Willie Kunda
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Kunda | ||
| Date of birth | 1945 | ||
| Place of birth | Mufulira, Northern Rhodesia | ||
| Date of death | 15 December 2007 (aged 61–62) | ||
| Place of death | Mansa, Zambia | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1960–1962 | Lubuto Welfare Centre | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1962–1966 | Mufulira Wanderers | ||
| National team | |||
| 1964–1966 | Zambia | 6 | (8) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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William ‘Willie’ Kunda (1945 – 15 December 2007) was a Zambian footballer who represented Zambia and Mufulira Wanderers as a Striker in the mid-sixties. During a brief but prolific career, Kunda won several trophies with Wanderers until his career was prematurely ended by injury in 1966.
Kunda was born in Mufulira where his father Thomas Chipayeni worked as a miner and had also played football for Mufulira Tigers, now known as Mufulira Blackpool. He was the first born in the family and his immediate younger brother Thomas Bwalya would also go on to feature for both Wanderers and the national team.
He began playing football in Section 5 of the Mine township and also played for his school Buyantanshi Primary. He later proceeded to Kantanshi Secondary School where he featured for the school team and came to the attention of Mufulira Wanderers’ scouting system leading to him joining Wanderers’ reserve side in 1962.
Kunda made his debut for Wanderers’ senior team as a right winger in the 1963 season at the age of 17, joining an already formidable front line made up of players like Samuel ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu, Ron Jervis, Elijah Mwale, Laurent Chishala and Ken Simwanza as Wanderers unseated Zambian National Football League champions Roan United to take the title to Shinde Stadium at the end of the season.
Due to his clinical finishing, Kunda who was still in secondary school, was soon entrusted with the centre-forward position and did not disappoint as he became Wanderers leading scorer and though Wanderers lost the 1964 championship to City of Lusaka, they reclaimed it in 1965 and added the Heinrich Cup, the Castle Cup and the Inter-Rhodesia Castle Cup, and just missed out on the Challenge Cup in an unprecedented trophy haul. Wanderers’ fans loved their young striker and nicknamed him ‘Orlando,’ though Kunda later admitted that he had no idea about the origins of the name.
The following season, Kunda started off well and was once again Wanderers’ leading scorer but in June 1966, Wanderers hosted Kabwe United in a league match at Shinde stadium. His hat-trick had given Wanderers a 3-1 lead and as they pushed on for more goals, Kunda and Ken Simwanza collided in trying to head the same ball. Kunda came off worse and was stretchered off the pitch after suffering a broken nose. He bled profusely from the nose and this continued long after so doctors advised him to quit playing football.
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