Patrick Phiri
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 3 May 1956 | ||
| Place of birth | Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1974 | Buseko FC | ||
| 1974–1975 | Rokana United | (21) | |
| 1975–1986 | Red Arrows | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| 1986–1991 | Red Arrows | ||
| 1992–1994 | Ndeke Rangers | ||
| 1995–1997 | Lusaka Dynamos | ||
| 1997 | Mochudi Centre Chiefs | ||
| 1997–2002 | Nkana F.C. | ||
| 2002–2003 | Zambia | ||
| 2003–2005 | Simba | ||
| 2006–2008 | Zambia | ||
| 2008–2011 | Simba | ||
| 2012 | NAPSA Stars | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Patrick Phiri (born 3 May 1956) is a Zambian football coach and former footballer. He featured for Zambian clubs Rokana United (now Nkana F.C.) and Red Arrows as a striker and represented Zambia at the 1978 and 1982 African Cup of Nations tournaments. As a coach, Phiri led the Zambia U-20 national team to its first ever appearance at the World Youth Cup in Nigeria in 1997 and was voted Zambian Coach of the year in 1999. He was also in charge of Zambia at the 2008 African Cup of Nations tournament in Ghana and is currently managing Green Buffaloes Football Club (GBFC) in the Zambian Premier League.
Phiri was born in Luanshya's Mpatamatu township where his father Ackson Phiri was a miner. He was the fifth born in a family of three boys and four girls and went to Mpatamatu and Mwaiseni Primary Schools and later attended Mpatamatu Secondary. Not only was he a keen student but he excelled on the football pitch as well.
While still at primary school and barely into his teens, Phiri began following his two elder brothers to training sessions at Luanshya amateur side Buseko FC. At times, he would be asked to join in the sessions to make up the numbers. He was too young to play for the team in actual matches but the exposure at an early age made him superior when he faced his age-mates. Phiri began featuring for Buseko in 1973 and stayed with the team for two seasons until he was lured to Division I side Rokana United in 1974 by Zambian international star Bernard 'Bomber' Chanda, who also started his career at Buseko and at the time was courting Phiri's immediate elder sister Louisa whom he ended up marrying.
After a spell in the reserves, Phiri was promoted to the first team the following year and he made an immediate impact, more than holding his own among players like Chanda, Stone Chibwe, Brighton Sinyangwe, Moses Simwala and Mark Masumbuko. Sporting an afro hair-style like his brother-in-law, the teenager was Rokana's top scorer with 21 goals. One of the highlights of his season was a brace against Mufulira Wanderers in a 3–0 victory at Rokana's home ground Scrivener Stadium.
The skilful forward caught the eye of second division football club Zambia Air Force (ZAF) Football Club who enticed him to join them towards the end of the season, together with other Rokana players Johnston Katowando, Shadreck Chungu, and Bernard 'Tools' Mutale who had moved earlier in July. This caused some friction between the two clubs, but it proved to be a shrewd move as the team clinched the Division II title and won promotion to the top league.
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