St. Mary's Stadium-Kitende is a football stadium located in Kitende, on the Entebbe Road in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The stadium serves as the home ground for

Vipers SC ''Vipers SC'' is a Ugandan professional association football club based in Kitende. Wakiso District. It competes in the Uganda Premier League, the top flight of Ugandan, Ugandan football. The club was founded in 1969 as Bunamwaya FC. They are nic ...

, a football club competing in Uganda's top division, the

Uganda Premier League The Ugandan Premier League, also known as the StarTimes Uganda Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Federation of Uganda Football Associations. The league was previously known as the Uganda Super League but changed i ...

. Its capacity is 20,000 with more than 1,000 VIP seats.

History

Construction and opening

The stadium was constructed by Dr. Lawrence Mulindwa, the patron of Vipers SC and former president of the

Federation of Uganda Football Associations The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) is the governing body of association football in Uganda. The association was founded in 1924, became affiliated with FIFA in 1960 and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 1961. In 19 ...

(FUFA). Construction commenced in 2016, with the stadium officially opening in February 2017.

CAF Approval

On 3 March 2017, the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...

(CAF) officially approved St. Mary's Stadium-Kitende to host continental football matches. The approval came after CAF inspector Nicholas Musonye was sent to Uganda to assess the facility. CAF Club Licensing Manager Ahmed Harraz communicated the decision, stating that "CAF has approved the St Mary's Stadium and you can now select as a venue for your matches.

Major Renovations

Following initial CAF concerns about the stadium's suitability for international games, major renovations were undertaken in 2018. The refurbishment included the installation of a state-of-the-art artificial turf to replace the natural grass surface, redesigned dressing rooms, improved dugouts, and enhanced seating arrangements. The renovated facility was officially reopened in September 2018, with Mulindwa describing the project as costing "billions of shillings and millions of dollars."

Facilities

Capacity and Seating

St. Mary's Stadium-Kitende has a seating capacity of 20,000, making it Uganda's second-largest stadium after the

Mandela National Stadium The Mandela National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Uganda. It is named after the former South African President and anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela. The stadium's record attendance of 50,000 was set in 2004, in a football match b ...

. The stadium features over 1,000 VIP seats and is designed as an all-seater facility.

Playing Surface

The stadium features a high-quality artificial turf playing surface, installed during the 2018 renovations. This synthetic pitch replaced the original natural grass and was specifically chosen to meet international standards for continental competitions. It is the second largest stadium in Uganda next to the

Home Club

The stadium serves as the home ground for

, one of Uganda's most successful football clubs. Vipers SC, also known as "The Venoms," have used the facility for both domestic league matches in the Uganda Premier League and continental competitions in the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

and

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

. The National team has relocated to the stadium after the Mandela National Stadium was blacklisted by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and

CAF CAF or caf may refer to: Armed forces *Canadian Armed Forces (Canadian Forces), the Canadian Air Force, Army, and Navy *Canadian Air Force, now the Royal Canadian Air Force *Republic of China Air Force, the air force of the Republic of China (Tai ...

in 2020.

Location

The stadium is situated in Kitende, along the Entebbe Road, approximately 25 kilometers from

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda's capital city. Its strategic location provides convenient access for fans traveling from both Kampala and

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Region, Uganda, Central Uganda which is located on Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda pri ...

Other stadiums in Uganda

The St. Mary’s Stadium is currently the second largest stadium in Uganda.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Vipers SC Stadium InformationStadium Database - St. Mary's Stadium
Football venues in Uganda Sports venues in Uganda Sports venues completed in 2017 National stadiums Athletics (track and field) venues in Uganda Vipers SC