Howard Mwikuta: Difference between revisions

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| caption        = Howard Mwikuta in March 1967
| caption        = Howard Mwikuta in March 1967
| birth_date    = {{birth date|df=yes|1941|6|20}}
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{{Featured article}}
'''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>


==Playing career==
==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.