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| Full name | Nkana Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Kalampa | ||
| Founded | 1932 | ||
| Ground | Nkana Stadium,Wusakile,Kitwe | ||
| Capacity | 10,000 | ||
| Chairman | Joseph Silwamba | ||
| Manager | [Mwenya Chipepo] (current) | ||
| League | Zambian Premier League | ||
| 2024–25 | 3rd | ||
Nkana FC is afootball club based inKitwe,Zambia. The football team competes in theMTN Super League, the top division of Zambian football. Nkana FC has won 13 League titles, making it Zambia's most successful league club, and second overall behindMufulira Wanderers, with 52 trophies. They play their home games atNkana Stadium inWusakile, Kitwe.
The club is currently sponsored byMopani Copper Mines, which is also the team's major owner.[1] The club has also acquired a kit sponsorship deal with global online gambling companyGAL Sports Betting.[citation needed]
In 2020, after the increase in the number ofCOVID-19 cases recorded in Zambia, Mopani Copper Mines reduced the sponsorship deal to the club by 50 percent, citing the failure of the copper prices due to the pandemic. The club decided to sign other sponsorship deals with The Zambia Revenue Authority andThe Copperbelt University.[relevant? –discuss]
Nkana FC has one of the biggest fan bases in Zambia; the fans are known for their noisy and passionate support of their club.[2]
Nkana FC is one of Zambia's oldest football clubs having been formed in 1935 in Kitwe'sWusakile township. The club was founded under the name of Rhokana United FC before it changed to Nkana Red Devils. In 1990, they were runners-up in theAfrican Cup of Champions, the only Zambian team to reach the finals.
Nkana achieved success during the 1980s and early 1990s, winning nine league titles from 1982 to 1993, including their 1993 season in which the club became one of only two clubs, and the only African club, to have won theSextuple.[3] Coached byMoses Simwala, a number of prominent players ran out for Nkana during this time frame.[4]
Nkana were relegated from the top flight of Zambian football for the first time in 2004, and their period inDivision One was plagued by financial problems.[5] Nkana returned to the top flight after winning the 2007Division One North title.[6]
Nkana has won theMTN/FAZ Super League 13 times, most recently in 2020.
On 23 May 2014, head coachMasautso Mwale died in a road traffic accident on the eve of their home game againstSéwé Sport of the Ivory Coast in Group B in the2014 CAF Confederation Cup. The accident occurred near the Maposa area and his car was overturned several times as he was driving back to join the team inKitwe.[7]
Nkana's arch-rivals arePower Dynamos F.C., who play their games at theArthur Davies Stadium in the adjacent neighbourhood of Ndeke across theNdola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway. When the two teams meet, the city is divided, and the fixture is named the Kitwe Derby or "El Kopala".[8]
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Gaston Mutobo
Jeff ButlerBeston ChambeshiJericho ShindeMoses Simwala (1980–93)Patrick Phiri (1997–02)Ben BamfuchileKenneth Malitoli (2007)Masauso Mwale (2013–14)
