Overview:
Not exactly but in 1998 under the request of Nile Special, the league’s main and title sponsors then, the league was divided into two groups (Serie A & B) of eight teams each.
The 2025/26 Uganda Premier League season gets underway with six fixtures on card this Friday under new three round phase format that has received mixed reaction.
The sixteen teams will play in a single robin format of each 15-games each and after, the table will be split into two groups – Top 8 in the championship group and bottom 8 in the relegation group.
In Round Two, points accumulated from the first-round cease to count and teams face off in a home and away fixture in both groups.
Round Three will then have three groups with the top six in Group One fighting for the title with one legged tie and the same is true for the teams in the bottom six in Group Two while number 7-10 also face off in a four-team group for placement.
In this final round, points from the previous round will be count and at the end, a final table will be drawn to determine the rankings with the bottom two teams relegated.
A repeat of 1998?
Not exactly but in 1998 under the request of Nile Special, the league’s main and title sponsors then, the league was divided into two groups (Serie A & B) of eight teams each.
Serie A had SC Villa who went to lift the championship, Express FC, KCC FC, Umeme, Mbale Heroes, Simba, Police and Nile.
Serie B, topped by Entebbe Health had the lower ranked teams – Pamba, Kabarole Police, Military Police, Posta, State House, Iganga, SCOUL and Roraima.
Despite a successful end to the season, the controversial format was abandoned after just one campaign.
What happened after 1998?
Teams in Serie B contested relegation and it led to the merging of the two groups into one season.
Five more teams earned promotion to the top division and the subsequent campaign in 1999 had 22 teams.
SC Villa retained their crown and Andrew ‘Fimbo’ Mukasa shattered the goal scoring record with 45 goals in a single season.