The club is famous for producing great names in the history of Zambian football such as Innocent ‘mummy’ Malama, Ghost Mulenga, Davies Phiri, Boniface simutowe, Elijah Tana to name a few, and in the 21st century, the team has seen great talent pass through its ranks like Noah Chivuta, Collins ‘Ntofontofo’ Mbesuma, Anos Tembo and many others.
Collins Mbesuma
The club was founded in 1962 and they were the inaugural winners of the Zambian premier league which was then Northern Rhodesia National league and it’s the only league title they have won since its inception, they won the Zambian cup a record four times and Zambian challenge cup on three occasions.
They were relegated from the Zambian super league in 2014 and now ply their trade in the third tier of the FAZ organized league. They were known for showing resilience whenever they faced big boys of the super league with their pulsating style of play which earned them the nickname ‘stylish’.
Their home ground is Kafubu stadium with an 8,000 seating capacity found in Luanshya the mining town on the Copperbelt. It is sponsored by the mining giant CLM luanshya copper mine, The club is Roan united.
Even in the third-tier league, the team seem not to be doing well as they are 12th after twelve games played with only two wins, six draws, and four losses amassing 12 points with 15 points behind league leaders Mutondo Stars but what can be the problem?, Zamfoot was in Luanshya to have to get an insight into the problems at Kafubu Stadium.
Sinking football levels
Launshya was known for nurturing football talent and this was due to the good infrastructure the district had. Currently, the situation is different, a spot check on Mpatamatu stadium, The ZamFoot Crew found the stadium in a dilapidated state with tall grass on the playing surface, the stadium is not fenced and this has resulted in residents using the stadium as a shortcut route.
On four consecutive spot check days, The ZamFoot Crew didn’t find anyone using the facility for training with only on weekends when it was found with people playing social (madalas) football just to keep fit. The whole Mpatamatu area has a population of close to if not more than 100,000, yet it does not have a very active football playing team.
The ZamFoot Crew moved to Roan township,the same was found with only Roan united being the active team with Kafubu Stadium once one of the beautiful stadiums in the country was found to be housing vices which cant contribute anything to the growth of football, it was found to be used as coupling place, drinking and smoking place for teens.
Only Town and Mikomfwa township was found with few active football playing teams like Luanshya united which is doing better than Roan united as it placed in 7th position.
If Luanshya wants to see a team in the super league again, they need to start revamping and safeguarding infrastructure otherwise the current state is worrying and doesn’t point to anything good.
Luanshya also needs to start nurturing and scouting for talent and this calls for residents to develop an interest in football as it’s worrying for a township like Mpatamatu to have very few active teams. Thanks to collins Mbesuma academy which has started making strides, but this should not be the one-man show, others need also to come on board
Lack of financial muscle
It’s not the case of Luanshya only, almost all football teams from mining towns are now facing financial problems and can’t compete favorably, talk of Nkana and Mufulira Wanderers.
Yes, the team is not receiving enough financial support because the mining firm is not pumping in good money to attract top talent to the club. The mining firm needs to know that sponsoring the club is part of its social cooperate responsibility and should not feel shy to pump in more money but with the current economic issues, others who are business giants like Roan Antelope milling company which is doing extremely well should also come on board to help revamp football in the town.
The truth of the matter is that it will take very long to see Roan United back to the super league that is if it will, otherwise what is on the ground is very worrying and doesn’t point to Roan United return to the super league even five years from now but hope is not lost because everything can get back to normal if the above mentioned are tackled.
