Simon Mudzudzu
Simon Mudzudzu is a former Zimbabwean footballer who starred at the now defunct Black Aces and for the Zimbabwe National Football Team as a tough-tackling defender.
Background
Simon is married to Tsitsi and the couple has five children with four based in the United States and United Kingdom. Only one of their kids was based in Zimbabwe as of 2016.
Education
He attended Chengu Primary School in Highfield and later attained supervisory qualifications at Harare Polytechnic with City and Guilds.
Career
Mudzudzu once formed a twin centre-back partnership with football icon Sunday Chidzambwa at Metal Box in the 1970s. Mudzudzu believes he owes everything to his loyalty to the company Metal Box, where he continued working long after he had quit the game, and rose through the ranks to break into management. Mudzudzu only left Metal Box in 2014.
He said it all started at Chengu Primary School in Highfield, which had been converted into a sports facility and kids from these facilities in the townships such as Harare (now Mbare), Mufakose and Highfield would then compete against each other.
Mudzudzu found himself at Metal Box in 1972 after playing for a number of junior teams at Tornadoes and Arcadia United. He started playing senior football in 1972 when he joined Metal Box together with other players like Oliver Kateya (late), his brother Shadreck, who was in the United Kingdom, Peter Manyara and Sunday Chidzambwa (Marimo).
The following year the team was promoted into the First Division and in their first year they won the championship. They did very well that year, himself and Chidzambwa, were the centrebacks, Mike Chidzero was the goalkeeper, Peter Manyara was the leftback, Arnold Madzikatire rightback, Chita Antonio and Oliver Kateya were the strikers and July Sharara was also in that team.
They played until 1975 when him and Sunday moved to Chibuku, and he remembers breaking the transfer record then when he was bought for $3 000 (Rhodesian dollars) which was a lot of money then. Sunday was first bought for $2 000 and then they came back for him. They played until the club folded. At Chibuku Shumba, he played with the likes of Fresh Chamarenga, William Billy Sherman. The team folded in 1976 but the players were kept together and decided to acquire the franchise of Metal Box and the soccer leader then, John Madzima (late), agreed and in 1977 the whole group of the players formed Black Aces.
Sunday decided to join Dynamos Football Club but Mudzudzu stayed and he was joined by such players like Daniel “DC” Chikanda, who came from Salisbury Sables following the collapse of that club. That year they won the Chibuku Trophy, the Nyore Nyore Shield and finished in the top three. They did very well in 1977. He played for Black Aces until 1981 when he suffered a knee injury.
At Aces, Mudzudzu also played with a number of gifted players such as Benard “Machipisa” Dzingayi, Daniel Chikanda, Clever Hunda, Wonder Chisetera, Charles Gwazo, Bernard Kuwana, Byron “Piri Piri” Manuel, Booker Muchenu and Alwyn Hagen. Popularly known as Shaisa Mufaro, Black Aces used Gwanzura Stadium as their home ground and had a legion of supporters from Highfield and the surrounding areas of Glen Norah, Mbare and Mufakose.[1]
