Roan United F.C.
| Full name | Roan United Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Stylish |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Ground | Kafubu Stadium, Luanshya |
| Capacity | 8,000 |
| Manager | Kaunda Simonda |
| League | MTN/FAZ Super Division |
| 2013 | 9th |
Roan United is a Zambian football club based in Luanshya. The club is a current member of the Zambian Premier League although they were most successful during the early years of Zambian football. Indeed, they were the inaugural winners of the ZPL, clinching what was then called the Northern Rhodesia National Football League in 1962. They play their home matches at Kafubu Stadium.
The earliest organised African mine soccer team was formed in the early 1930s shortly after the opening of the Roan Antelope Copper Mine. This team was a merger of tribal teams that played gruesome non-league soccer games that were often concluded with fist battles to define which of the tribes was superior to the others. Ben Evans, the European Welfare Officer in charge of African Affairs was behind this merger. In 1935 Roan Mine was affiliated to the Copperbelt African Football Association which was divided into three leagues (A, B and C). They competed against Chingola Eleven Wisemen, Luanshya All Blacks, Kitwe Lions, Rhokana Mine, Ndola Black Follies and Mufulira Blackpool.
Roan Mine FC also excelled in the Colony Cup and the Chamber of Mines competitions, the only silverware of the time alongside the CAFA league.
During the colour bar (Northern Rhodesia equivalence of the apartheid system) there existed an all European side Roan Antelope Callies FC which played in the Congo Rhodesia Border Football Association and its successor Northern Rhodesia Football Association. They used Roan Soccer Field at mine recreation club.
The two Roan teams were instrumental in pushing for multi-racial participation in soccer and the championining of a national football league. In 1961 a select side from both teams challenged an all European side Mufulira United to a friendly game and won 1-0. An African player Ginger Pensulo scored the lone goal.
In 1962 Roan Antelope United FC was born. The same year the National Football League was inaugurated with Roan's player-coach Ron Patterson as its first chairman.
At the birth of Roan Antelope United were such great African stars as Innocent ‘Mummy’ Malama, Dick Katongo, James Temani, Ginger Pensulo, Kenny Banda, Augustine ‘Baba Gasto’ Bwalya, Happy George Banda, Apro Musengule, Fix Kalunga, Laskey Mwandu, Gibson Nkumba and Samuel Yasa.1
From Roan Antelope Callies came Ron Patterson (the first NFL chairman), Frank Petler, John Flintham, Teddy Byle, John Dismuss and one unique big catch -Tony Castella. Castella was a former Portuguese international star that had played in the 1958 World Cup series alongside the legendary Mozambican Eusebio.2
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