Michael Chabala was a

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

n footballer and coach. Popularly known as ‘Big Mike’as he stood over six-feet tall, he is remembered for scoring a hat-trick against

Cameroon 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 ...

in a World Cup qualifier 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 ...

in 1985.

Playing career

Chabala first played as a forward for Zambian Division I side Mufulira Blackpool in 1977, alongside players like Alex Chola, John ‘Fuso’ Lengwe and Simon Kaushi. The following year, he moved to

Ndola Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia and third in terms of size and population, with a population of 475,194 (''2010 census provisional''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development aft ...

side Vitafoam United where he would stay for three years, helping to transform the side into a strong team. Vitafoam won the 1981 Independence Cup with a 2-1 victory over Strike Rovers in October 1981 but Chabala was not part of that success as he had left three months previously to join

Nkana Red Devils Nkana FC is a football club based in Kitwe, Zambia. The football team is competing in the MTN/FAZ Super Division, and is regarded as one of the country's most popular teams. Nkana FC has won 13 League titles, which made it to be Zambia's most su ...

of Kitwe. He was part of the Devils team that won their first ever league title in 1982 without losing a single match. In his time with Nkana, Chabala won 4 league titles, the Independence Cup and the Champion of Champions trophy. In 1985, Chabala got a call-up to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

under Brightwell Banda and he made his debut against

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 ...

in a friendly match in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

in February 1985 which Zambia lost 3-2. He scored his first goal for Zambia the following month when Zambia drew with

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

2-2 in

, which was a brilliant free-kick with 5 minutes remaining, to tie the game. After the match, Chabala said of the goal: “It was a great goal. I don’t think that goalkeeper will ever forget it and I don’t know if I will ever score a goal like that again in my life.” He was called to the national team for a

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

qualifier against Cameroon. The shock value was immense when Chabala was named in the starting line-up to face the reigning African champions on 4 April 1985 in Lusaka, as he had only appeared in two friendly matches prior to that crucial match. It turned out to be the most sensational competitive debut in Zambian football when he scored an 11-minute hat-trick to lead Zambia to a famous 4-1 victory.Chitafu, Victor “Zambia clobber old tired lions” ''Times of Zambia'', 8 April 1985, p.10 A 1-1 draw in the second leg 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 ...

saw Zambia through to the next round where they were knocked out by

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. He was in the Zambian team that made a first round exit at CAN 1986, where he once again scored against Cameroon in a 3-2 defeat in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. His last goal for Zambia came in a 1-0 friendly win over Malawi in

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

which also turned out to be his last game. In 1986, Chabala was 9th in the

France Football ''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusiv ...

poll for the African Footballer of the Year which was won by

Badou Zaki Ezzaki Badou ( ar, الزاكي بادو; born 2 April 1959), nicknamed Zaki, is a Moroccan football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He manages CS Chebba. Playing career Born in Sidi Kacem, Zaki represented AS ...

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 the emergence of a young

Kenneth Malitoli Kenneth Malitoli (born 20 August 1966) is a Zambian coach and former footballer. Nicknamed 'Bubble', Malitoli is one of Zambia's most decorated players and was Zambian league top scorer in three consecutive seasons, as well as top scorer in Tun ...

, Chabala found his opportunities limited so he moved to

Zambian Premier League The Zambia Super League, known as the MTN Super League for sponsorship purposes, is the top association football league created in 1962 by the Football Association of Zambia. The winners of the league each season receives ZMW500,000 ($26,414.20 ...

side Kalulushi Modern Stars in 1988 and later coached the team. He also coached Division I North side Chambishi F.C. Chabala died in Kitwe on 5 November 1995 after an illness.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chabala, Michael 1995 deaths Zambian men's footballers Zambia men's international footballers Zambian football managers 1986 African Cup of Nations players Year of birth missing Place of birth missing Men's association football forwards Nkana F.C. players