By Michael Kachitsa Quinton Fortune is a South African former professional footballer who played as both a midfielder and a defender. His career began in Europe and after stints with Tottenham Hotspur, Mallorca and Atlético Madrid among others he settled in with Manchester United in 1999 and spent seven years there. He continued playing through 2010. Fortune was also part of the 1998 and 2002 South African World Cup teams. In 1996, Fortune joined Atlético Madrid. Fortune signed for Manchester United for a fee of £1.5 million on 1 August 1999. He made his first appearance for the club against Newcastle United on 30 August. His first goal followed on Boxing Day 1999 against Bradford City, and he scored twice against South Melbourne in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship. Fortune earned 46 caps for South Africa, and played at the 1998 and the 2002 World Cups. He was one of South Africa’s most influential players in the 2002 World Cup. In the first match against Paraguay which ended in 2-2 draw, he scored South Africa’s second goal from penalty kick in injury time. Later in the next match, South Africa beat Slovenia 1-0 in which Fortune providing assist for the winning goal.[16] Although both South Africa and Paraguay finished the group with same points and goal difference, it was Paraguay who occupied the second place and advanced into the next stage because Paraguay scored more goals than South Africa. He now owns his own Academy Source – Wikipedia
Category: Football
The History of Chelsea F.C
By Michael Kachitsa Chelsea was founded in 1905 by Gus Mears, an English businessman who had earlier bought the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium with the plan of transforming it into a football ground. His original idea was to rent it to an existing club, but after a deal with Fulham FC was halted, he got the idea to start a new club. While Chelsea were a reasonably consistent club for most of their history, people nowadays usually associate them with the football juggernaut they’ve become at the turn of the century; not much of a surprise, considering the club won the majority of their silverware in that period. Chelsea have won League titles, FA Cups and League Cups. They’ve also found success in Europe, becoming the only British club to win all three major UEFA trophies: the Cup Winners’ Cup, the Champions League and the Europa League. Chelsea would quickly prove to be a hit with the local supporters and established itself as the biggest club in the capital. In the late 1910s, the club became the first in Britain with an average attendance over 40,000. The huge attendance numbers made “The Pensioners”, a nickname for the team, to one of the richest clubs in the country and made it possible to pay well reputed players. Chelsea become also home for the first non-British player in the Football League, the Danish Nils Middelboe, who arrived to the club in 1913. Their first League title in 1955 was a shock for everyone, especially considering the club had finished in the bottom half of the league for most of the previous seasons. This unexpected success was not enough to turn their fortunes around, however, and the club soon returned to mediocrity. The mid-60s caught Chelsea at the height of their popularity, with many big-name celebrities becoming regular guests at Stamford Bridge. For the first time in their history, the club was seen as an actual contender. After securing their first League Cup in 1965, they followed it up with two more “firsts” by claiming an FA Cup in 1970 and a Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971.
The History of Liverpool F.C
By Michael Kachitsa Following the moving of Everton to Goodison Park in 1892, the club’s then-president John Houlding suddenly found himself with the rights to Anfield stadium and no team to play on it. Always a practical man, Houlding quickly decided to circumvent this problem by forming his own club – Liverpool (should not be confused with Liverpool Ramblers AFC that was founded ten years earlier). After becoming a member of the Football League in 1893, the team managed to get promoted to first division after one season in the second division. Early on, Liverpool established themselves as one of England’s top clubs, winning League titles in 1901, 1906, 1922 and 1923. In 1985, Liverpool faced Juventus in the European Cup final. Unfortunately, that match is now widely known as the scene of the Heysel disaster; after some unruly fans caused a perimeter wall to collapse, 39 fans were crushed to death. In the aftermath, considering the blame for the accident was placed solely on Liverpool fans, all English clubs were banned from European competitions for the next five years. In the absence of European games, Liverpool started focusing on the domestic competitions. But after winning two more League titles in 1986 and 1988 and an FA Cup in 1985, tragedy struck again. In the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, 94 fans died in a crowd crush only six minutes after the game had started. To this day, the Hillsborough disaster remains the worst stadium disaster in English football. Liverpool was close to win Premier League as runners up in 2002, 2014 and 2019. But in 2020 everything fall into place, Liverpool led by German coach Jürgen Klopp pulled away from the competition and the sky turned red when the league was finally decided, after being interrupted for a period due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Makoloni to enrol for football coaching course in Ireland
