Timothy Mwitwa

Last updated

Timothy Mwitwa (21 May 1968 – 27 April 1993) was a Zambian professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Zambia national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993. [1]

Contents

Career

Timothy Mwitwa started his playing career at Kabwe Rangers FC, a club run by the Kabwe Municipal Council, before attending trials at the "Magnificent" Kabwe Warriors FC in 1986 and got picked under the tutelage of late Godfrey "Ucar" Chitalu as coach of the club. Mwitwa was part of the Kabwe Warriors team that won their first Zambian Super league championship in 15 years in the 1987 soccer season but got demoted the following year. The club also won the Champion of Champions Cup the same season under coach Bizwell Phiri.

Mwitwa featured for the Kabwe Warriors squad that participated in the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1988, where they were knocked out in the second round by Al Hilal of Sudan. Mwitwa was sent off early on in the first half of the second leg tie in Omdurman, with Warriors going on to lose 3–1, having held Al Hilal 0–0 in the first leg in Kabwe.

Warriors played in the lower first division in the 1988 season, losing only one game to Monze Swallows and were promoted right back to the Super Division the following year. Most soccer pundits expected Warriors to lose most of their star players (including Mwitwa, goal keeper Richard Mwanza, defenders Whiteson Changwe, Samuel Chomba and James Chitalu among others) but the club managed to hold on to all their players, a feat that is attributed to their promotion at first attempt.

Mwitwa later played club football for Nkana F.C. in Zambia making only a few appearances in the 1993 season before the Gabon tragedy. He is regarded as one of the finest talents to have ever emerged from Kabwe town as well as Kabwe Warriors football club, hence his nicknames "Teacher" and Tim "Tiger". [2] In 1990, he joined AC Sparta Prague where he appeared in seven Czechoslovak First League matches. [3] [4]

Mwitwa made several appearances for the Zambia national team and participated in the 1990 and 1992 African Cup of Nations finals.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power Dynamos F.C.</span> Zambian football club

Power Dynamos is a Zambian football club based in Kitwe that plays in the MTN/FAZ Super Division. They play their home games at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabwe Warriors F.C.</span> Zambian football club

Kabwe Warriors is a Zambian football club based in Kabwe that plays in the Zambian Premier League. They play their home games at Railway Stadium in Kabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godfrey Chitalu</span> Zambian footballer (1947–1993)

Godfrey Chitalu, nicknamed Ucar, was a Zambian footballer who played as a forward. He is widely regarded as the greatest Zambian player of all time as he holds his national team's goalscoring record and was voted Zambian footballer of the year five times. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African footballers of the past 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Chola</span> Zambian footballer and coach

Alexander "Alex" Chola was a Zambian footballer and coach. Voted Zambian Footballer of the Year in 1976, he is regarded as one of the greatest Zambian players in history and is the country's second highest goal scorer after Godfrey Chitalu. He made a mark at Mufulira Blackpool and Power Dynamos before becoming Dynamos coach and winning the Coach of the Year award in 1992. Chola died in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon on 27 April 1993.

Kampamba Chintu is a Zambian football defender, he is currently player-manager at Kabwe Warriors. He was a member of the Zambian national team between 1999 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Ndhlovu</span> Zambian footballer and coach

Samuel Ndhlovu was a Zambian footballer and coach. Nicknamed "Zoom", he led the "Mighty" Mufulira Wanderers to unparalleled league and cup triumphs for almost two decades. He was named Zambian Sportsman of the Year in 1964 and also served the national team as captain and coach. He is widely regarded as Zambia's best local coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mufulira Wanderers F.C.</span> Zambian football club

Mufulira Wanderers are Zambia's most successful football club, based in the Copperbelt town of Mufulira and currently playing in the Zambia National Division One after their 2019/2020 season relegation.

Samuel Chomba was a Zambian footballer who played as a defender. He was a member of the Zambia national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.

