Freddie Mwila

Freddie Mwila (born 6 July 1946) is a Zambian former association football player and coach.

Mwila was born in Kasama and was raised by his grandparents because his father Dismas Chilufya and mother Senefa Chola were working in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and moved to Kitwe in 1952 when his grandfather decided to move him to the Copperbelt so that he could start school.

In 1954, he started school at Danbar Primary School, where the heavy industrial area in Kitwe stands today.

He later moved to Buseko Primary School where Mwila was involved, like many other young boys on the Copperbelt, in playing football in the townships where nothing but buttons were at stake.

He left Buseko to continue his schooling at Mindolo Primary School where his teachers, without realising the potential he had for football, made him play other sports like boxing, until he left for Kalela School in Wusakile Mine township.

Mwila continued playing football at Kalela and was very keen on watching soccer matches at Scrivener Stadium, where he managed to be present at almost every game through being a ball-boy.

The young Mwila joined Wusakile Youth Club where he witnessed the formation of an under–five-feet team of which he was made captain.

They played a similar team from Luanshya nearly every month and this was how he came into contact with players like Boniface Simutowe, Sandy Kaposa and Simon Kapende.

They also played against teams from other Copperbelt towns.

In 1961, the team travelled to Bulawayo where they lost one game and drew the other.

Mwila also had an opportunity to visit his parents, and on his return from Bulawayo, he moved to Kitwe Main School to complete his primary education.

During this time, he also devoted many hours to playing football.

He played inside-left for the school team.

Mwila qualified for secondary education and went to Luanshimba School in 1964, and while a student there, he frequented Scrivener Stadium and trained regularly in the company of Edward Kalale, Lazarus Musumali, Eric Chekoloko, Isaac Musakanya and Simon Chande, players that coach White had brought in to rejuvenate the team.

He also struck up a very good partnership with Henry Kalimukwa and developed into a creative midfielder who could pass and score goals.

The left-footed Mwila worked hard in the reserve side and made it into the first team in 1965.

That same year, Mwila left school to join Rothmans of Pall mall as a trainee salesman and in 1966, the company organised a course in salesmanship at Nairobi's New Era College for six months.

While there he played for the Abaluya F.C. and he read in the papers that four Zambians Howard Mwikuta, Emment Kapengwe, Samuel "Zoom" Ndhlovu and Mwila himself had been picked by British coach Phil Woosnam to go and play in the professional league in America, with the Atlanta Chiefs.

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 came back to Zambia in January 1967 to prepare for the journey to the US.

Mwila, Kapengwe and Mwikuta left Zambia for America on 23 February 1967 where they underwent a two-month trial and were signed.

Mwila returned to Zambia at the end of the season in October 1967, and returned to Atlanta for the 1968 season and won the league.

He also played against several European sides, among them, Manchester City and Aston Villa.

On 27 May 1968, the 21-year-old Mwila scored the winning goal in a stunning 3–2 upset of the English champions City.

He scored twice on the night, before a crowd of 23,141, the largest ever to witness a soccer game in Atlanta Stadium.

It sounded like sour grapes when City coach Malcolm Allison described Chief's play as worse than 'fourth division standard,' and that Mwila was offside.

"They couldn't play in the fourth division in England," he said.

"The kid who kicked the last goal was offside by at least four yards. The officials just didn't catch it. There's nothing you can do about it.

Three weeks later, Chiefs handed City their second straight whipping before an even bigger crowd of 25,856 and Mwila was on target again but this time from the penalty spot in a 2–1 win and Motaung grabbed the other as if to prove that Chiefs were good enough to play against the best and win.

The Zambians also played in a friendly match played against Brazilian side Santos, which featured Pelé.

It was during such encounters that Tommy Docherty, then Manager of English Division II side Aston Villa, saw the two Zambians in action and signed them on.

They arrived in Birmingham in August 1969 and signed for Villa for two years.

There, they met Brian Tiler, who would later coach the Zambia national team.

Kapengwe made three football league appearances and Mwila featured only once, becoming the second and third black players to play for Villa and the first Zambians to play in England.

Unfortunately, results were not very good and Villa were relegated to the third division.

Docherty left the team and the duo decided to come back home after 9 months with Villa.

The duo had attended a two-week coaching course in Lilleshall coaching school in 1969.

Upon their return, Mwila was appointed Zambian player-coach for the 3 match series against French club Racing Club de Strasbourg in June 1970 for the Peter Stuyvesant trophy, making him the youngest coach to take charge of the Zambia national team eight days before his 24th birthday, albeit in matches which were not full internationals.

Both Mwila and team manager Donald Musumali warned would-be interferers that they were 'intimidation-proof' and would not be pushed around, as they knew their responsibilities very well.

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.