Tolomeo Mwansa
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1941 | ||
| Place of birth | Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia | ||
| Date of death | 4 July 2014 (aged 73) | ||
| Place of death | Samfya, Zambia | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1960–1972 | Mufulira Wanderers | ||
| National team | |||
| 1964–1969 | Zambia | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Tolomeo Mwansa (1941 - 4 July 2014) was Zambia’s goalkeeper at independence in October 1964. Nicknamed ‘Juva,’ he won several trophies in a very successful career with the all-conquering ‘Mighty’ Mufulira Wanderers including the 1965 Super Castle Cup against City Wanderers in Salisbury.
Mwansa was born in 1941 in Kitwe and played football on the streets as a boy before taking it up seriously at Luanshimba School in 1956. When his father retired from the mine in Kitwe, the family moved to Mufulira in 1959 and the following year, Mwansa joined Mufulira Mine Team whose name changed to Mufulira Wanderers in 1962 when the Zambian National Football League (NFL) was formed.
He kept goal for the dominant Wanderers side of the ‘60s and played alongside players like Samuel ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu, Penius ‘Kapenta’ Chirwa, Joseph ‘Kanono’ Musonda, Dickson ‘Barb-Wire’ Makwaza, George ‘Wikolo’ Sikazwe, Patrick ‘Whiskey’ Nkole, Ken Simwanza, Bedford ‘Mayo,’ Kaputo, Willie ‘Orlando’ Kunda and Elijah ‘Kapilipili’ Mwale.
Tall and powerfully built, Mwansa was an imposing figure to many opponents and was also known for showboating. He was in the Wanderers team that won its first league championship in 1963 and would go on to win 4 more league titles including three in a row in 1965-1967. Often turning up with a clean-shaven head on match day, the giant goalkeeper was also in goal when Wanderers won the Super Castle Cup by beating City Wanderers of Southern Rhodesia 4-3 in October 1965.
Mwansa was first selected for the national team in July 1964 when Zambia affiliated to both FIFA and CAF and travelled to Malawi for the Mufulu Cup which featured Tanzania and Malawi and was in goal as Zambia beat Tanzania 3-0 and the hosts 5-0.
Mwansa also featured in the Saba Saba tournament in Tanzania in July 1967 though he did not see much action after this as Happy Malama was the preferred goalkeeper by national team coaches, relegating Mwansa to a reserve role. He made a return when Zambia met Cameroon for a place at CAN 1970 with Zambia drawing 2-2 at home in June 1969 and going out after a 2-1 defeat in Yaoundé on 3 August 1969 in a match where Zambia scored first through Godfrey Chitalu and conceded an equalizer by Confiance Moukoko in the 56th minute. Cameroun’s winning goal was conceded when Mwansa, in retrieving a ball which was going out for a goal kick collided with a Cameroonian attacker and a penalty was awarded in the 75th minute which sent Zambia packing.
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