Vipers Sports Club trio Alex Isabirye,Milton Karisa and Hillary Mukundane were among the winners at the 2022/23 Uganda Premier League Awards held at Sheraton Hotel Kampala on Thursday evening.

Head coach Isabirye beat out SC Villa’s Jackson Nelly Magera and Muhammad Ssenfuma of Maroons FC to be named the Coach of The Season.It was a deserved accolade for the former BUL FC tactician,having led Vipers to the first league and cup double in its history,lifting the UPL title after Magera’s Villa collapsed on the final day,before then edging out Police in the Uganda Cup final.

Most remarkably,he achieved this feat after only joining the club in March,taking over the reins from the hapless Beto Bianchi,who himself had taken over from the departed Robertinho who jumped ship to Tanzanian giants Simba midway through the season.

Skipper Karisa was the big winner of the night,scooping up both the Player of The Season and Coaches’ Player of The Season accolades,in addition to his recognition as the player with the Most Assists of The Season.The cherry on the cake for him was being named in the Team of The Season.

Versatile defender Mukundane earned the Defender of The Season Accolade over SC Villa’s Gift Fred and Soltilo Bright Stars Warren Buule with the former Mbarara City stalwart an ever present figure at the back,playing in all but two of Vipers’ matches.Alongside a rotating cast that included Murushid Juuko,Livingstone Mulondo and youngster Rogers Torach,flanked by Ashraf Mandela and Issa Mubiru,Mukundane marshalled the best defence in the league,conceeding a measly 13 goals.

Vipers’ dominance of the awards show meant that the script was stuck to in the aftermath of a tumultuous but ultimately historic season in which they became only the fourth club in the history of Ugandan football to win both the Uganda Premier League and the Uganda Cup in the same season,after the feted Big Three of SC Villa,Express and KCCA.

The 2022/23 season was therefore a success,not just in sporting terms,but ideologically too,as it finally saw Lawrence Mulindwa realize his longstanding ambition to have his club at the pinnacle of the game in the country.

SC Villa striker Charles Bbaale who finished second behind Express FC forward Allan Kayiwa in the race for the Goal Scorer of The Season was named the Player’s Player of The Season,while Simon Tamale won the Goalkeeper Of The Year Award for his consistently sterling performances between the sticks for Maroons FC which saw him keep 13 clean sheets and win 7 Man of The Match awards.

Maroons,who were last season’s black horses,finishing a surprising 6th in the final table standings in their first season after returning to the big time through promotion from the Big League had cause for further celebration as attacking midfielder Darius Ojok became the Young Player of the Year ahead of KCCA’s Saidi Mayanja and SC Villa’s Patrick Kakande,after maturing into a pivotal contributor for the Prisons outfit.

Laban Tibita earned the Midfielder of The Season Award over Arua Hill’s Gaddafi Wahab and Wakiso Giants’ Lawrence Bukenya,after his superb play helped Busoga United avoid the drop and secure their place in the 2023/24 Uganda Premier League campaign.

Legendary striker Andrew Fimbo Mukasa was another to be honoured,receiving the UPL Platinum Award.The former SC Villa marksman famously netted a whooping 45 goals in the 1999,season,a number that has yet to be usurped.Given the lack of threat to his record in the ensuing 24 years,it is safe to say it will take an incredible effort to match,let alone break.

Relegated Blacks Power FC found some solace in being named the Fair Play Team of The Season after ending their ill-fated campaign without a single sending off.

Tamale,Mukundane,Fred,Tibita,Bukenya,Wahab,Bbaale,Kayiwa and Kariisa all made the Team of The Season,which was rounded out by Wakiso Giants’ rightback Grant Matsiko and leftback Denis Omony of Soltilo Bright Stars.

Notably,KCCA FC who finished second and qualified for the CAF Confederations Cup did not have a single player named,with Allan Okello who had the joint most assists and Rogers Mato who scored a final day hattrick and finished the season with the third most goals in the league both missing out,as did URA FC rightback James Begisa.