The changing allegiances of Zambia’s football fans

This week in the Bulletin & Record

By Leonard Koloko

What is the first question asked by football lovers? Answer: which club do you support? Today’s generation of soccer fans might chant: Man U! Liverpool! Chelsea! or Arsenal. But 20 years ago the fans might have said: Stylish! Mighty! GBFC! Kalampa Devil, Devil! Power 90! Bravo Rangers, or any one of a number of other local teams.

A key difference between then and now lies in the simple fact that back then one’s township of origin determined the team one supported. It did not matter in which division your favourite club played, the emotional bond thrived.

The common social arrangement was that most urban towns were divided into mine or municipal townships. Football clubs were organised in the same fashion – there was normally a team from the mine area and one from the municipality. Later, other sectors came to the sport and broadened the allegiances.

Mufulira: At one time Mufulira had three clubs campaigning in the then elite Division One. Mufulira Wanderers carried the banner as the mightiest club of the 1960s and 1970s, and had a countrywide fan base. But there were still those who believed in Mufulira Blackpool, the municipal council side, based in Kamuchanga Township.

Wanderers and Blackpool share a common history, with the former being a splinter from the latter way back in the 1940s. The third club, “Giant Killers” Butondo Western Tigers, came from Butondo Mine Township.

For a long time these three clubs were arch rivals, competing for fans and players, resulting in Mufulira producing soccer legends like Samuel “Zoom” Ndhlovu, Alex Chola, Kalusha Bwalya, Charles Musonda, Johnson Bwalya and Efford Chabala. Regrettably, all three clubs are now campaigning in lower divisions.

Luanshya: The situation here was similar to that of Mufulira except that the council club, Luanshya United, and the mine team, “Stylish” Roan United, existed as separate entities from the beginning. Luanshya started as off as All Blacks (no, not the famous New Zealand rugby team) and played in the Copperbelt African Football Association league together with Roan Mine FC, the forerunners to Roan United.

All Blacks, who later changed their name to Luanshya Blue Devils, dropped to division two in 1965 and have since then struggled in the lower ranks, but encouragingly they still have a strong fan base in their home township, Mikomfwa. This is also the club from where stars like Kenny Mwape, Vincent Chileshe and Dudley Fichite originated. There was a third team from Mpatamato Mine Township, Buseko FC, groomers of great players such as the late Ghost Mulenga, Godfrey Munshya and Jack Chanda.

Kitwe: Club allegiance conflicts here date as far back as the 1940s when one of the pioneer African football clubs, Kitwe Lions, split into two following a breakaway by miners to form Nkana Mine FC, thus creating bitter rivalry between what later became Kitwe United and Rhokana United respectively in the 1960s.

Naturally, miners from Chamboli, Wusakile and Mindolo supported Rhokana whilst the rest settled for Kitwe, sponsored by the business community. In the early 1970s a city council team, City of Kitwe, emerged in Ndeke Township, further dividing the city. Kitwe United and City of Kitwe’s fortunes were not bright. The two sides dropped from elite soccer ranks between 1977 and 1978. As these two were sinking, there was a surprise package from the northern mine township of Mindolo. Mindola United first made their mark as a second division giant killer in local cups and won promotion to the top league in 1977.

The rivalry between Rhokana and Mindola United was closely linked to the gangster life that prevailed among Wusakile, Chamboli and Mindolo youths. Despite these being mine townships, they were always at loggerheads with Wusakile and Chamboli, uniting against the northern rivals. Rhokana was renamed Nkana Red Devils in 1982.

As Mindola United went defunct, in came Power Dynamos, the Copperbelt power company-sponsored team, based in Ndeke Township. Now began a new bitter rivalry as Ndeke residents supported Power Dynamos.

Dynamos, nicknamed “Power 90” and Nkana as “Kalampa Devil, Devil” became the most successful soccer envoys the country has ever had in continental soccer, with Power lifting the 1991 Africa Cup Winners Cup and Nkana being runners up in the Africa Club Champions Cup in 1990.

Chingola: Although now a single team town, Chingola started off with Chingola Eleven Wisemen as the lone team in the 1940s. From the Wisemen was born a splinter, Nchanga Mine. The two remained rivals until 1962 when they re-merged to form Nchanga Rangers. Although “Brave” Rangers were accepted as the sole representative of the town, there were still those with other allegiances within the town and they rallied behind Chingola United, the council team playing in division two. There was also KB Davies campaigning in the second division. In a bid to strengthen the challenge on the mine-sponsored Rangers, the two merged and changed their name to Chingola Leopards. They are currently called Chiwempala Leopards and command a large following among the non-mine townships.

Chililabombwe: In the set up here Konkola Blades has been supreme, but there are those who have forever supported the council team, Lubengele FC, based in Lubengele Township and playing in the second division.

Ndola: The commercial city kicked off with two prominent sides before the inception of league soccer – Ndola Black Follies and Ndola Home Defenders. The Follies were predominantly for Africans and Defenders for Europeans. In 1962, these two dissolved to form Ndola United, which unified the city’s soccer fans for more than 15 years. However, the city’s status as the commerce and industry hub caused a rapid build-up on the soccer scene. By 1980, companies like Refined Oil Products and Furniture Company of Zambia had raised new teams Strike Rovers and Vitafoam United, splitting the Ndola United fan base in the city.

Ndola United, sponsored by the City council, is alive and kicking in the first division but the city has presently produced other new allegiances in Zesco United, Forest Rangers, Ndola Lime Hotspurs and Kalewa (Zambia Army). Both Rovers and Vitafoam have sunk into oblivion.

Kabwe: One may take it that Kabwe Warriors has always been the sole envoy of Kabwe town. In fact this was the case from 1962 to the mid-1960s, when mine-sponsored Kabwe United arrived on the scene. United attracted fans from the mine areas. The Kabwe allegiance divide was basically Zambia Railways versus Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines. The grounding to a halt of the zinc and lead mining activities in Kabwe also spelt the end of Kabwe United. The only other attempt to divide Kabwe in recent years has been from Prison Leopards based at Mukobeko.

Lusaka: The Great North Road was the earliest divide in the capital city. Townships to the east of Cairo Road rooted for City of Lusaka; those to the west rallied behind Lusaka Tigers. Many fans still reminisce about the good old days of “City Ya Moto” or “City Izajombolola” at Woodlands Stadium and the “Beware of the disappearing ball” sign at Matero Stadium. Interestingly, both clubs have always been business community sponsored.

Later, the emergence of service and government-sponsored teams Green Buffaloes FC (Army), Red Arrows (Air Force) and Nkhwazi (Police) saw the newcomers stealing some supporters from City of Lusaka and Lusaka Tigers.

Lusaka’s duality as both province and city has further divided the football setting into over 50 clubs spread all over the townships, each claiming a share of supporters according to location and attachment.

The Zambian game has in the past decade suffered a heavy blow at club level with a drastic fall in spectator attendances at local township stadiums. Blame for this has mostly been piled on the recent craze for Anglo-Euro soccer promoted by satellite television. Also sharing a piece of the blame is the privatisation of the mines and economic slump of the 1990s.

Are Zambian soccer allegiances completely dead, judging by the current frenzy for the English “Big Four” and European giants like Barcelona and Real Madrid? Furthermore, is the current Anglo-Euro soccer fanaticism from the depth of the soccer fans’ hearts, or is it just a social trend?

The article first appeared in the November 2011 edition of Bulletin & Record magazine.