ZESCO United Football Club Team Ya Ziko
On September 22, 2020 at exactly 5:00 pm, ZESCO United Football Club Media department announced the departure of seasoned Zambian coach George Lwandamina from the club following a disappointing league season that saw the 2018/2019 league champions surrender the title to the Wusakile Boys, Nkana.
“ZESCO United Football Club management and club head coach, George Lwandamina have mutually agreed to separate with immediate effect. Club management would like to thank Lwandamina for his services in the last three seasons which resulted in the team winning two league titles and one Absa cup trophy,” Club Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Richard Mulenga said in a media statement.
Mulenga further disclosed that the club would be announcing a new full-time head coach ahead of the 2020/2021 FAZ/MTN Super League season.
The 2019/2020 league campaign ended prematurely following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fearing an increase in Covid-19 cases, the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) decided to suspend the league with only seven games to play.
That decision from the local football governing body saw ZESCO United abdicate the league throne they had occupied for three consecutive seasons, finishing outside the top two for the first time since 2012 and further missing out on CAF Inter-Club qualification for the first time since 2013.
Mulenga shook hands with Lwandamina and parted ways in an amicable and professional manner having worked together in transforming the fortunes of the team on two separate occasions.
News of Lwandamina’s departure filtered through the airspace. Both Facebook and WhatsApp were awash with the veteran gaffer’s exodus from the club.
Journalists and bloggers went to town in their quest to deliver both the impending news of the next coach and Lwandamina’s next destination.
There was speculation of a foreign coach taking the wheels at ZESCO United with many attributing such expectation to the fact that the club is the country’s footballing giant. A few names from the local scene were also thrown into the fray.
ZESCO United is a massive football institution that echoes the sounds and exudes the oomph of a modern African club emerging from the rough terrains of the continent.
Largely funded by the parent company ZESCO Limited, the club has managed to find its footing among the emerging giants of the African game.
The club’s success has been firmly rooted in the management structure of the team that includes some of the best and brightest minds in organisational management.
ZESCO Limited has not only been a dedicated supporter of the club financially but also provides the best human resource that sits at both the club’s board and executive committee level.
With an umbilical cord firmly rooted in ZESCO Limited management, giving way to the sharing of knowledge and expertise, ZESCO United has in the last two decades taken the domestic game by storm.
This relationship, anchored on excellency and hard work, is a template that guides who leads the team on the technical bench. As such, choosing the next head coach to lift the club from its doldrums wasn’t going to be an easy task for the club’s top chiefs.
Before Lwandamina’s departure was made public, the club’s CEO was a busy man. Mulenga was a man running back and forth in a quest to find the best coach to replace the veteran gaffer.
It was a period of continuous consultation with the best football minds in the country, and those who have charged him with the responsibility of being at the helm of the nation’s top team.
Like the white smoke that emerges from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, signaling that the cardinals have elected the new pope, Numba Mumamba was on September 25, 2020, at exactly 08:00am unveiled as the new head coach of the club, signing a three-year contract.
News of Mumamba’s appointment was met with mixed emotions from various corners of the football spectrum.
Some thought he didn’t have the pedigree to lift the club from its woes, while others felt ZESCO United needed a coach of his caliber given his previous record of success.
Mumamba’s playing record places him toe-to-toe with some of the finest players to have emerged from the Zambian game in recent years.
The former Zambia National team midfielder honed his skills at Konkola Blades before moving to Zanaco Football Club in 1999. It was at Sunset stadium where his star shone brightly winning Zanaco’s first four league titles.
Having helped transform Zanaco into a title-winning machine, Mumamba was granted cult-hero status by the fans, a relationship that eventually accorded him an opportunity to lead the Bankers as assistant coach in 2009.
After six years deputizing, Mumamba was in 2015 elevated to the position of head coach following the departure of Aggrey Chiyangi.
Mumamba’s leadership skills and winning mentality as a player did not take long to show as a coach. In 2016, he led Zanaco to their seventh and last Super League title to date.
He further led the Bankers to their maiden Absa Cup title in 2017. Mumamba is also regarded as the first Zanaco coach to reach the Group stage of the CAF Champions League and second to qualify for the Confederation Cup Group stage.
It is this Curriculum Vitae (CV) at one club that convinced the minds at ZESCO United management to go for the 42-year-old coach.
“Mumamba is one of the finest young coaches to have emerged from the Zambian game in recent years. He has managed at the top level of Zambian football and he knows the domestic game very well.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome him to ZESCO United. His track record of success is ideal to take this club forward,” Mulenga said after unveiling the new coach in front of the Zambian media.
