Ginger Pensulo

John "Ginger" Pensulo (born John Mulenga; 1 June 1934 – 18 April 2021) was a Zambian footballer and coach.

Pensulo was born in a village near Mansa and though all his official documents show his birth of date as 1 June 1937, his actual year of birth is 1934.

He later explained that he adjusted his age on the advice of a welfare officer at Roan Antelope Copper Mines called Bennie Evans, so that he could stand a good chance of being selected for one of the mine football teams.

The family moved to Luanshya when he was four months old though his parents divorced not long afterwards and his mother later married Pensulo Mwaba, a first-aid instructor at Roan Antelope Mine's Shaft number 14 in, whose name he adopted.

When Pensulo and his mother moved to Roan Antelope Mine township to join his step father, he started playing football on the streets with other boys in the neighbourhood using tennis balls or balls made from rags, and when youth competitions were introduced between the various sections in the mine townships he began harbouring ambitions of playing for the Roan Antelope and Northern Rhodesia football teams.

Pensulo attended Central and Roan schools but only as far as what was then Standard Four, owing to lack of support from his parents so he concentrated on playing football.

In 1949 he went to stay with an aunt in Mikomfwa township and started playing for Mikomfwa Youth Team and by the time he rejoined his parents in Roan township in 1952 and joined Roan Youth Club, he was a promising young player.

Two years later, he joined Roan Antelope Amateur Football Club's second team after being recruited by the chairman Joseni Malama, who with Welfare Officer Evans, had started the team.

Pensulo got promoted to the first team In 1956 and made his debut soon after when regular players Apple Musengule and Peter Bwembya were away in Lusaka scouting for players.

Pensulo and Samuel Yaza were brought in to take their places against Kitwe Tigers and playing on the right wing, Pensulo scored three goals in an 11–1 victory.

On the strength of this showing, Pensulo and Yaza remained in the first team.

In 1960, he joined Ndola Black Follies but only spent four months there and was enticed back to Roan by Evans, who offered him a job in the mines as a Welfare Assistant.

He scored a significant goal in one of the first ever inter-racial football matches in April 1961, which not only heralded multi-racial football but also helped to usher in Zambia's independence.

A key player for Roan United, he led the club to the Zambian league title in its inaugural season in 1962 and was one of the men behind the team's fluid style of play, being involved in various coaching roles.

1962 saw the formation of the National Football League (NFL) and the two Roan clubs in Luanshya - Pensulo's which was all African and another Roan Antelope for whites were instrumental in pushing for a multi-racial football league.

The two teams decided to merge and the new club was called Roan United.

In the first season of the NFL, Pensulo earned the nickname ‘Ginger’ owing to his wing play which resembled that of Nchanga Sports winger Ginger Stevenson who had Ginger-coloured hair.

In a league match between Roan and Nchanga at Roans’ Kafubu Stadium in April 1962, Pensulo had a great game leading his team to a 4–2 victory.

After the game, Roan supporters chanted the name Ginger and bestowed it on Pensulo, in recognition of his performance.

His surname was the vernacular of the word pencil so he was also called ‘Ginger Pencil’ by white reporters who covered matches in the early years of the league.

With former Portuguese international Tony Castella as player-coach, who Pensulo later described as ‘the best coach the country ever had,’ Roan won the league championship and the Castle Cup, beating Nchanga Sports 4–3 in the final.

They however failed to win the inter-Rhodesia Castle Cup final, losing 1–0 against Bulawayo Rovers in Salisbury.

The 1962 triumph remains Roan's only title to date but their style of play won many admirers.

The following year, Roan lost the title, finishing second to Mufulira Wanderers.

Castella had been suspended indefinitely for attacking a referee and Wanderers came into their own as the dominant team in the league.

This was one of the matches that led to the formation of a multi-racial NFL in 1962 and independence from Britain followed two years later.

Pensulo and club-mate Kenny Banda became the first Zambian players to attend trials with an English side when they travelled to Second division Leeds United in October 1963 for a six-week trial after being spotted by British coaches Ian Greaves and Phil Woosnam who had coached in Northern Rhodesia earlier in the year.

The duo were however not signed and they returned home.

Regarded as one of his country's greatest players, Pensulo played for the Northern Rhodesian African national team and was selected for the Zambian team when his country gained independence in October 1964.

Pensulo stopped playing in international and cup competitions in 1968 and restricted himself to league matches.

He announced his retirement at the end of the 1970 season, as he felt he was growing old and was stepping back in order to give chance to young players.

He later stressed that it was not just that his age that had convinced him to retire from playing but also his religious conviction which had made him quit drinking and refrain from worldly things.

Although his work as a youth organizer entailed arranging recreational activities for youths, Pensulo did not like the boxing and wrestling part of it as he felt fighting was against his religion.

Newspaper stories of boxers dying in the ring had strengthened his resolve to focus on the word of God and he became a part-time lay preacher with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Luanshya.

He however returned to the pitch the following year until 1972 when he finally stopped playing.

In his time at Roan, he won the league, the Castle Cup, the Challenge Cup and the Heinrich Cup.

Pensulo grew up and began his career during a time of racial segregation and football not only helped to break racial barriers but also played a vital part in the push for independence.

There were parallel leagues for whites and blacks and as the fight for independence gained momentum, proposals were floated for inter-racial matches and one such match saw a multi-racial in which Pensulo was one of the African players invited to feature for the Roan select team against the all-white Mufulira United.

The match took place in Mufulira which was a political hotbed at the time, and was played under maximum security because ANC cadres had planned to disrupt the game.

Pensulo had a good game, scoring the only goal of the match to the applause of the predominantly white crowd and afterwards, the Mufulira manager requested him to remain behind for a surprise that turned out to be a large slice of roast pork but he was too shy to eat and ended up taking it home with him.