Boniface Simutowe
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 13 October 1949 | ||
| Place of birth | Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia | ||
| Height | 5'5" | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1958–1965 | Roan Youth Team | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966 | Roan United | ||
| 1967–1975 | Broken Hill Warriors | ||
| 1975–1979 | Red Arrows | ||
| National team | |||
| 1967–1978 | Zambia | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| 1975–1986 | Red Arrows | ||
| 1989–2005 | Profund Warriors | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
|||
Boniface Simutowe (born 13 October 1949 and deceased 23 December 2014) was one of Zambia's greatest midfielders who also had a long career as a coach. He was the first footballer to be named Zambian Footballer of the Year and Sportsman of the Year in the same season and was part of the great Kabwe Warriors side that swept all the silverware on offer in 1972. He later took to coaching and was involved with the national team for several years.
Simutowe was born in Luanshya where his father Kenan was a miner. He was the second born in a family of twelve, 8 of which were boys who all played soccer. He grew up in Roan Township and went to Makoma Primary School after which he began his career under Bennie Evans' Roan Youth Team in 1958 along with future Zambian internationals Sandy Kaposa, Happy Malama and Henry Kasongo. Simutowe made his debut for Roan while he was still a schoolboy at Roan Trust School in 1966, and he played regularly alongside players like Ginger Pensulo, Fordson Kabole, Emmanuel Mwape, Ken Banda and Kaposa.
Simutowe won his first piece of silverware at the age of 17 when Roan beat Rokana United 2–1 to win the Heinrich Cup before being lured to Broken Hill Warriors (now Kabwe Warriors together with Kaposa by his cousin, former Roan player Dyson Mugala in January 1967. Simutowe's and Kaposa's move to Broken Hill was controversial with Roan reporting Warriors to the Zambian National Football League (NFL) for featuring the two in a friendly match against City of Lusaka in January 1967 despite them still being on the books of Roan who contended that the duo had signed professional contracts which would only expire after the 1968 season. Warriors' response was that Simutowe and Kaposa were amateurs who only required club clearances. Roan were not prepared to release the duo and warned that if Simutowe was admitted to the Broken Hill Railways (Warriors' sponsors) School as a trainee, he would either travel to Luanshya for NFL fixtures or 'watch the game from the touchline.' When all attempts to persuade the duo to return to Luanshya failed, Roan agreed to a double transfer for a reported of only £100 each which would prove to be the most astute signing by Warriors and was called their transfer deal of the decade.
At Warriors, Simutowe came into his own, cementing a regular place despite still being a teenager. He won the Castle Cup with Warriors that same year with a 1–0 victory over his former club. The following season, Warriors won the league title for the first time in their history. Simutowe, who was constantly in trouble with referees played primarily as a midfielder but he could play all forward positions.
...
Wikipedia