Black Aces Football Club, the successor to Chibuku Shumba, was a Zimbabwean professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

. It was founded in 1972 and dissolved in 2001.

History

Black Aces was formed from the ashes of Chibuku Shumba in 1977, which was affectionately named "Shaisa Mufaro", loosely translated to "party-poopers". They played successful games in the Castle Cup, Chibuku Trophy, BAT Rosebowl, and Rothmans Shield tournaments during the 1970s. In the 1990s the Black Aces, coached by the Peter Nyama and later on by Swiss national

Marc Duvillard Marc Duvillard (born 22 November 1952) is a retired Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Sw ...

, became one of the top clubs in the country. When Black Aces lost their chief financier, Edgar Ricardo-Serafim, they vowed that they would win the BP League Cup as a fitting tribute to him. In 1999 Francis "Gaza" Jeyman captained the now struggling side to a famous BP Cup triumph. The club was dissolved in 2001.

Notable players and coaches

During its time in existence, Black Aces produced some of the household names in local football: July Sharara, Archieford Chimutanda, George Rollo, Shadreck Ngwenya, Brenna Msiska, Daniel Chikanda, Bernard Dzingayi, Byron "Piri Piri" Manuel, Rodrick Muganhiri, Fresh Chamarengah, Percy Mwase, Patrick Daka, David Muchineripi, the Mugeyi twins Wilfred and William, Stanley Mashezha, Itayi Kapini, Mike Bingandadi, Emmanuel Nyahuma, John Mbidzo, Francis Jayman, Tapuwa Kapini, Tinashe Nengomasha, Nqobizitha Ncube, Wonder Ngoko, Roy Muchuchu, Lewis Chihuri, Knowledge Zinyama, Herbert Zimbeva, Herbert Mbabvu, David Sengu, Tapfumanei Dodo, Timothy Cosmos, Alex Munawa, Vusi Lehar, Tendai Mwarura, George Takaruza and Butler Masango all made their name at Black Aces. Byron Manuel (born c.1956), who first played for the

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

Under-16 team, played and coached at his school, St John's High School. Black Aces coaches Bob Lines and Mitch Khan recruited him from there, and he was allowed to play for the club on Sundays. He was known as "Piri Piri" to his fans; manager

Bruce Grobbelaar Bruce David Grobbelaar (born 6 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most prominently for English club Liverpool between 1981 and 1994, and for the Zimbabwean national team. Regarded as one of ...

called him "the Apache Warrior" owing to his Native American ancestry. He joined Chibuku Shumba straight after leaving school in 1972, and after its demise and resurrection as the Black Aces, joined the new club. He was coached by English coach

Ray Batchelor Raymond Harold Walter Batchelor (1924–2006), often misspelt Bachelor, was an English athletics and football coach and administrator who was active in Kenya, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. He is known for being the first ever manager of the Kenya nation ...

at some point in his career, and played with

Rio Tinto FC Kadoma, formerly known as Gatooma, is a town in Zimbabwe. Overview The city is at the centre of a mining area, which provides gold, copper, and nickel. The most significant mine of the region is the Cam and Motor Mine, which is located in Eif ...

in 1979. He moved to Canada in the late 1980s.

Achievements

Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League is the top professional division of the Zimbabwe Football Association. It was founded in 1980, as a successor to the 1962 formed ''Rhodesia National Football League.'' It is currently sponsored by Delta Beverages ...

:Champions (1): 1992 :Runners-up: 1980 *Zimbabwe Cup :Runners-up: 1980 *BP League Cup :Winners (1): 1999

References

{{reflist

External links

Black Aces FC - Team Info
- ''Global Sports Archive'' Football clubs in Zimbabwe Association football clubs established in 1977 Association football clubs disestablished in 2001 Sport in Harare 1977 establishments in Rhodesia 2001 disestablishments in Zimbabwe