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Danisa Masuku
“The late former President Canaan Banana owned State House Tornados and he loved my goalkeeping style. He sent his emissaries to lure me to join his club and I did not hesitate. I quickly headed to the capital.”
These are the words of former footballer Francis Chigwida who joined Banana owned side State House Tornados FC at the age of 18 in 1986.
At the time of his arrival he played alongside John Phiri, David Mwanza, Forbes Ndaba, Mpumelelo Dzowa, Fanuel Alberto and Godfrey Paradza, among others. He says Japhet Mparutsa was the senior goal keeper.
Chigwida pays credit to Japhet “Short cat” Muparutsa for mentoring him.
“I was the youngest goalkeeper when I joined State House Toenadoes. As such I had little experience for Premier Soccer League. I was lucky to land on the safe hands of Muparutsa who quickly took me through the learning ropes and imparted goalkeeping techniques that helped me in becoming the regular goalkeeper after he hung the boots,” he recalls.
He says his stay at the side was a sweet one as the owner of the club appreciated his talent.
“When I joined the side I negotiated for a better salary and later on the club owner paid for a course that I was pursuing,” he says.
Chigwida says he was born a goalkeeper. “Goalkeeping was my passion since I started playing soccer and that enabled me to execute myself well in between the sticks.”
He went: “To be selected into the first team was not easy because the competition was stiff, as such I had to train twice a day to beat competition that was posed by the veterans Mparutsa and Alberto.”
The coaches changed but he remained the same Chigwida, a trusted goal minder in between the sticks.
“Every coach has his own ideas. Peter Nyama was very keen on working on the tactical order in every session, with the emphasis on being united on the pitch. I also went through the hands of Mike Mhlanga who emphasised on box to box type of play. The good thing about it is that I fit into their philosophy,” he said.
He says his worst game was when his side lost to Dynamos FC.
“My worst game was when our side lost to Dynamos. In that match Dynamos’ former captain Memory Mucherahohwa dribbled me and left me lying on the ground. He scored a goal that put them in the lead and the match ended like that”, he says.
But on the brighter side his memorable match was when his side beat Caps United and he scored the winning goal.
“I was usually part of the penalty takers, as such I was asked to take the penalty and scored the winning goal and I was crowned the Man of the Match for the sterling performance,” he said.
He says his favourite ground was Gwanzura Stadium. Among the players that gave him a headache was former Dynamos captain Mucherahohwa. After showing great acumenship at club level, Chigwida received a national team call-up but unfortunately he suffered a knee injury that cut short his promising career.
“In a tussle for a ball I clashed with a Gweru United defender and my knee shifted to the left side, the doctors told me to stop playing soccer and I had to heed the advice. It was a blow to my career as I had received a national team call-up,” he said.
After quitting soccer he left the capital and headed to Victoria Falls where he joined a hotel company and rose through the ranks to become food and beverage administrator. He says he is also behind the Victoria Falls carnival which is held yearly towards the end of the year and he is also a DJ.
He says he is also a member of Victoria Falls cricket club.
On the standard of football in the country he said: “Our local boys are playing good soccer and this enabled by many football brands they watch on television.”
“At the club I’m in charge of hosting cricket festivals,” he says.
He says locally he is a staunch Zimbabwe Saints supporter and internationally he supports Liverpool FC.
He is married to Patience Musvonza and the couple has one child Wadiwa Musvonza. They worship at Roman Catholic.
He was born in Bulawayo in 1967. He went to Mpumelelo primary School in Mpopoma.
“That is where I started my footballing career and later I joined the Cosmos FC Under-12 team and rose through the ranks to turn out for the Under-18 team. In that squad I played alongside Rahman Gumbo, Julius Chikwanda and Thomas Chikwanda,” he said.
At the time he was part of the school team at Hamilton High School.
Online Reporter