Joel Bwalya

Joel Kangala Bwalya (born 24 October 1972) is a Zambian football coach and former player. He has been an assistant coach at Zanaco since January 2020.

Joel Bwalya
Personal information
Full name Joel Kangala Bwalya[1]
Date of birth (1972-10-24) 24 October 1972
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Zanaco (assistant coach)
Youth career
1985–1986 Mufulira Police
1986–1987 Mufulira Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1991 Mufulira Wanderers
1991–1999 Cercle Brugge
1994–1996 → KRC Harelbeke (loan)
1999–2000 Zultse VV
2004 ZESCO United
National team
Zambia U16
Zambia U20
1990–1997 Zambia
Teams managed
2017–2020 Ndola United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early and personal life

Bwalya grew up in Mufulira with two older brothers who were both also footballers, Benjamin and Kalusha.[2]

He left school in the 10th grade to focus on a football career.[3]

Club career

Bwalya played as a midfielder.[4] He began his career with Mufulira Police in 1985, moving to Mufulira Wanderers in 1986, and becoming a first-team member in 1987.[2] In 1988 he won the Independence Cup with Mufulira Wanderers.[2]

He later played in Belgium for Cercle Brugge, KRC Harelbeke and Zultse VV.[4] When he moved to Belgium in 1991 with Cercle Brugge, rejecting the chance to sign for Swiss club Grasshoppers, he did so because his older brother Kalusha had previously played for the club.[2] In 1994 he was loaned to KRC Harelbeke for two years.[2] Whilst with KRC Harelbekehe was voted the best foreign player in Division One.[2] KRC Harelbekehe wanted to make the loan permanent, but Bwalya returned to Cercle Brugge.[2]

He finished his career back in Zambia with ZESCO United.[5]

International career

In 1988 he was a member of the Zambia under-16 team playing qualifying matches for the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship.[2] He was also a squad member for the under-20 team at the 1991 African Youth Championship.[2]

He also played for the senior team between 1990 and 1997,[4] making his international debut at the age of 18.[2] He was a squad member at the African Cup of Nations in 1990, 1994, and 1996.[2]

Coaching career

He coached at Luanshya Hotspurs and Luanshya United.[2] In 2017 he was an assistant coach at Red Arrows, before becoming manager of Ndola United.[2] He left Ndola United in January 2020 to become an assistant coach at Zanaco.[2]

References
  1. "Staff Member". ZANACO Football Club Official Website.
  2. Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Joel Bwalya, Kalusha's often forgotten brother". CAFOnline.com.
  3. "Joel Bwalya shows one and all he's no fluke". Zambia Daily Mail. 5 August 1993.
  4. "Joel Bwalya". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  5. "Joël Bwalya - Stats - titles won". www.footballdatabase.eu.
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