Alex Chola

Chola's exceptional skills were evident from an early age and he forged a sharp frontline with giant striker John ‘Fuso’ Lengwe, Lee Mulenga and player-coach Simon “Kaodi” Kaushi. Blackpool won promotion to the Zambian top league and in April 1975, Chola ended defending league champions Green Buffaloes long unbeaten run with a clinical finish at Blackpool's home ground Kamuchanga Stadium in Mufulira. It was the first league defeat in over a year for Buffaloes, who had won the title in 1974 without losing a single game.[9]

In July of that same year, Blackpool captain John Botha was removed and suspended indefinitely for issuing damaging press statements against Kaushi, and Chola was named the new skipper at the age of 19.[10]

Chola was linked with several clubs during his time at Blackpool. Mufulira Wanderers, Rokana United and Green Buffaloes were all after his signature at some point but Blackpool managed to hold on to their prize asset.[11][12] In Buffaloes' case, the player changed his mind when told he had to enlist with their sponsors Zambia Army because he wanted to maintain his civilian status and the move to Wanderers did not materialize as it was believed that such a move would have soured relationships between the two clubs.

In 1976, Blackpool won a hard-fought 4-3 Independence Cup final win over town-mates Butondo Western Tigers at Dag Hammarskjöld Stadium in Ndola, with Chola creating two goals and scoring the winner.[13] It was Blackpool's second and last trophy following their Chibuku Cup win of 1972. Despite a mid-table finish, Chola finished the season as Blackpool's top scorer with 20 goals and was named Zambia's Footballer of the year.

In 1978, Blackpool made a strong start going unbeaten in the first 8 games of the season and topping the table. They were still leading with 4 games to go, however were pipped to the title by Wanderers, who finished on top by a single point, when Blackpool lost all three cases which were before the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) disciplinary committee.[14] In the first one, they lost points to Ndola United at Kamuchanga Stadium when a ball blew up and a replacement could not be found while a 2-2 draw with Red Arrows which was abandoned when Blackpool walked off the pitch after Arrows were awarded a dubious penalty had its result upheld. The third case involved a former Blackpool player who featured for Kabwe United while still on their books but the FAZ ruled against the Mufulira side.

The second-place finish was still an achievement but it was evident Chola had been carrying the team for a long time and fans wondered how much longer he would stay at Kamuchanga Stadium. Chola's amazing footwork, ball juggling skills and precise passes unsurprisingly led to the nicknames ‘Computer’ and ‘Master Dribbler.’[6] He inspired a young Kalusha Bwalya who later remarked that Chola "could do incredible things with the ball. It’s a pity there was no video at the time."[15]

Following their second-place finish in 1978, Blackpool were expected to make the final step and capture their first ever league title, however, the team was caught in a relegation battle right from the start and finished second bottom, however was saved from relegation when the FAZ increased the number of teams from 16 to 18.

In December 1979, Chola and his family vanished from Mufulira and were reported to be in Kitwe, a move which upset Blackpool officials who felt betrayed and did not know which club had snagged their star as so many clubs were after him .[16] However, Chola denied that he had deserted Blackpool and said he was merely on leave in Mufulira, despite the fact that a big truck was seen transporting his household goods from Mufulira. “I am a big boy and an international footballer. When I want to leave Blackpool, I will inform the public about my intentions to do so.’.[17]

It soon emerged that Chola had been given a job by Copperbelt Power Company, the sponsors of Power Dynamos and this led to Blackpool banning the player indefinitely ‘for deserting the club,’ which ruled him out of international matches. This prompted Chola to write a letter of appeal to the FAZ who ruled in his favour and paved the way for his move to Arthur Davies Stadium.[18] He made an instant impression, scoring twice on his debut, the Champion of Champions Cup semi-final on 3 February 1980 in a 2-0 win against Green Buffaloes. A week later, he scored the third goal in the final, a 3-0 triumph over Mufulira Wanderers in Ndola.[19]

