Vic Kasule

Background Kasule was born in Glasgow on 28 May 1965 to a Scottish mother and Ugandan father. His mother was a teacher and his father a professor of zoology. His father died when Kasule was 15.

Football career Albion Rovers He signed for Albion Rovers in 1982 as a 17-year-old scoring on his debut. Rovers struggled near the bottom of the Scotland's lowest of three senior tiers throughout Kasule's time there. He scored 18 goals in total in his 132 league appearances. His form earned him a transfer for a £28,000 fee. It was from Jackson's transfer fee that Terry Christie managing Meadowbank funded their £28,000 When playing for Meadowbank, Kasule was one of the first black players in the Scottish game - a fact that the Meadowbank supporters were proud of. He was though regularly subjected to racist abuse. Kasule and Thistle won the 1986–87 Scottish Second Division earning promotion for the next season to the middle of Scotland's then three tiers in senior football. Thistle finished runners-up in the 1987-88 Scottish First Division missing promotion to the top tier by one place. However Kasule had already left halfway through the season. In 15 months at Meadowbank he played in 35 league games in which he scored 7 goals. At Shrewsbury The Guardian referred to him as, "an armoured car of a right winger with a cannon for a shot". Geoff Tibballs in Football Greatest Characters, wrote Kasule's match winner against Leeds in 1988 "was rated one of the most spectacular even seen at Gay Meadow". However his football talents increasingly became overshadowed by off-field mis-demeanours. This often came from drinking with fellow Scots, Dougie Bell, Alan Irvine and Steve Pittman. Kasule played only 11 games in the 1988—89 relegation season with alcohol reportedly an increasing distraction for him. Ian McNeill resisted pressure from the club chairman to sell him in the close season and persisted with him for the start of the 1989–90 season. However Kasule lasted only five games before missing another curfew and was transferred within a month.

Hamilton Academical Aged 24 Kasule joined Hamilton Academical in the second of then three senior Scottish divisions for a cut price £15,000 fee. He came on against local rivals Airdrieonians as a sub 2—0 down with 20 minutes to go. He set up three goals to seal an unlikely comeback. However his off field problems soon returned. After playing 12 games he was arrested after an incident in Shrewsbury where he had revisited to attend a party. An article on the Albion Rovers club website in December 2016 stated Kasule was a community coach for BSC Glasgow.

Kasule was a survivor of the Clutha Vaults 2013 Glasgow helicopter crash.

Honours and accolades Team: Meadowbank Thistle - 1986–87 Scottish Second Division champions

Individual: "Albion Rovers' all-time cult hero" run by Football Focus of the BBC in 2005.