10 Things You Didn’t Know About Dick Chama

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  1. Dick Charmer is among the deceased players who died due to chronic disease.
  2. He was born on the 11th of February 1946.
  3. Dick Chama was a Zambian footballer and coach who played as a centre-back.
  4. Chama was born in Bancroft (now Chililabombwe) and was one of the founding members of the mine team Bancroft North End (which later became Bancroft Blades), captaining the side at the age of 20.
  5. In June 1967, he was selected to play for Zambia against the touring John Charles XI and he played every game in the three match series.
  6. His performances were so impressive that Welsh club Cardiff City was reportedly interested in signing him together with Godfrey Chitalu.
  7. In April 1968, Chama was named captain against a team of visiting UK coaches as well against Leicester City team which featured Peter Shilton in goal. Later that year, he led Zambia to victory in the Heroes Cup against Uganda which Zambia won 5–3 on aggregate.
  8. In September 1969 Chama left Bancroft to join Mufulira Wanderers for the then record fee in Zambian football which started at K1,600 but was negotiated down to K1,000. As the haggling over the price went on, Chama announced that he would give up soccer if the deal fell through but the two clubs eventually reached common ground.
  9. Later that year, Chama left for West Germany on a coaching stint for one year three months and when he returned, was named Buffaloes coach in early 1978 and won the Heroes & Unity Cup in his first season.
  10. Chama returned to Zambia and according to his son Dick Junior, was about to take up an appointment as Namibian national team coach when he fell ill and died of kidney failure after a bout of malaria on 21 March 2006 at Maina Soko Military Hospital in Lusaka