41 Facts About Freddie Mwila

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

Freddie 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 and moved to Kitwe in 1952 when his grandfather decided to move him to the Copperbelt so that he could start school.

Freddie Mwila 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.

Freddie Mwila 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.

Freddie 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.

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

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

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

That same year, Freddie 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.

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

Freddie 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.

Freddie Mwila played against several European sides, among them, Manchester City and Aston Villa.

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

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

The fearless Freddie Mwila added, 'if this kind of behaviour by our selectors continues, I am prepared to be dropped from the national team.

In 1971, Freddie Mwila returned to Atlanta in March 1971 to complete the two-year contract he had signed in 1968, fearing that if he objected, the club would take action against him since he was still regarded as their player.

The outspoken Freddie Mwila accused the FAZ of standing in his way by not giving him an international clearance to rejoin Chiefs.

Freddie Mwila stated that he was happy to be back home but was disappointed with the FAZ.

Freddie Mwila was unhappy with comments attributed to FAZ Secretary General Ernest Mate that the players did not achieve anything from their overseas trips, for each time they came back to Zambia they failed lamentably to cope with the standard of football.

Freddie Mwila featured at Zambia's first ever CAN appearance in Egypt where Zambia lost the final to Zaire after a replay and after the tournament quit playing for the national team because he felt he had reached retirement age.

Freddie Mwila is one of Zambia's highest scoring midfielders with 15 goals in full international matches.

Freddie Mwila served as Rhokana player-coach and moved to Ndola United in 1973 in the same capacity.

Freddie Mwila served as assistant coach during the short-lived reign of Teddy Virba as national team coach.

Freddie Mwila was recruited by Zambia Police side Nkwazi at the beginning of the following year but was sidelined after 6 months when players accused him of ill-treating them and handling them like small children.

Freddie Mwila allegedly denounced players in the team as 'too old.

Freddie Mwila countered that when he went to Nkwazi, he was told that he would build a team in three years but things changed and the officials wanted instant success.

Freddie Mwila's response was that there was no rank in football and that he was simply telling the truth when he told the players that they needed new blood to rejuvenate the team.

Freddie Mwila spent seven years at Dynamos and won an impressive collection of silverware with the Kitwe club.

Freddie Mwila completed two refresher coaching courses at English side Tottenham Hotspur in 1981 and 1983.

Freddie Mwila resigned and Chola did take over although Power surrendered the title to bitter rivals Nkana Red Devils and the Champion of Champions trophy to Wanderers.

Freddie Mwila was part of Zambia's coaching bench during the President's Cup in South Korea but for undisclosed reasons, was sidelined after that and he missed the Seoul Olympics as a result.

In February 1990, Freddie Mwila was appointed coach of Zambia's 'B' team which was constituted to compete in the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference Cup as the main team was in action CAN 1990 in Algeria.

Five years after leaving Dynamos, Freddie Mwila returned as coach amid reports of some players boycotting training upon hearing the news.

Undeterred, Freddie Mwila got on with the job with Jim Bone as Technical Advisor and Chola as his assistant.

Freddie Mwila was one of the assistant coaches at CAN 1992 in Senegal where Zambia lost in the quarterfinals to eventual winners Ivory Coast.

Freddie Mwila said he would miss Dynamos but was happy that he was parting with the club on an amicable note and at a time when it was at its peak.

Later in the year, Freddie Mwila was appointed Botswana national team coach and when the national team perished in the Gabon Disaster in April 1993, Freddie Mwila was called upon to mould the new team and he obliged after seeking permission from his employers Botswana Football Association.

Freddie Mwila coached Qwa Qwa Stars in South Africa later in 1997 and returned home to coach Zanaco FC in 1998, staying with them for two seasons before being engaged by Lusaka Dynamos in 2000.

Freddie Mwila has not been actively involved in football since then.

Freddie Mwila has settled in Lusaka and has been trying his hand at farming.

Freddie Mwila made an appearance on Zambian television as part of the panel of analysts analysing games during the 2012 African Cup of Nations tournament which saw Zambia win their first Africa Cup of Nations trophy.