By Blessings Kaunda Mzuzu, Mana: Former Flame’s and Mighty Wanderers striker, Gift Makoloni has said he will start coaching course in Ireland after a long break in football since 2004. Speaking from Ireland in an interview with Malawi News Agency, Makoloni said after retiring from football he relocated to Ireland for greener pasture. He said he has seen how football is growing in Malawi, hence the idea of becoming a coach so that he could in future contribute to the development of the football in the country. “I feel obliged to do something for my country. I know that my coaching career will benefit a lot of young talented footballers in my country,” said Makoloni. Makoloni further said Malawi put him on the map saying it is now time for him to pay back by grooming young football players through coaching. “I am where I am today because of Malawi Football so I want to do a little something to support football development. I have approached few people here in Ireland who have promised to help me with sporting materials such as sports attire, balls among others and will send these to Malawi,” he said. Makoloni then urged secondary school students to work hard in their academic studies as well as in sporting disciplines. Makoloni started his professional football career with Civo Service United FC when he was at at Mitundu Secondary School then played for wanderers and lastly he ended with Silver strikers. Former Civil Service United FC and Flames player, Peterkins Kaira said Football Association of Malawi (FAM) should be flexible to hire ex-players who have potential in football coaching. “FAM and football administrators and coaches are supposed to be recommending players who demonstrate to have the potential of becoming football coaches to coaching trainings. “For example when I was playing for Civo Service United FC in 1986, I was sent to a coaching course under Zolo Msiska,” Kaira said. He said players are motivated when they are being coached by a coach who was at one time a prolific footballer. “I therefore commend Makoloni for his aspiration especially that he wants train as a coach a in a country which is advanced in football, he is going to be an asset to football development in Malawi,” he said.
The History of Aston Villa F.C
By Michael Kachitsa The Birmingham located Aston Villa Fotball Club was founded in 1874, by four cricket players who were looking for something to do during the winter break. The club was therefore founded approximately one year before the city rival Birmingham City (named Small Heath Alliance until 1905). In 1885, the club’s president, William McGregor, realized a need to keep the fans interested in the game; together with eleven other leading English clubs of that period, Villa founded the Football League in 1888. Led by George Ramsay they quickly proved to be the most dominant side of the Victorian era, claiming five First Division titles and three FA Cups before the turn of the century. With the rise of football’s popularity in the country, however, many other clubs started to emerge as contenders for the throne. Still, Villa remained a powerhouse; after winning another FA Cup in 1905, they followed it up with their sixth First Division title in 1910. After another two FA Cup victory in 1913, the club’s golden era ended at the outbreak of the First World War. While Villa had started off the post-war period by claiming another FA Cup in 1920, it soon became obvious that their best years were behind them. After a long period of decline, the club was relegated to the Second Division in 1936, for the first time in their history. They did not win another trophy until 1957 and a famous victory over the Busby Babes in the FA Cup final. In 1961, Villa added to their trophy room by winning the inaugural League Cup. After a new low for the club – a relegation to the Third Division in 1970 – Villa turned a new leaf by appointing Ron Saunders as coach. They were back in the First Division by 1975, the same year that saw them win another League Cup. With Saunders’ ability to spot a good player and his famous “no-nonsense” approach to coaching, Villa’s streak of good results continued into the 80s. After a League Cup victory in 1977 and an unpredicted First Division title in 1981, Villa won their first and only European Cup in 1982 by shocking the favored Bayern Munich in the Final. One of the heroes was the reserve goalkeeper Nigel Spink that replaced Jimmy Rimmer early in the match and made some astonishing saves. The last triumph was however made without Ron Saunders as the coach. Some months earlier, after a dispute with the chairman Ron Bendall at a time the team had a negative trend in the league Ron Saunders had decided to resign. The Premier League era has been filled with ups and downs for to Villa, they were placed second in 1993 and on the bottom of the table in 2016. They managed to claim two more League Cups in 1994 and 1996.