Mumamba was granted the opportunity by the club to come with his entire technical bench. The soft-spoken gaffer chose to retain the second assistant coach, goalkeeper coach, physical trainer he had worked with for the sake of continuity and a smooth transition.
In addition, however, he sought the services of former Young Africans and Buildcon Football club assistant coach, Noel Mwandila who joined as first assistant coach bringing in additional international experience.
The task for the new coach was to transform an ailing ZESCO United side that had seen most of its star players reach the cusp of their playing careers.
Mumamba also joined ZESCO United at time when management through the club’s board had made a radical decision to reduce the number of foreign players to five.
Kelvin Kampamba joined on a two-year deal from Nkana while Bruce Musakanya also signed a two-year loan deal from Red Arrows.
Congolese striker, David Molinga joined from Congo after parting ways with Tanzania’s Young Africans. Lazarus Phiri also made a one-year loan switch from Green Eagles to ZESCO United.
Donashano Malama and Tafadzwa Rusike also arrived shortly before Mumamba was appointed to the top job.
20-year-old Mukuka Chanda joined later, making a two-year loan move from Gomes while former Zanaco striker, Chitiya Mususu signed a two-year contract with the club.
The shift in policy saw Burundian midfielder Enock Sabumukama and goalkeeper, Tibahezwa Deudonne leave the club. Kenyan international defender David Owino Odhiambo and Ghanaian striker Adam Zikiru also parted ways with ZESCO United.
Former Zambian international and ZESCO United’s most decorated goalkeeper Jacob Banda retired from the game, Misheck Chaila joined former league champions, Nkana, while veteran midfielder Kondwani Mtonga took up a coaching role with the youth team.
Mumamba was now geared towards progressing with a horde of young players who were agonisingly waiting for an opportunity to break ranks into the main team.
In his first media appearance, Mumamba declared his desire to build a successful ZESCO United side affixed on youth and experience.
Enock Sakala 19, Samson Mkandawire 24, John Chishimba 19, Samuel Sikaonga 21 are some of the young stars whose future at the club had looked bleak under the previous regime where experienced trounced everything else.
“I am a coach who believes in working with young players and whose philosophy is anchored on giving young players an opportunity to develop. There are a lot of young good players here. I am ready to give them an opportunity to shine provided they show that they have what it takes to play for this football club.”
This declaration was music to the ears of most young players that had graduated from the club’s youth system.
Mumamba further cautioned seasoned players against complacency and made it clear that there would be no sacred cows during his reign at ZESCO United.
ZESCO United 2020/2021 league campaign started with a 1-all draw against Napsa Stars.
Mumamba’s start to life at the club would take a low turn after recording his first home defeat in the Ndola derby against ZESCO United’s fiercest rivals, Forest Rangers shortly after.
ZESCO United would then go on to beat Lumwana Radiants 0-1 before demolishing Kabwe Warriors 2-0 in a thrilling encounter that saw Kelvin Kampamba bag his first brace for the club.
The former league champions then went on to lose 3-1 to Zanaco, marking Mumamba’s first return to Sunset stadium where he served as player and coach.
ZESCO United’s shaky start to the 2020/2021 league campaign would continue on matchday six.
A 90’ minute debut goal from Enock Sakala ensured that the Ndola based league giants avoided a third defeat of the season at the hands of Green Buffaloes.
This wobbly start to the league campaign raised a lot of dust among the club’s faithfuls. More questions surfaced when the team struggled to consistently collect maximum points even against the minnows of the Zambian game.
Mumamba and his technical bench agonised over their best starting eleven from a side which has been dominated by old and experienced players and recently elevated several young players to the senior team.
As the team was struggling to find the right chemistry, Mumamba had gaven six of the club’s young players an opportunity to shine at the highest level of the Zambian game.
This was a drastic change in both culture and belief. Mumamba gave the belief that young players could occupy the front seat of this massive football institution and produce the same kind of output that veteran striker, Winston Kalengo was and is still known for.
As was once the case at Manchester United where Marcus Rashford had learned from the old and experienced Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Enock Sakala was banging in goals at will under the tutelage of Winston Kalengo.
By February 2021, ZESCO United had hit top gear. The swag was back and the demeanor of being the bully of the Zambian game percolated through the team.
Mumamba had rallied his side into believing that they were indispensable. A feat that has run through the fabrics of the club for the last two decades.
