If a game is on, the pubs are full with fans that mostly buy a soft drink (buying something is a prerequisite of entry) and then hold onto it for 90 minutes.
Ugandans prefer to sit and watch games and seats in pubs will be arranged in orderly lines like in a cinema.
Photo: u.g. boy (Skyscrapercity)
A loud roar thunders through Kampala when one of the favoured teams scores.
There is actually no real need to watch a game or look up the results as by simply sitting in my garden I can count the number of roars (goals) in a game. Arsenal is definitely the loudest.
Depending on which team wins, the losing supporters leave the pubs quite quickly and go home depressed whilst the winners stay on and then buy alcohol to celebrate.
In a country where most Ugandans don’t have enough money for food or school fees, there always seems to be money available for a few beers or Waragi (Ugandan Gin) after the match!
Newspapers often recount alcohol related deaths of supporters over-celebrating even just league victories!!
My husband loves Uganda as he is an enthusiastic Manchester United supporter, in his 33rd season. In our old house here we had DSTV for a monthly fee of 185,000 UGX (approx. 90 US$) and received the maximum channel ‘bouquet’, so 2010 was certainly a good year for him, finally being able to watch every single Manchester United game.
Unfortunately, the new house has only a very small living room and therefore we have not yet set up our stereo, video projector and big screen.
Hence for the last 4 weeks my husband has been suffering from ‘withdrawal’ and shows worrying symptoms like not getting up from bed until lunchtime and then spending hour after hour at the laptop cursing the slow Ugandan Internet connection as he tries to log-in to BBC Sport or MUTV Online for the latest EPL news.
Before football causes my marriage to go completely down the drain I have decided to turn my direction from constant moaning and in its place set-up a new project in this happy new year.
I like the Internet, I like blogging, and I especially love maths and statistics, so I have started this new blog: Soccerwidow.
Whilst my husband will probably spend another year passively observing English football games and reading everything to be found on the EPL in the Internet, I will actively use my increasing blogging knowledge and skills to develop an informative web site about football and in particular, football betting.
With the many millions of football supporters world-wide I hope that this new blog may find a few more readers than my blog about Uganda and the various development services operating here.
This is not a joke! I’m going to be very serious about football and betting, and my husband has promised to support me by moderating my articles. I am extremely excited.
Should you be interested to read about my life in Uganda please click here: Uganda – The Pearl of Africa?.
