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| name = Howard Mwikuta | | name = Howard Mwikuta | ||
| image = Howard Mwikuta in March 1967.jpg | | image = Howard Mwikuta in March 1967.jpg | ||
| caption = Howard Mwikuta in March 1967 | | caption = Howard Mwikuta in March 1967 | ||
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'''Howard Mwikuta''' (20 June 1941 – 26 February 1988) was a Zambian footballer and coach who featured in the first Zambian national team at independence in October 1964. He was named Zambian captain in 1966 and at the end of the season was voted Zambian Sportsman of the Year. Mwikuta was one of the first Zambians to play professional football abroad when he signed for American club Atlanta Chiefs in 1967, together with [[Emment Kapengwe]] and [[Freddie Mwila]]. He became the first African to play in the NFL when he featured for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970 pre-season as a placekicker.<ref name="Ford2014">{{cite book|author=Mark L. Ford|title=A History of NFL Preseason and Exhibition Games: 1960 to 1985|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIGtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA112|date=24 September 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-3891-6|pages=112–}}</ref><ref name="Company1970">{{cite book|author=Johnson Publishing Company|title=Jet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56|date=20 August 1970|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|pages=56–|issn=0021-5996}}</ref> | '''Howard Mwikuta''' (20 June 1941 – 26 February 1988) was a Zambian footballer and coach who featured in the first Zambian national team at independence in October 1964. He was named Zambian captain in 1966 and at the end of the season was voted Zambian Sportsman of the Year. Mwikuta was one of the first Zambians to play professional football abroad when he signed for American club Atlanta Chiefs in 1967, together with [[Emment Kapengwe]] and [[Freddie Mwila]]. He became the first African to play in the NFL when he featured for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970 pre-season as a placekicker.<ref name="Ford2014">{{cite book|author=Mark L. Ford|title=A History of NFL Preseason and Exhibition Games: 1960 to 1985|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIGtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA112|date=24 September 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-3891-6|pages=112–}}</ref><ref name="Company1970">{{cite book|author=Johnson Publishing Company|title=Jet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56|date=20 August 1970|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|pages=56–|issn=0021-5996}}</ref> | ||
== | ==Early life== | ||
Mwikuta was born in [[Ndola]] on 20 June 1941 and was brought up by his elder brother after losing both parents at the age of two. He went to Chimoto and Fiwale Mission Schools for his primary education before moving to Bancroft ([[Chililabombwe]]) in 1957 where he joined the mine. He first played schools football and then joined Bancroft Blades, graduating to the first team by 1958 as a full-back or half-back. In the same season, he was chosen to represent the Rest of [[Northern Rhodesia]] against Katanga in Elizabethville in Congo and from then on was a permanent fixture in the Northern Rhodesian or Zambian sides.<ref name="america here we come">Anon. "America Here We Come – Howard Mwikuta, Captain of Zambia and Broken Hill Warriors" ''Times of Zambia'', 11 January, p.10</ref> | Mwikuta was born in [[Ndola]] on 20 June 1941 and was brought up by his elder brother after losing both parents at the age of two. He went to Chimoto and Fiwale Mission Schools for his primary education before moving to Bancroft ([[Chililabombwe]]) in 1957 where he joined the mine. He first played schools football and then joined Bancroft Blades, graduating to the first team by 1958 as a full-back or half-back. In the same season, he was chosen to represent the Rest of [[Northern Rhodesia]] against Katanga in Elizabethville in Congo and from then on was a permanent fixture in the Northern Rhodesian or Zambian sides.<ref name="america here we come">Anon. "America Here We Come – Howard Mwikuta, Captain of Zambia and Broken Hill Warriors" ''Times of Zambia'', 11 January, p.10</ref> | ||
==Football career== | |||
The determined tackler was part of the first team that played under the name Zambia, winning the Mufulu (Freedom) Cup in Malawi in July 1964 with wins over Tanganyika (Tanzania) and the hosts. He also featured in the Zambian team that hosted Kenya, Uganda and Ghana during Zambia's independence celebrations in October of the same year. | The determined tackler was part of the first team that played under the name Zambia, winning the Mufulu (Freedom) Cup in Malawi in July 1964 with wins over Tanganyika (Tanzania) and the hosts. He also featured in the Zambian team that hosted Kenya, Uganda and Ghana during Zambia's independence celebrations in October of the same year. | ||
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<ref>Liwena, Ridgeway "Our Ambassador in Atlanta – Zambia's Mwikuta is the hero of young American footballers," ''Times of Zambia'', 1 October 1969 p.13</ref> Mwikuta would later spend most of his time coaching in local schools and around the state of Georgia. He also conducted clinics for referees and linesmen and attended a mass Boy Scout Jamboree at Pine Mountain where he lectured on soccer and Zambia.<ref>Anon, "Mwikuta turns hand to coaching" ''Times of Zambia'', 16 May 1968 p.12</ref> | <ref>Liwena, Ridgeway "Our Ambassador in Atlanta – Zambia's Mwikuta is the hero of young American footballers," ''Times of Zambia'', 1 October 1969 p.13</ref> Mwikuta would later spend most of his time coaching in local schools and around the state of Georgia. He also conducted clinics for referees and linesmen and attended a mass Boy Scout Jamboree at Pine Mountain where he lectured on soccer and Zambia.<ref>Anon, "Mwikuta turns hand to coaching" ''Times of Zambia'', 16 May 1968 p.12</ref> | ||
In 1969, he signed with | In 1969, he signed with Dallas Tornado for two seasons (69–70) before trying his hand at American Football with the Dallas Cowboys and became the first African to feature in the NFL when he appeared in the 1970 pre-season. However, he was released before the regular season began.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth326464/m1/4/|title=Trio of Kickers Gets 'Poke Axe|date=4 September 1970|publisher=The North Texas Daily|accessdate=13 October 2016}}</ref> Howard Mwikuta coached the Men's Varsity Soccer Team at SMU from 1974 to 1979. Because of his contribution to community work and the development of youth in the US, Mwikuta met at the White House US President Jimmy Carter.<ref name=rock>Anon. "Deaths Rock Zambian Sport," ''Zambia Daily Mail,'' 27 February 1988, p.8</ref> He eventually completed his studies with degrees in physical education and soccer coaching and came back to Zambia after a 12 year absence. Mwikuta settled in Zaire (now Congo DR) where he began coaching Tshikuku United in Shaba Province. | ||
==Death== | ==Death== | ||
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[[Category:1941 births]] | [[Category:1941 births]] | ||
[[Category:1988 deaths]] | [[Category:1988 deaths]] | ||
[[Category:Zambian footballers]] | [[Category:Zambian footballers]] | ||
[[Category:Zambia international footballers]] | [[Category:Zambia international footballers]] | ||
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[[Category:Zambian expatriates in the United States]] | [[Category:Zambian expatriates in the United States]] | ||
[[Category:Zambian expatriate footballers]] | [[Category:Zambian expatriate footballers]] | ||
[[Category:Zambian players of American football]] | [[Category:Zambian players of American football]] | ||
[[Category:People of Zambia]] | [[Category:People of Zambia]] | ||
