Long after he hung up his football boots any Zambian passing through Cairo Airport would likely be asked a simple, inevitable question. ‘Where is Shola?’ The ‘Shola’ in question was no other than the incomparable Alex Chola, aka Computer or Master Dribbler. That football followers in Egypt, one of the toughest places to gain fans respect given their passionate love of the game, still spoke about Chola long after he had hung up his boots was testament to his standing in the African game.
He was born in Lubumbashi of Zambian stock and briefly played there while in his teens. He later moved to Zambia and by the age of eighteen was signed on by Mufulira Blackpool, the second biggest team in Mufulira, and it was there that he rose to prominence. Blackpool, thanks to Chola’s uncanny skills, earned a reputation as giant-killers, giving much bigger clubs a bloody nose when they played at John Kachofa Stadium.
He was the target of all the leading clubs at he time but refused to leave the club that had given him his first break. He made his unofficial international debut at the age of eighteen when a Zambia B side played a friendly match against Brazilian club Operario in 1974. A year later, in 1975, he played his first match for the senior national team against Malawi.
When Zambia qualified to the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Chola was firmly entrenched in the national team and considered the most skillful player in a team of big stars that included Benard Chanda, Willie Phiri, and a whole host of players who could singlehandedly bring thousands of fans through the turnstiles by their mere presence. Zambia were forced to pull out of the Olympic Games as a result of an African boycott of the games so Chola missed a great opportunity to showcase his skills to a greater audience.
By 1979, after five years at Blackpool, the burden of having to carry the team on his shoulders began to wear Chola down and the fast-rising Power Dynamos team were the quickest to react. Their ambitious and high-spending benefactor Arthur Davies moved his lieutenants into action and Chola vanished in he middle of the night, resurfacing in Kitwe leaving behind an empty house and enraged Blackpool officials who vowed retribution.
His presence was the final piece in the jigsaw that elevated the Kitwe team to equal status with the likes of Nkana, Mufulira Wanderers, Kabwe Warriors, and Green Buffaloes. Alongside Peter Kaumba, and an array of glittering stars who set football alight, Chola flourished. He brought a calming influence to the midfield and allowed the team to vary the pace at which it played by pulling the strings in midfield.
He was key in Power Dynamos getting to the final of the 1982 African Cup Winners Cup final, and though they lost he earned the recognition of fans across Africa for his talent.
Chola also featured at the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations and though Zambia bowed out in the first round he won the admiration of Ghanaian fans, including a young Abedi Pele who, then 13-years-old, would go on to become a star in his own right. In 1982 Zambia came third at the Africa Cup of Nations in Libya and Chola featured in two of five matches.
In 1983, Power Dynamos took part in the invitational Rothmans Cup in Cote d’Ivoire where they successfully won the tournament. Both Alex Chola and Peter Kaumba were outstanding throughout and we’re subsequently signed on by Africa Sport, at the time, run by the Ivorian millionaire Simplice Zensou, who bankrolled the team.
Their spell there was short-lived, however, and towards the end of 1984 they returned to Power Dynamos, strengthening the team’s challenge for the league title. Within a few weeks of their arrival Kaumba was injured in a match against Kabwe Warriors that effectively ended his career while Chola’s return spurred Power Dynamos to a first-ever league title, sparking joyous celebrations in The Ndeke township adjacent to the stadium.
As Chola began to wind down his career, he was appointed player-coach and split his duties between the two roles. 1985 was a busy year for Zambian football. After the elimination from the World Cup qualifiers against Algeria, in which Chola played no part, he was recalled to the national team for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Nigeria.
There the veteran showed why he had become one of the most respected stars of the African game when he turned back the clock and gave two vintage performances that left his opponent and fans stunned. His vision, passing, and ability to get out of tight corners with some exquisite dribbling skills left the Nigerians dumbfounded. After two legs, Zambia were through to the Africa Cup in Egypt via a 1-0 aggregate score after missing out two years earlier.
After a year out of the game and fully concentrating on coaching, Chola came out of retirement for the 1987 Independence Cup final between Power Dynamos and Kabwe Warriors. In the 28th minute a tackle by Whiteson Changwe resulted in Chola breaking his leg. It would be the last time he stepped on the field as a player and thus, the career of the most talented player in Zambian football history came to an end.
He was part of the coaching staff, alongside Jim Bone and Fred Mwila when Power Dynamos made history, winning the 1991 African Cup Winners Cup against Nigeria’s BCC Lions on a 5-4 aggregate score.
In 1993, after the dismissal of Samuel Ndlovu following a loss to Madagascar in December 1992, Chola and Godfrey Chitalu were named joint-coaches to the national team. Under them, Zambian confidence was restored and the team looked strong contenders to qualify for their first-ever world cup when their plane went down off the coast of Gabon, with Chola one of the casualties, among 30 players, coaching staff, officials, air crew and one journalist killed in the crash.
Among his many achievements in the game, he was crowned footballer of the year in 1976 and Coach of the Year 1992, among the many accolades he deserved for his contribution to Zambian football
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Though he never received the acclaim he deserved on a bigger stage, he atill remains recognised for his unbelievable ball skills and vision by multitudes of fans across Africa. Football followers are yet to see a players who can match his cunning, guile and God-given football ability at the highest levels of the game.
CREDIT: Ponga Liwewe
