Brightwell Banda (22 September 1946 - 26 August 2022) was a Zambian football coach who won Zambia her first ever

Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations ( sw, Baraza la Mashirikisho ya Mpira wa Miguu Afrika Mashariki na Kati, french: Conseil des Associations de Football d'Afrique de l'Est et Centrale, ar, مؤتمر جمعيات شر� ...

(

CECAFA The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations ( sw, Baraza la Mashirikisho ya Mpira wa Miguu Afrika Mashariki na Kati, french: Conseil des Associations de Football d'Afrique de l'Est et Centrale, ar, مؤتمر جمعيات شر� ...

) Cup in 1984 and was also in charge of Zambia at CAN 1982 and CAN 1986. He later coached Zambia's Division I South side Young Eagles in

Chipata The city of Chipata is the administrative centre of the Eastern Province of Zambia and Chipata District. It was declared the 5th city of the country, after Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe and Livingstone, by President Edgar Lungu on 24 February 2017. The c ...

Career

Banda played his football for Zambia Army (now

Green Buffaloes Green Buffaloes Football Club is a Zambia Army-sponsored football team which was founded in 1965 as Zambian Army and later changed to Green Buffaloes FC. Green Buffaloes is one of the most successful club in the history of Zambian football and dom ...

) though he never had a great playing career. After getting his coaching badges in

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, He coached Buffaloes in the mid-70s and first took charge of Zambia with

Freddie Mwila Freddie Mwila (born 6 July 1946) is a Zambian former association football player and coach. Rated as one of the country's greatest players and coaches, he featured for Rhokana United and was one of the first Zambians to play professional foo ...

on a temporary basis after Ante Buselic’s departure, leading Zambia to the 1976 CECAFA tournament in

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where they lost to

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in the final. Banda filled in again as the FAZ looked for an expatriate coach and his immediate task was to steer Zambia past Uganda in a World Cup qualifier and he managed this thanks in no small part to

Godfrey Chitalu Godfrey Chitalu, nicknamed Ucar (22 October 1947 – 27 April 1993), was a Zambian footballer who played as a forward. He is widely regarded as the greatest Zambian player of all time as he holds his national team's goalscoring record and was ...

’s brace in a 4–2 win on 27 February 1977 in Ndola. And when Ted Virba was sacked in June 1977 after only two and a half months in charge, Banda was back again for a Cup of Nations qualifier against

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in Lusaka which Zambia won 2–0 and qualified to CAN 1978 after a penalty shootout. He was back in the saddle again after

Ted Dumitru Theodore "Ted" Dumitru (born Dumitru Teodorescu; 2 September 1939 – 26 May 2016) was a Romanian football manager who is best known for his time in South Africa. Dumitru was one of few coaches who have led South Africa's 'big three' clubs Ka ...

’s abrupt departure in July 1981 and he led Zambia to a 3–2 aggregate victory over

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

with a 2–0 second leg victory in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

, a victory which sent Zambia to the 1982 CAN in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. Zambia did not have the best of preparations, travelling to Libya without having played any international friendly matches prior to the tournament. Although they lost their opening game to Algeria 1–0, Zambia topped their group with victories over

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and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

which sent her into the semi-finals where they lost to the hosts 2–1 but salvaged some pride by beating Algeria 2–0 in the third and fourth play-off, a match which the Algerians did not particularly seem interested in. Banda was then replaced by

Bill McGarry William Harry McGarry (10 June 1927 – 15 March 2005) was an England international association footballer and manager who spent 40 years in the professional game. He had a reputation for toughness, both as a player and as a manager. A right- ...

but he bounced back two years later, when he took over from Jeff Butler and led the team to their first ever

success in Uganda in December 1984. His reward was a promotion from

Lt. Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the army, armies, most Marine (armed services), marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use t ...

to full

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the army. The following year, Banda became the first Zambian to sign a full-time contract as national team coach when he signed a three-year deal and he underlined this when Zambia demolished

Cameroun Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

4–1 in Lusaka in a World Cup qualifier and went through to the next round after a 1–1 draw in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

in the second leg. They however lost to

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3–0 on aggregate to bow out of the race but knocked out

of the CAN ‘86 qualifying run after a 0–0 draw in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

and 1–0 win in Lusaka. Zambia also failed to defend their CECAFA crown in October which was won by hosts

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. After a disappointing first round exit at Egypt ‘86 which Banda attributed to inadequate preparations, he was relieved of his duties and he went back to his army post.Anon. "Coach Banda dropped" ''Times of Zambia'', 9 September 1986, p.8 He later served as Technical Advisor of Zambian Premier league side Zanaco and when

Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams ...

won their first and only premier league title in 2004, a decision was taken by the teams’ management early the following season to replace the championship winning coach Mathews Phiri with Banda. The reason given for this rather controversial move was the need for someone with more experience to lead Arrows to the group stage of the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

. It was no easy task as Arrows faced defending champions

Enyimba Aba is a city in the southeast of Nigeria and the commercial center of Abia State. Upon the creation of Abia state in 1991, Aba was divided into two local government areas namely; Aba South and Aba North. Aba south is the main city centre and ...

. After losing the first leg 3–0, Arrows geared up for the home leg hoping for an upset but were thrashed 6–1 to send them packing. Banda was dismissed shortly after that. After some time out of the limelight, Banda resurfaced as coach of Young Eagles and the retired army officer is confident of leading the team to the Premier League.

References

Article of time.co/zm on November 5th, 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banda, Brightwell Living people Zambia national football team managers Zambian football managers Green Buffaloes F.C. players 1986 African Cup of Nations managers Red Arrows F.C. managers Association footballers not categorized by position Zambian footballers 1946 births