As the years go by and generations of footballers come and go, fans and observers of the sport tend to name the most promising young players after beloved legends on the other side of the hill.
For example, Messi was the new Maradona twenty years ago, and now Yamal is regarded as the new Messi.
It is a double-edged sword that shows the regard in which the young player is held, but it can also put immense pressure on them, increasing the risk of career stagnation.
Just ask Yoan Gorcuff, who struggled and ultimately couldn’t live up to his “the new Zidane” moniker in the late 2000s.
But have you ever imagined a young player bursting onto the scene bearing the same name as one of the most legendary figures in the history of the league he plays in?
And not just bearing the same name, but also playing for the same club?
The story of SC Villa forward Hassan Mubiru.
It seems to have been written in the stars. The 21-year-old’s stunning strike from distance. It settled the Kampala Derby yesterday at FUFA Stadium, Kadiba, to earn Sports Club Villa a first victory in the fixture since 2020.
The versatile forward, who already has the distinction of playing for all three members of the famous VEK(Villa, Express and KCCA)that have historically dominated football in Uganda, sent Jogoos into raptures with a ferocious finish into the top corner three minutes to the hour mark.
Collecting Frank Sebuufu’s pass more than twenty yards from goal, Mubiru shimmied past Saidi Mayanja before arrowing a howitzer of a strike from his left foot beyond the despairing dive of Mutwalibi Mugolofa in the KCCA goal, bringing delight to fans and satisfaction to watching club president Omar Mandela.
Villa were somewhat fortunate to still be level after goalkeeper David Lukwago had to be alert to keep out attempts by Shafiq Nana Kwikiriza and Herbert Achai, and had to grind out the result with commendable rearguard action to keep an increasingly rampant KCCA at bay.
The relief and excitement were palpable well after the full-time whistle as fans rewarded their new star with gifts of cash straight from the stands.
This continues a breakout campaign for the attacker, who joined Villa in July 2024 on a three-year contract after a difficult spell at KCCA, where he reportedly struggled with frustration over his inability to break into the first team.
He initially came through the ranks at Express FC, debuting for the Red Eagles against Busoga United in November 2022, before signing for KCCA in February 2023, making him one of the rare players to have featured for all three of Uganda’s traditional powerhouses.
The weight of the name Hassan Mubiru.
Furthermore, it Simply put, the “original” Hassan Mubiru, nicknamed ‘Figo’ following an infamous transfer to arch rivals Express in 2001, mirroring the legendary Portuguese forward’s own move from Barcelona to Real Madrid, was a goalscoring phenomenon for SC Villa in the late 90s.
He wrote his name into Villa folklore with a brace in the 1998 Uganda Cup final against Simba SC, which secured a historic double for the Jogoos.
Forming a devastating partnership with the iconic Andrew “Fimbo” Mukasa, the legendary ‘Mu-Mu’ attack then scored a combined 67 goals in the 1999 season alone, with Mubiru notching twenty-five strikes.
But while Fimbo Mukasa’s superior statistics got him the headlines, Mubiru was regarded as the better all-around player. Mubiru would, in later years, reveal that tensions with Mukasa, coupled with his father being a staunch Express fan,n influenced his decision to switch blue for red.
Facing accusations of not just being a money-hungry traitor lured by Godfrey Kirumira’s cash, but also a system player who benefited from the quality around him at Villa, Mubiru silenced his critics with goals, culminating in him being the league’s top scorer for three years running from 2001 to 2003.
In this period alone, he scored sixty-five league goals.
By the time he retired in 2010(with another Uganda Cup at the now defunct Victors), Mubiru was on record as being one of the very few players with more than one hundred goals in Ugandan football.
The younger Mubiru is light-years away from such numbers. His derby winner was only his third league goal for Villa, to go along with four assists this season.
But his influence is evidently growing, as is his ranking by head coach Zeljko Kovacevic, who took over at the start of the 2025/26 season and has made Mubiru one of the focal points of his team, alongside Sebuufu, Reagan Mpande, Aslam Ssemakula, Najib Yiga and Patrick Kakande.
After scoring for fun with Express at the academy level, Mubiru left the Red Eagles before getting off the mark in his nine senior appearances.
The ill-fated move to KCCA only amounted to eight barren appearances in the league, as well as reports that the youngster threatened to walk away from the game because of frustration at failing to get the minutes he felt he deserved.
Last season at Villa only brought one goal and two assists in fifteen matches, now followed by the breakout campaign he is currently enjoying.
Regional interest
Unsurprisingly, Mubiru’s displays have not gone unnoticed, not only around the country but across the region as well, with reports indicating that Tanzanian clubs Singida Black Stars(where Uganda captain Khalid Aucho now plies his trade) and continental powerhouses Simba, as well as Rwandan giants APR, are scouting the youngster.
It is still very early days, but if Mubiru continues to develop, he has the hunger, aggression and most importantly, the ability to earn his own place in history.
By all objective measures, the older Hassan Mubiru is one of the greatest attackers this country has ever seen. To be compared to him is an honour. To also carry his name and now begin to attempt to emulate his exploits is a heavy load to bear, but it is one Villa’s new star will have to carry with pride.
From the depths of severe frustration due to lack of game time at KCCA to the crest of netting the winner for Villa against the Kasasiro Boys, Saturday night was sweet redemption for the younger Mubiru.
And for a generation of Villa fans who grew up on stories of the original Hassan Mubiru, they might finally have their own modern version. How fitting that it should be an Express FC academy graduate, twenty-five years since the older Mubiru became “Figo”.
