Samuel Ndhlovu - Playing Career

Playing Career

By 1959, Ndhlovu was co-opted into the welfare section of mine community development as a club organizer and it was in the same year that he found his feet and became a lynchpin at Wanderers. He earned the nickname "Zoom" when a Wanderers fan who could not fathom how easily he dribbled past defenders started calling him ‘Sumu’ instead of ‘Sam.’ This eventually changed to "Zoom" which would become one of the most famous nicknames in Zambian soccer history. It virtually became part of his name with many referring to him simply as ‘Zoom Ndhlovu’.

Ndhlovu experienced segregation in pre-colonial Northern Rhodesia where two leagues ran side by side – one for whites and one for the Africans. He was the ultimate entertainer for his skill on the ball, close control and deadly shooting were a marvel to witness and few Zambian soccer fans could claim to have never heard of the name "Zoom".

In 1960 he became Wanderers’ captain and after missing out on the inaugural Zambian National Football League championship of 1962 which was won by Roan United, Wanderers won the title the following year.

Ndhlovu’s eye-catching performances in the number 10 shirt for both Wanderers and Zambia made him very popular throughout the country and he was rewarded with the Zambian Sportsman of the Year award for 1964.

In 1965 Wanderers defeated City of Lusaka 5-2 in the Castle Cup final and this qualified them to meet the Castle Cup winners from Southern Rhodesia in the Inter-Rhodesia Castle Cup final. Apart from the prize money of £590, the match carried extra motivation as no Zambian club had won it before and a decision had been taken to do away with the cup by having one last final, after which the winners would keep the trophy for good.

Wanderers crossed the Zambezi River to square off with City Wanderers on 17 October 1965 at Glamis Stadium in Salisbury. The final turned out to be one of the most famous matches in Zambian football history as the Mighty men lined up before a racially segregated crowd of 18,000. The Zambians took the lead with two quick goals from Willie Kunda and Elijah Mwale but City pulled a goal back through striker Kenneth Makoni. Man of the match Ndhlovu put Wanderers further ahead to leave the scores 3-1 at the break. Wanderers then allowed City back into the game when goals by captain Alan Hlathwayo and Richard Chimiya tied the score line and with extra-time looming, Mwale cut in from the left to score a late and historic winner for a final score of 4-3. Ndhlovu called winning the Super Castle Cup was one of the greatest moments of his career.

On 1 June 1966, a benefit match between Wanderers and Kitwe Sports was held in Kitwe to honour Ndhlovu’s ten years in football and he scored in the 1-1 draw. Later that month, he travelled to England for six weeks to watch the World Cup after which he attended an English FA coaching course in Durham and also trained with English First Division club Blackpool. Later that year, Wanderers retained the Castle Cup with another extra-time win over Kabwe Warriors after coming from behind twice. He scored the goal that tied the game at 3-3 and took it into extra time, and the fifth goal in a 5-3 victory in a match where Warriors curiously wore shirts with no numbers.

Ndlhovu had a chance to play professional football in 1967 after former Wanderers coach Doug Sammons arranged a stint for him with Atlanta Chiefs in the United States, together with Howard Mwikuta, Freddie Mwila and Emment Kapengwe but he turned down the opportunity to concentrate on developing the game in Zambia, and also due to uncertainty over the legality of the league. As a consequence, the other three became Zambia’s first professionals abroad and Chiefs manager Phil Woosnam expressed his disappointment that Ndhlovu would not get to showcase his skills in the newly formed PSL, after drawing coast-to-coast press notices as a result of careful feeding by Woosnam and his publicity department.

For such a talented player whose career spanned three decades - from the 1950s to the 70s - it was not surprising that he would go on to become the most honoured performer of his generation, making Wanderers the ‘winningest team’ in Zambian club soccer, and in the process climbing the rostrum to receive honours far more times than any other player.

With Ndhlovu as captain, Wanderers won the Zambian league championship in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1969 and numerous cup competitions and earned the tag ‘legendary cup fighters.’

Ndhlovu’s popularity was such that he was featured on adverts for various products and on 25 October 1973, he was bestowed with the Insignia of Honour by President Kenneth Kaunda for his service to Zambian football, the first footballer to get such an award.

Ndhlovu was still playing for Wanderers in 1975 as player-coach, scoring in a 1-1 draw with Uganda’s Express in the East and Central Africa Club championship in Kampala though he did not feature much in Wanderers line-up after that. In September of that same year the Wanderers maestro made another appearance when his experience was called upon in the African Club Champions cup quarter-final against Tonnerre Yaounde of Cameroun but his presence did not help as Wanderers lost the first leg 1-0 on a goal by Roger Milla in Yaounde and were eliminated 3-2 on aggregate.

After a long career spanning three decades, Ndhlovu finally called time on his career and concentrated on coaching.