores and they have never been to England let alone a live match in England. It is maniacal.
Entertained
“I enjoy the local league, there is talent there but it is not very well supported and not many people turn out to watch it. I do believe they could be entertained if they went along and they would enjoy it. It is difficult, even the press don’t write too much about the local football and it is difficult to find the scores or when a game is actually taking place. They would rather talk about the Manchester United’s, Arsenals and Chelsea’s as well.”
“I am working towards trying to change that but it is very, very difficult.”
Despite suffering heartache in the World Cup qualifiers Williamson insists he is in it for the long haul and has already sat down with FUFA (Federation of Uganda Football Association) over extending his stay.
“We are talking with FUFA just now but it is a long process. I am enjoying working with these players they are very responsive and respectful and they want to be successful and they make my job easier,” he added.
“It has certainly been different. It has broadened my horizons, I have seen a lot of Africa now and it has been fantastic for me. I have no designs to go anywhere else, I would like to continue here but we will have to see.
“It would need to be a very good offer from a club to make me leave this climate and working conditions. I don’t even know if I want to go back into the day-to-day running of club football. I don’t miss much of it at all really I am too engrossed in what I am trying to achieve here.”
With his squad boasting a relatively young average age of 26 Williamson certainly has the time to mould a side that can one day compete with the giants of African football.
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