A visit at the Trade Fair grounds, the club’s historical home ground now turned into an official training facility, gave one a glimpse of what it meant to be part of the team at that stage of the season.
Feelings of doubt had meteorically ebbed away and in their place: belief, greatness, and confidence took center stage.
A great sense of the inevitable was filtering through the minds of the technical bench and players. Though it is was too early to call, Mumamba and his players were fully aware of the possibility of running away with the championship well before the season ended.
The former league champions battered their way through 10 consecutive league wins opening up a ten-point gap at the summit of the league table with second placed Zanaco helplessly looking at their title ambitions wither with each passing phase.
ZESCO United had achieved this feat against some of the league’s finest teams.
Buildcon, Power Dynamos, Forest Rangers, Lumwana Radiants, Kabwe Warriors, Zanaco, Green Buffaloes, Red Arrows, Indeni, Nkwazi were some of the victims of ZESCO United’s unrelenting ruthlessness between February and May.
Mumamba’s ability to start his first eleven with a mixture of youth and experience was having dramatic effects on the opposition.
There were several occasions during the season that some teams stood firm during most parts of their matches only to be unlocked in the last 10 minutes of the 90’ minutes.
When the tide was too slow for Mumamba’s liking, John Chingandu would pave way for Chanda Mukuka, Jesse Were for Enock Sakala and Luwawa Kasoma would been thrown into the fray to whip in pinpoint crosses.
It’s this type of shuffling of players that proved unbearable for ZESCO United’s opponents
Indeni, Power Dynamos, Zanaco, Nkwazi and Green Buffaloes are some of the sides that were left licking their wounds after holding their lines for most parts of their games against the league champions only to be put to the sword in the dying minutes.
The camaraderie on-and-off the technical bench also proved crucial to the side’s success.
Mumamba’s down-to-earth approach to management made everyone feel part of the project, including the club’s top chiefs who would from time to time pitch some ideas to the ZESCO United coach.
During every game, team talks would be shared among the coaches ensuring that everyone has a greater share of input into the side. He was also not one to shy away from the media, both in victory or defeat.
ZESCO United’s 2020/2021 league title triumph has been anchored on youth and experience. The six young players who have cemented their place in the ZESCO United squad have been a breath of fresh air.
Sakala scored some crucial goals at the finest hour. Kasoma delivered some jaw-dropping goals when one least expected.
Chanda was a beauty to watch. He dazzled teams with some fine footwork and a level of ingeniousness that could have earned him a place at Barcelona’s La Masia de Can Planes.
Sikaonga stood firm in the middle of park whenever he was charged with the responsibility to protect the heart of the team. Mkandawire and Chishimba delivered every time they were called upon.
Kelvin Kampamba was a beast on the ball and delivered crucial goals for the side at very crucial moments.
However, it is Mumamba’s wizardry in getting to the hearts and minds of young and experienced players, especially in difficult times, that has been remarkable for the entire season.
A case in point is when ZESCO United’s unbeaten run came to an end with the club recording two consecutive league defeats which saw the gap at the top of the league table reduced to five.
After a rigorous morning session, Mumamba summoned ZESCO United’s long serving players for a pep talk.
John Ching’andu, Simon Silwimba, Solomon Sakala, Winstone Kalengo, Marcel Kalonda and Clement Mwape were given the responsibility to provide leadership at that crucial hour of the season.
Having won several league titles between them, Mumamba wanted to see leadership from these men on and off the pitch.
The response from that pep talk was instant. ZESCO United went on to beat Lusaka Dynamos 0-1 in Lusaka before going down 0-3 at the hands of Prison Leopards in very controversial circumstances.
The champions would then demolish stubborn Kitwe United 4-0 before electrocuting Napsa Stars 2-0 to be crowned 2020/2021 FAZ/MTN Super League champions elect with only three games remining to the close of the league season.
For Mulenga and the entire club executive at Zesco United whose job it was to oversee that the new coach delivered accordingly, it has been a roller-coaster year of ups-and-downs. This began with rebuilding the team, blooding young players and merging with experience, and finally ended in memorable triumph.
Tonight, Mulenga will have every reason to spice-up this victory with a fine bottle of Glenfiddich 18 for having delivered ZESCO United’s ninth league title as the club’s Chief Executive Officer.
As for Mumamba, his technical bench and players, it will be a night of not only joyous celebrations but also a moment to reflect on how far they have come as a team.
About the Author: Desmond Katongo is the ZESCO United Football Club Media and Public Relations Officer. He is also the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Media Officer.