Ho collected more silverware later that year when Dynamos beat Buffaloes 2-0 to win the Independence Cup, and ended the season as the club's top scorer. The following year, Dynamos retained the Champions of Champions Cup and made their debut in the Africa Cup Winners Cup only to be eliminated by Sekondi Hasacaas of Ghana in the quarter-finals. In 1982, they won the Independence Cup for the third time in 4 years, but the league eluded them as they ended the season as runners-up to Kitwe rivals Nkana Red Devils. Dynamos however had a fine run in the Africa Cup Winners Cup, reaching the final only to lose 4-0 on aggregate to Egyptian club Arab Contractors. Chola ended the season as second highest goal-scorer in the Zambian league, runner-up to club-mate Peter Kaumba.

Chola was in the Dynamos team that won the Rothmans International trophy in the 6 nations African Club soccer tournament in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in May 1983, after beating home team Stella Abidjan of Ivory Coast 2-1, FC 105 from Gabon 4-1 and Nigeria's Bendel Insurance 2-1. In the final, Dynamos drew 0-0 with Camerounian giants Tonnere Yaonde FC and won 5-4 on post match penalties with goalkeeper Blackwell Chalwe saving the decisive spot-kick after a goalless 90 minutes.[20]

In July 1983, new Zambia national team coach Wieslaw Grabowski described Chola and his Dynamos teammate Kaumba as world class players with enough potential to play for any division I side in Europe. Grabowski joined the legion of fans who admired Chola's bull juggling skills, but he noted that his teammates did not understand his crisp and timely passes. He further said that although Chola lacked speed, he was an intelligent player who could read the game.[21] At the end of the season, he was runner-up once again to Ashlos Melu on the scorers’ chart. In December, Chola and Kaumba signed three-year professional contracts with Africa Sports of Ivory Coast.[22] However, the two returned home in July 1984 and it turned out that a major sponsor of Africa Sports had pulled out so this changed the fortunes of the club and they decided to return to Zambia.[23] The duo arrived just in time to lend a hand to Dynamos final push for the league championship. Chola missed a penalty when Dynamos suffered their only league loss in October 1984, a 2-0 defeat to eventual runners-up Mufulira Wanderers but Dynamos avenged this a week later when they whipped Wanderers 4-1 in the reverse fixture at Arthur Davies Stadium. This helped Dynamos to the title for the first time in their history.

Dynamos were not finished as they crushed Kabwe Warriors 4-2 in the semi-final of the Champion of Champions with Chola grabbing a hat-trick, and when they met Wanderers in the final, Dynamos prevailed 2-0.

The following year in August, Dynamos lost a BP Challenge Cup first round match to Division I side City of Lusaka 3-0, which led to coach Freddie Mwila being sidelined amid reports of dissension from the players who were unhappy with his attitude towards them. He singled out Chola as a possible candidate for his job and Chola stepped up as player-coach,[24] although Dynamos surrendered the title to bitter rivals Nkana by a single point when they failed to beat their cross-town rivals in their penultimate league game at home. They also lost the Champion of Champions trophy to Wanderers. The players though, said they were very happy with Chola's training methods. Chola's younger brother Pascal Kunda played as a midfielder for Ndola United and joined Power Dynamos in 1985.

At the end of the season, Chola called time on his glorious career to focus on coaching. However, attempted a comeback in November 1987 in the Independence Cup final against Kabwe Warriors in Lusaka. He showed every bit of his exciting old self and had a hand in Dynamos’ first goal scored by Pearson Mwanza but tragedy struck when he was carried off the pitch with a fractured tibia of the left leg in the 28th minute after a late challenge by Warriors’ Whiteson Changwe. Dynamos lost the final 3-2 which proved to be the last game he ever played. The match was also remembered for a 63-minute first half.[25] Chola described the incident as unfortunate and not deliberate.[26]