Howard Mwikuta

Howard Mwikuta

Howard Mwikuta in March 1967
Personal information
Date of birth	(1941-06-20)20 June 1941
Place of birth	Ndola, Northern Rhodesia
Date of death	26 February 1988(1988-02-26) (aged 46)
Place of death	Chililabombwe, Zambia
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1958–1964	Bancroft North End (later Bancroft Blades)
1965–1966	Broken Hill Warriors (later Kabwe Warriors)
1967	Atlanta Chiefs	22	(1)
1969-1970	Dallas Tornado	11	(0)
National team
1964-1966	Zambia	17	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Howard Mwikuta (20 June 1941 – 26 February 1988) was a Zambian footballer and coach who featured in the first Zambian national team at independence in October 1964. He was named Zambian captain in 1966 and at the end of the season was voted Zambian Sportsman of the Year. Mwikuta was one of the first Zambians to play professional football abroad when he signed for American club Atlanta Chiefs in 1967, together with Emment Kapengwe and Freddie Mwila. He became the first African to play in the NFL when he featured for the Dallas Cowboys in 1970.

Playing career

Mwikuta was born in Ndola on 20 June 1941 and was brought up by his elder brother after losing both parents at the age of two. He went to Chimoto and Fiwale Mission Schools for his primary education before moving to Bancroft (Chililabombwe) in 1957 where he joined the mine. He first played schools football and then joined Bancroft Blades, graduating to the first team by 1958 as a full-back or half-back. In the same season, he was chosen to represent the Rest of Northern Rhodesia against Katanga in Elizabethville in Congo and from then on was a permanent fixture in the Northern Rhodesian or Zambian sides.^[1]

The determined tackler was part of the first team that played under the name Zambia, winning the Mufulu (Freedom) Cup in Malawi in July 1964 with wins over Tanganyika (Tanzania) and the hosts. He also featured in the Zambian team that hosted Kenya, Uganda and Ghana during Zambia’s independence celebrations in October of the same year.

The powerfully built Mwikuta not only had the stamina to keep running for 90 minutes and beyond, he was also famous for his long throw-ins and packed a powerful shot. In 1965, he switched to Broken Hill Warriors and the following year he was made captain of the club. He led the team to the Castle Cup final and to third position in the league after a second from bottom finish in 1965.

He also captained Zambia in Malawi in a tournament staged by the hosts to celebrate the country’s achievement of republic status in July 1966, which Zambia won after beating Madagascar 3-0 and the hosts 6-0.^[2] He also led Zambia to a Rothmans Cup triumph over Kenya in September 1966.

He made 17 international appearances from July 1964 to the end of 1966. When Phil Woosnam, coach of Atlanta Chiefs in the newly introduced Professional Soccer League in America came to Zambia for the second time in December 1966, he approached Mwikuta, Mwila and Kapengwe on behalf of Chiefs. Mwikuta’s deal was rushed through club, National Football League (NFL) and Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) executives in less than a week. Woosnam made the most attractive offer made to Zambian players at the time: close to £200 per month plus bonuses, with one-year contracts upon successful conclusion of a two-month trial. Mwikuta accepted the offer and promised to return to Zambia to pass on what he would learn to the younger generation. In fact, he had been saving up for a trip to Britain later in the year where he hoped to see some top class European football and all of a sudden, he found himself with an all expenses paid trip and the chance of a lifetime.^{[1] [3]}

After clarification of FIFA’s recognition of the American league, Mwikuta left for Atlanta with Kapengwe, Mwila and Chief’s scout Doug Sammons on 22nd February 1967,^[4] becoming the first Zambian players to play professional soccer abroad. Mwikuta impressed Chiefs’ coaching staff with his fitness, often waiting for the rest of the players to catch up during training runs. Chief’s assistant coach Vic Crowe once told him “We will have to start you running an hour ahead of time so that everyone is even when training begins.” ^[5]

He missed some early games of the season through illness and the last few with an ankle injury, playing 22 games for Chiefs and scoring one goal against Toronto. At the end of the season, only Kapengwe and Mwila were offered new contracts so Mwikuta decided to go it alone. He left Zambia again on 22 December 1967, sponsoring himself for a course in physical education and soccer coaching because he realized that Zambia badly needed professional coaches. Rather than go to Europe to obtain these qualifications, he believed he could get them in America. On getting to Atlanta, he discovered that the youngsters there were far behind their Zambian age-mates insofar as soccer was concerned so he found himself teaching the sport instead. “In my country, kids begin to play soccer at the age of five,” he told his American friends. It pained him to see kids idling about, when they could do something in their spare time – like play soccer - but he also saw there was need for qualified help.

He then decided not to enroll for his course there and then but instead got a job with the city of Atlanta Recreation Department dealing with the sports programme. This he did merely to get closer to the youngsters and soon word spread all over Atlanta that he was coaching football. Wherever he went, he carried six or seven soccer balls in the back of his car and the kids would recognize him and ask for soccer lessons. Before long, reports were coming to his boss’s office from the parents of the young people he was teaching soccer. They praised the Zambian for what he was doing for the Atlanta community as a whole. His boss Howard Long described his employee as a “great organizer” and said the kids learnt a lot from him in a short time.

And his enthusiastic young followers are reported to have described him as the best “goodwill ambassador” they knew. In mid-1969, Topic, a widely read American monthly magazine with a big circulation in America carried an article covering Mwikuta’s contribution to Atlanta and youth since he went there in February 1968. ^[6] Mwikuta would later spend most of his time coaching in local schools and around the state of Georgia. He also conducted clinics for referees and linesmen and attended a mass Boy Scout Jamboree at Pine Mountain where he lectured on soccer and Zambia.^[7]

In 1969, he signed with Dallas Tornado for two seasons (69-70) before trying his hand at American Football with the Dallas Cowboys and became the first African to feature in the NFL in 1970.^[8] Howard Mwikuta coached the Men's Varsity Soccer Team at SMU from 1974 to 1979.. Because of his contribution to community work and the development of youth in the US, Mwikuta was given an audience at the White House by former US President Jimmy Carter.^[9] He eventually completed his studies and came back to Zambia after 12 years with degrees in physical education and soccer coaching. In due course Mwikuta settled in Zaire (now Congo DR) where he began coaching Tshikuku United in Shaba Province.

Death

In February 1988, he travelled to Zambia to visit friends and relatives and on the morning of 26 February 1988, Mwikuta was at his brother’s house in Chililabombwe when he collapsed and died of a heart attack.^[9] The country mourned the passing of a talented footballer, coach and ambassador who was a credit to Zambia in touching the lives of so many youths in Atlanta.

Notes

References

Muchimba, Jerry "Howard Mwikuta: Talented Footballer, Youth Coach and Goodwill Ambassador," Bola Yathu http://bolayathu.com/index.php/component/content/article/88-more-football/357 (retrieved 1 June 2012)