Richard Mwanza was a Zambian footballer and member of the national team. He was among those killed in the crash of the team plane in Gabon in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moses Simwala</span> Zambian footballer and coach

Moses Simwala was a Zambian footballer and coach. Nicknamed 'the chairman,' Simwala featured for Zambia and Rhokana United as a right winger, the same club he would go on to coach for over 12 years and become the most successful coach in Zambian club football, winning the league title a record 8 times and 21 trophies in all. He was voted Zambian coach of the year in 1988 and 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emment Kapengwe</span> Zambian footballer

Emment Kapengwe was one of Zambia's leading footballers in the '60s and he represented the country at independence in October 1964. He was Kitwe United's key player and among the first Zambians to play professional football abroad when he was signed by Atlanta Chiefs in the United States of America in 1967 together with Howard Mwikuta and Freddie Mwila. Two years later, he became the first Zambian to play for English club when he moved to Aston Villa together with Mwila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddie Mwila</span> Zambian footballer and coach

Freddie Mwila is a Zambian former association football player and coach. Rated as one of the country's greatest players and coaches, he featured for Rhokana United and was one of the first Zambians to play professional football abroad when he joined American side Atlanta Chiefs in 1967. Mwila also played for Aston Villa in England and made an impact as a coach, leading Power Dynamos to the 1991 African Cup Winners' Cup and coached several other club sides as well as the Zambia and Botswana national teams.

Biggie Mbasela, better known as Gibby Mbasela was a Zambian footballer who played for Kalulushi Modern Stars, Mufulira Wanderers, Nkana Red Devils, 1. FC Union Berlin of Germany and Tunisian champions Esperance. Renowned for his dribbling skills, Mbasela was voted Zambian Footballer of the Year in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Chanda</span> Zambian footballer

Bernard Chanda was one of Zambia's greatest strikers and was the league top scorer three times. Nicknamed 'Bomber,' he played for three of Zambia's biggest clubs – Roan United, Mufulira Wanderers and Rokana United, and is remembered for scoring a hat-trick in the 4–2 semi-final victory over Congo at the 1974 African Cup of Nations tournament. Chanda was voted Zambian Footballer of the Year in 1974 and is fourth on the list of all-time goal scorers for Zambia in international matches behind Godfrey Chitalu, Alex Chola and Kalusha Bwalya with 29 goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Chama</span> Zambian footballer and coach

Dick Chama was a Zambian footballer and coach who played as a centre-back. He was Zambia's defensive stalwart from the late '60s to the mid '70s and formed a formidable central defence pairing alongside Dickson Makwaza and was part of Zambia's squad during the country's very first CAN outing in 1974 and made the official CAF team of the tournament. Chama was voted Zambian Sportsman of the Year in 1975 and after retirement, he coached several club sides as well as the national team.

Boniface Simutowe was one of Zambia's greatest midfielders who also had a long career as a coach. Nicknamed 'Chest Master,' he was the first footballer to be named Zambian Footballer of the Year and Sportsman of the Year in the same season and was part of the great Kabwe Warriors side that swept all the silverware on offer in 1972. He later took to coaching and was involved with the national team for several years.

Richard Stephenson was one of Zambia's most gifted midfielders who featured during the country's very first Cup of Nations appearance in Egypt in 1974. He captained the 'Magnificent' Kabwe Warriors and was Zambia's footballer of the year in 1971. Stephenson also played for Kitwe giants Power Dynamos later in his career.

George Lwandamina is a former Zambian footballer and head coach of Kabwe Warriors.He had a brief playing career with Zambia and won several trophies as a defender with Mufulira Wanderers.

Jack Chanda Mwinuna was a Zambian footballer and coach. He played for three of Zambia’s biggest clubs Roan United, Nkana Red Devils and Kabwe Warriors in a successful career that saw him being crowned as Zambian Footballer of the Year in 1985.

Prison Leopards Football Club is a Zambian football club based in Kabwe, Zambia. The club plays its football in the Zambia Super League, the highest division in Zambian football. The club's kit manufacturer is Joma.

References

  1. ↑ "Remember Gabon air victims on Heroes day" Archived 12 January 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Muere la selección de Zambia" [Zambian selection dies](PDF) (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 29 April 1993.
  3. ↑ Jak Šimáně pro Slavii získal Číňany. Dali jsme si skleničku a bylo to, iDNES.cz (in Czech)
  4. ↑ "Počty startů hráčů v I. Československé lize: M" (in Czech). JFK-Fotbal. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
Flag of Zambia.svg Soccerball mask.svg

This biographical article related to Zambian association football is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.