Pictures from the Kuipatsa Moto Flames Fundraising Dinner at Kamuzu Palace
Pics by Lisa Kadango Malango
The Rivalry between Patrick Viera and Roy Keane
By Michael Kachitsa Boxing had Ali and Frazier, Tennis had Borg and McEnroe and football had Keane and Vieira. They have long since retired from playing, but Manchester United fans and Arsenal fans both lament the fact that they don’t have players like Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira any more. An emblematic duo, Keane and Vieira fought many battles on the fields of Highbury and Old Trafford, but their most unforgettable encounter actually came off the pitch. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the rivalry between Manchester United and Arsenal became one of the defining features of the Premier League and two men personified the long-running battle. They came up against each other plenty of times in many heated confrontations, but the most memorable clash between Keane and Vieira came in 2005 at Arsenal’s former home Highbury. Television cameras were perfectly placed to capture the moment, peering down the cramped Highbury tunnel as Keane took exception to something Vieira had said. The referee, Graham Poll, intervened to quell the disturbance, but Keane had not said his piece. As Vieira is led away from the incident by team-mate Pascal Cygan, and Dennis Bergkamp has a quiet word in his ear, the Irishman defiantly makes his way through the sea of bodies, while angrily berating the Arsenal captain. Shouting “we’ll see out there!” at Vieira, Keane actually has to be restrained by Poll, who urges the United captain to calm down before taking to the pitch. Source – Goal
The World Cup
By Michael Kachitsa The FIFA World Cup was first held in 1930, when FIFA, the world’s football governing body, decided to stage an international men’s football tournament under the era of FIFA president Jules Rimet who put this idea into place. The inaugural edition, held in 1930, was contested as a final tournament of only thirteen teams invited by the organization. Since then, the World Cup has experienced successive expansions and format remodeling, with its current 32-team final tournament preceded by a two-year qualifying process, involving over 200 teams from around the world. In 1930, FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament. The 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the programme due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games.[8] FIFA president Jules Rimet thus set about organizing the inaugural World Cup tournament. With Uruguay now two-time official world champions and due to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country Source- Wikipedia
Pfaffing about
By Michael Kachitsa Your country is at the World Cup and has just reached the second round, thanks mainly to a fine victory over Argentina. The obvious thing to do, as the tournament enters its latter stages, is drop your goalkeeper, who is commonly regarded as one of the best in the world. Right? Well that’s what Belgium did in 1982 and, if you consult summaries of the tournament, you’ll see that the odd reason usually given for the sudden demotion of Jean-Marie Pfaff is that the manager, Guy Thys, was punishing the goalkeeper for pretending to drown in the hotel swimming pool. So far, so petty. But there was a little more to it than that, though pettiness remains a prominent driver of the story. Pfaff arrived at the World Cup having just sealed a transfer from Beveren to Bayern Munich. His reputation was growing but his popularity with national teammates was not. His perceived cockiness irritated them. While in Spain for the World Cup, the Belgium management arranged a poolside bash at the team’s hotel to which the country’s media were invited. The country’s best-known radio commentator, Jan Wauters, was there and, being a close friend of Thys, he felt sufficiently at ease to play a merry prank: so he crept up behind Pfaff and pushed him into the pool. “Hehehe!” went the revellers … until a problem became apparent: the goalkeeper couldn’t swim. After being rescued, Pfaff was furious, with the players and with the manager, whose buddy went unreprimanded. When the press later asked Pfaff about his near-drowning, he played it down and said he had been only pretending to be in distress. Ill-feeling undoubtedly remained, however, and led to certain interpretations being put on subsequent events. In the 62nd minute of the last group game, against Hungary, Pfaff came to cut out a cross and inadvertently clobbered his captain, Eric Gerets. The full-back, who lay motionless on the pitch for about a minute before he was eventually substituted. An ambulance was called. It did not arrive until after the match and when the concussed Gerets was taken to it, there was no room for him … because Pfaff had got there first, complaining of a shoulder injury. Off sped the ambulance without Gerets, leaving the aggrieved captain and his chums outraged. Pfaff’s wound turned out to be only minor but resentment towards him was major. Thys chose to leave him out for the next match and picked Theo Custers instead. Belgium were beaten 3-0 by Poland but rather than recall Pfaff for the make-or-break clash with the USSR, Thys turned to his third-choice keeper, Jacques Munaron. Belgium lost 1-0. Gone were their hopes of making a big splash in the tournament.
FAM launches Ipatse Moto Flames competition
By Arkangel Tembo Blantyre, Mana: Football Association of Malawi’s (FAM) Flames Resource Mobilization Taskforce on Monday embarked on another project to generate funds to enable the Flames participate in the 2021-22 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon. During a function at Mpira offices in Blantyre, FAM launched the second phase of the ‘Ipatse Moto Flames’ fundraising campaign. According to the Publicity Secretary for the Taskforce, TulipoMwenelupembe, the project is targeting about K60 million in the whole initiative, adding that chances to beat the target are also very high. Mwenelupembe said the promotion will require participants to send a text message worth K50 to stand a chance of winning weekly prizes of five Flames replica jerseys and monthly prizes of three deep refrigerators. The grand draw will take place on December 30 where the overall winner will go home with a Toyota Sienta. To enter the promotion subscribers will send a short code of *3089# on both Airtel and TNM networks.