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Fighton Simukonda (born 2 February 1958) is a Zambian coach and former footballer. He was part of the very successful Nkana Red Devils side of the 80s, winning 5 league titles, and he also captained Zambia. As a coach, he has won several Zambian Premier League titles and became the first coach to lead a Zambian club to the group phase of the CAF Champions' League. ==Playing career== Simukonda was born in Chingola where he started his football career with Division II side Mimbula Diggers as a defender. He later moved to Diggers' town mates KB Davies FC, another Division II team. Standing at over six feet tall, he was a commanding presence in defence and in 1980, was recruited by Division I side Vitafoam United where he lined up with players like Ronald Mkandawire, Lackson Chanda, Michael Chabala and Boniface 'Killer' Chanda, The following season, Simukonda captained Vitafoam to a 2–1 Independence Cup final victory over Strike Rovers. In 1982, Vitafoam proprietor Abram Mokola decided to give some senior players the opportunity to acquire coaching skills so Simukonda was one of five who were sponsored for a coaching course in England in March of that year. His fine defensive play caught the attention of Kitwe giants who signed him soon after his return from England and Vitafoam claimed he had breached his contract with them. The contract dispute kept him out of action for almost four months until the two teams agreed a compensation package. He had hardly joined Nkana when head coach Moses Simwala was suspended so Simukonda took charge of the team but he informed the club's management that while he was equal to the task, he was still an active player so Nkana great Stone Chibwe was brought in to hold fort. An astute defender who perfected a tackle called the 'Chitemene system' after the slash and burn method of preparing fields in Northern Zambia, Simukonda won his first league title with Nkana going unbeaten the whole season and would go on to win four more in 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1988. In the 1989 season, Nkana made it to the final of the Heroes and Unity Cup which was to be played at their home ground Nkana Stadium against Green Buffaloes on 9 July 1989. It seemed like an unfair advantage but Buffaloes were equal to the task and stunned the home side 1–0 via a late goal after Simukonda's mistake led to Christopher Chileshe's fierce drive which Nkana goalkeeper Dick Shonga failed to hold on to, allowing Donald Chandalala to stab the ball home.〔Banda, Mann. "Buffaloes are 'heroes'". ''Sunday Times of Zambia,'' 10 July 1989, p. 10〕 The Nkana team were so devastated by the loss of a game they had been expected to win that they collected their loser's medals and headed straight to the dressing rooms. Unfortunately, this was interpreted as refusing to sing the national anthem so six of them were suspended, including Simukonda. Simukonda explained afterwards "We did not refuse to sing the national anthem, we were just misunderstood. The dais was mounted near our dressing room so after collecting our losers' medals, we went straight to the dressing room to mourn our frustrations which authorities interpreted as refusing to sing the national anthem."〔 While still serving the ban, Simukonda left the country to ply his trade in South Africa, becoming the third Zambian player after Albert Bwalya and John Mwanza to play in the ostracised country due to apartheid, which also meant that he did not need an international clearance. He played for Jomo Cosmos for two years and then moved to Blackpool where he stayed for a season before joining Nelspruit-based Dangerous Darkies and played for them for a season and then ended his playing career. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fighton Simukonda」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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