Zebron Njobvu was born on 3rd September 1990 in the heart of eastern province, Chipata town. He is the fifth born in a family of eight with five being boys and three girls.
Njobvu completed school at Chizongwe Technical high school in Chipata.
EARLY PLAYING DAYS
Zebron Njobvu was the fans’ favorite in the town of Chipata with his classy dribbling skills, catchy and top-notch goals. He could bulldoze opposition defenders, pull them to him like a magnet and get past them with ease like a hot knife on butter.
Whenever he is playing, the opposition team would assign three defenders to police him and David Kaunda stadium could be full to the rafters just to watch him as he made it a home and a nightmare for other teams.
He became a household name in the province when he played for Chizongwe Technical school and Katopola stars a team managed by Mr. Mwenya a renowned accountant and businessman in the province. Katopola stars were the first amateur team that Zebron played for.
His school football exploits are one of the many memories which Chipata people remember about him, at a time he went to Chizongwe, the school had three rivals which were Nyimba boarding, Anaya Zulu boys, and Petauke boarding with his final match against Anoya Zulu en route to coca cola competition causing a commotion in the stadium after condemning them to a defeat with his decisive goal at David Kaunda.
Despite facing stiff competition, his school could get past them and secure qualification for the coca-cola cup, a national school football competition at that time.
ZEBRON NJOBVU ON THE BIG STAGE
CLUB LEVEL
After impressing on the local scene in Chipata and the coca-cola competition, he secured a lucrative move to join Lusaka Celtics where he impressed after plying his trade for two years at the club.
His footballing skills and exploits were too good for Lusaka Celtic and the bankers, Sensational Zanaco FC the seven-time super league champions acquired his signature for the beginning of the 2008 season where he spent three stints with the club and helped them win their fifth Zambia super league title in 2009 and represented the club in CAF champions league.
He was a sought-after name in the Zambian super league and in 2011 after many attempts, Forest Rangers finally succeeded in getting his signature. He was signed by the club and given a two-year contract which ran up to the end of the 2013 season. It was at Forest Rangers where he became the indisputable one, emerging club top scorer on two fronts in 2011 and 2012
His services were too attractive for Forest Rangers rivals who also come from the same town of Ndola with Forest Rangers, Ndola lime who managed to convince him with a great offer and they signed him in 2013, a club where he spent two seasons. The time he was signing for Ndola lime, the team was in the super league.
At the time he was playing for Ndola lime many foreign teams kept tabs on him and upon expiry of his contract with the club, he opted to go to Botswana.
In 2015 he signed for Notwane FC of Gaborone a club named after the famous Notwane River. The club is a regular campaigner in the Botswana premier league. He spent just a season at the club before another club within Botswana captured his signature.
In 2016 he signed for Orapa United which also plays in the Botswana premier league. Orapa United is from Orapa town found in the central province of Botswana a home to the largest diamond mining company in the world.
It was at the club where he won his silverware in that land as he helped the team win the 2016 Mascom Top 8 cup, a cup which features the top eight finishers from Botswana premier league, and in 2017 the team finished with a silver in the same cup before his contract expired in 2018.
After the expiration of his contract with Orapa United, Zebron Njobvu returned home and joined Mabanga boys in 2018 who are Kasanshi Dynamos of Solwezi the mining town found in the northwestern province of Zambia whom he helped to win promotion to the Zambia top tier league in 2019.
He formed a lethal partnership with Royd Alfonso in the Zambia super league before his contract ran-out in 2020 and since then, he has been a free agent.
NATIONAL TEAM LEVEL
Such a talent can’t retire without contributing to the national team. Zebron Njobvu has passed through three ranks of the national team.
In 2004 he was summoned for the under 17 national team which took part in the three-nation tournament in Botswana. At the time he received a call-up, the junior team was under the tutelage of Chris Chibuye and Wedson Nyirenda where he was deployed as a winger.
He was also part of the under 20 on several occasions before he missed the last part of his playing days with the under 20 which was bound for the Cosafa tournament as he was writing his final grade twelve examinations.
He played for the senior national team on several occasions with his last coming in 2009. He was summoned to the team after he impressed when his side Zanaco drew 2-2 with the 2009 Zambia national team CHAN bound squad a match in which he scored all the two goals for the club a mark which led to Herve Renard including him in the national team.
On a sad note, he did not cut the CHAN inaugural tournament as he sustained an injury.
CAREER UPS AND DOWNS
The ZamFoot Crew caught up with Zebron Njobvu at his residence in Ndola to shed more light on his football journey.
Many footballers find it difficult to pinpoint and single out one best football moment and this is where Zebron Njobvu had it tough.
“hmm football being what it is, it has many great memories especially when you have played for so many teams like in my case. I would rank playing in CAF champions league with zanaco as the top, second is scoring a goal in a Mascom Top 8 cup in Botswana then third is scoring two past former Zambia national soccer team goalie Kalililo Kakonje in 2012 when my former team Forest Rangers met NAPSA Stars at Dola hill ground in Ndola,” Zebron Njobvu revealed during an exclusive interview with the ZamFoot Crew.
The mental aspect may want but the body may refuse as there comes a time when a person can not make a run in football and has to hang the playing boots and if the mental aspect still thinks the person can make a contribution to football, then its either a return on the dugout or administrative as the only options.
When asked whether we are going to see Zebron Njobvu one day on the dugout, The former Zanaco forward said anything was possible.
“We are living in a world where everything is possible, I would love to turn up on the technical bench but it’s early to talk about this as I still have the energy to make a contribution to the football fraternity as a player,” he said.
When asked if he is going to allow his children to play football, Zebron said: Why not, I will allow and support the idea if my children want to play football as well and I would love to see this especially from my firstborn Madaliso Njobvu, when I see him, I see a great footballer in the making.”
Zebron Njobvu has not had a club since 2020 but he believes he still has something to offer to the football fraternity as a player. With such a rich CV,Zebron Njobvu is a player who can make a positive difference at any club if given a chance.
Let him go back to forest rangers fc because has at now we don’t have a convincing striker at forest,so if he can prove it to coach TC he will be given a chance, look at clifford mulenga his catching up in every game given.Mr zebron I know you can make it.God bless you bro
Changing clubs like socks has costed the boy . I think he lucked guidance in that aspect. He could be trading in one of the European junior clubs time
Unbelievable story of an average player! Zamfoot please highlight upcoming players,with potential to develop into international players. How can you spend time on a non entity who has not shown any possibility of anything worth writing about!!! Dont waste time on unproductive and below average players.