Shadreck Ngwenya
| Shadreck Ngwenya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Shadreck Nduna Ngwenya July 23, 1947 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
| Died | January 8, 2018 (aged 70) Ntabazinduna |
| Resting place | Mathilika Cemetery in Ntabazinduna |
| Education | Lobengula Primary School |
| Alma mater | Mpopoma High School |
| Occupation | Footballer and Farmer |
| Known for | Being part of the Dynamos Football Club team that beat Orlando Pirates at Rufaro Stadium in 1976. |
| Spouse(s) | Grace Mhlanga (Divorced) |
| Children | Patience, Memory, Janet and Caroline. |
Shadreck Ngwenya was a Zimbabwean yesteryear footballer who played for Dynamos Football Club as a defender. He was part of the 1976 Dynamos team that defeated South African giants Orlando Pirates to lift the Southern Africa Club Championship.
Background
Ngwenya was born in Bulawayo on 23 July 1947 in a family of nine and he was the fourth born. He was a full time farmer. He was married to Grace Mhlanga but they later divorced. Ngwenya had four children namely Patience, Memory, Janet and Caroline.[1] He had a meteoric rise to stardom, making his first international debut barely a season in the elite league in 1969. In 1969, Ngwenya was part of the then Rhodesia national team that played Australia in a World Cup qualifier at Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) in Mozambique. He earned the name Stork Margarine after he featured on national television advertising Stork Margarine. Ngwenya grew up in Mzilikazi, a “rough” environment. It was a place where drugs and alcohol were the only way to make one high. He joined the band wagon!
Career
His brain and football talent and a burning passion to play soccer were his way out of drugs in Mzilikazi. Growing up, he knew he had a gift, the ability to see what was next. He was a goalkeeper when he kick-started his football career at Eastlands but he was converted to a defender. “It so happened that a full back was not around on that particular day. The coach picked me to play in that position. Although it was a bit challenging I played well in that position. That became my position for my entire career,” said Ngwenya. Before long the steely, towering defender decided to pack his bags and joined Chibuku Shumba, which was a multi-racial team. It was in Division One and was coached by Ken Fulton. After a short stint with Chibuku Shumba, Stork Margarine joined Bulawayo Civils but he spent only a season there. His rare flair in thwarting opposition and attacking ability was a plus for him to be noticed by the Dynamos scouts. The DeMbare scouts lured him to join DeMbare, he snapped the golden chance.
Ngwenya is best remembered by the older generation of Dynamos fans for helping the Harare giants, who were then nicknamed “Hainangozi”, to lift the Southern Africa Club Championship after beating one of South Africa’s football powerhouses Orlando Pirates in 1976. During that year, Pirates were led by arguably the best player to emerge from South Africa during both that country’s pre and post-Independence era – the legendary “Crown Prince of Soweto” Jomo Sono. In an international showdown at a packed and rain-soaked Rufaro Stadium in 1976, Sono’s Pirates were walloped 4-1 by Dynamos. Pirates had come into the game with a two-goal advantage from the first leg that was however, wiped out, enabling Dynamos to lift the Southern Africa Club Championship.
Ngwenya was also part of the talented Dynamos outfit that won the league title and almost all the domestic cup competitions, including the Castle Cup in which they hammered Zimbabwe Saints Football Club 8-1 in the final, in 1976, a season in which he rubbed shoulders at the star-studded "Hainangozi" side with the legendary George Shaya (The Mastermind), Shepherd Murape, Kuda Muchemeyi, Shaw "Kojak" Handriade, Simon Sachiti, Isaac Nhema, Oliver “Flying Saucer” Kateya, David Phiri, Charles Gwatidzo, Barnard Chidziva, Hilario Nengari, Matthew Mwale, John Revai, Cremio Mapfumo, Enock "Mujibha" Pakamisa, George Yoyo, Sunday Chidzambwa, David Mandigora and David George. In fact, in 1976, Dynamos won five of six cup tournaments (losing to Zimbabwe Saints in the semi-finals of the Chibuku Trophy), scoring 67 goals in 19 cup fixtures over the season.[2]
And after the historic achievement of helping Dynamos to win the Southern Africa Club Championship, Ngwenya was quickly scouted by one South Africa’s top clubs Moroka Swallows who snapped him in May 1979 for his third professional stint Down South. Racism in then Rhodesia was rife. When Ngwenya and his teammates went to play teams like Salisbury Callies they would not be allowed to go into their dressing rooms. Black players would go to change where equipment for the facility and things like whitewash were kept.
But Ngwenya’s star continued to rise, taking him from Chibuku Shumba to Dynamos (after he was recruited by the late Morrison Sifelani) and then later on to Moroka Swallows before he hung up his boots in 1983 and went into coaching with relative success getting Zimbabwean sides Metro Peech and Kadoma United into Division One in his first year with them in 1984 and 1985 respectively.
Coaching Career
He then joined Black Aces. He spent a season with that outfit and hung his boots for a coaching career. He mentored Wrinster FC, a Division One outfit. While he was at Wrinster FC, Kadoma United officials enticed him to join their side. He snapped the opportunity. The outfit was in Division Two at the time. He says his team finished the season with 38 goals and on top spot. He helped the side to be promoted into Division One in 1985. While with Kadoma United Ngwenya won the Natbrew Under-18 tournament, he stayed with the Kadoma side up to 1988. He returned to Bulawayo and took up a coaching job at the prison outfit — Ntabazinduna. He quit the job in 2012.
