Kabwe Warriors is a

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

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

Kabwe Kabwe is the capital of the Zambian Central Province and the Kabwe District, with a population estimated at 288,598 at the 2022 census. Named Broken Hill until 1966, it was founded when lead and zinc deposits were discovered in 1902. Kabwe also ...

that plays in the

Zambian Premier League The Zambia Super League, known as the MTN Super League for sponsorship purposes, is the top association football league created in 1962 by the Football Association of Zambia. The winners of the league each season receive ZMW1,000,000 ($40000) ...

. They play their home games at

Railway Stadium Railway Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Garhi Shahu, Lahore, Pakistan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and serves as the home venue for the Pakistan Railways football team, and was one of the primary venues for the Pakistan ...

in Kabwe. They were once the second most successful club in Zambia in terms of trophies won, behind

Mufulira Wanderers Mufulira Wanderers are Zambia's most successful football club, based in the Copperbelt town of Mufulira, and compete in the Zambia Super League after their promotion from the Zambia National Division One at the end of 2023–24. Popularly kno ...

, but have not won the league title since 1987. The club is owned and sponsored by

Zambia Railways Zambia Railways (ZR) is the national railway company of Zambia and one of the two major railway organisations in Zambia. The other system is the binational TAZARA Railway (TAZARA) that interconnects with the ZR at Kapiri Mposhi and provides a li ...

. while

1xbet 1xBet is an online gambling company licensed by Curaçao eGaming License. It was founded in 2007, is based in Cyprus, and licensed in Curacao. The organisation operates a franchise business model. Following revelations into the company's finan ...

are the shirt sponsors and main partner of the club.

History

The club was founded as Broken Hill United but changed their name to Kabwe Warriors in 1966. Warriors won their first league title in 1968 on goal difference after

Ndola United Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia in terms of size and population, with a population of 627,503 (''2022 census''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development after Lusaka. It is the ...

, who was leading the table entering the final round, lost 2–1 on the last day of the season. In 1971 Kabwe Warriors became the first Zambian side to play in now

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

, but the team performed badly. In 1972, however, the warriors represented Zambia in continental football competition and reached the quarter finals. Warriors lost in the quarter finals to Ghana('s)

Accra Hearts of Oak Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports team, sports club based in Accra (Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving ...

via a 3-9 goal aggregate. Zambian football great

Godfrey Chitalu Godfrey Chitalu (22 October 1947 – 27 April 1993), nicknamed Ucar, was a Zambian Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is widely regarded as the greatest Zambian player of all time as he ...

who is the club's all-time leading scorer is regarded as the club's greatest player. He played for the club between 1971 and 1982. In 1972 he scored 107 goals in all competitions for club and country; more than

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

's officially recognized record set in 2012. In the 2013/14 season,

Kabwe Warriors Kabwe Warriors is a Zambian football (soccer), football club based in Kabwe that plays in the Zambian Premier League. They play their home games at Godfrey 'Ucar' Chitalu 107 Stadium, Railway Stadium in Kabwe. They were once the second most succe ...

was relegated, but the club returned to the top flight after a one-year absence, winning promotion with five games left to play in the Division One North. On 24 January 2024 at Pamodzi Hotel, Lusaka international betting company 1xBet signed a sponsorship agreement with Kabwe Warriors Football Club. According to the sponsorship contract, the bookmaker's logo will be placed on the team's uniform and official social media pages. The parties also agreed to hold collaborative competitions and events.https://mcjamspromos.co/1xbets-sponsorship-lights-up-a-bright-start-for-kabwe-warriors-and-zambian-sports/

Achievements

: 5 ::1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1987 *

Zambian Cup According to records from the RSSSF, there were many association football single elimination tournament, cup competitions organized in Zambia since 1962, some of which are the Independence Cup, the Zambian Challenge Cup (both organized in 1961), ...

: 5 ::1967, 1969, 1972, 1984, 1987 *

Zambian Challenge Cup According to records from the RSSSF, there were many association football cup competitions organized in Zambia since 1962, some of which are the Independence Cup, the Zambian Challenge Cup (both organized in 1961), the Champion of Champions Cup ...

: 8 ::1970, 1972, 1989, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 * Zambian Coca-Cola Cup: 1 ::2006

Performance in CAF competitions

African Cup of Champions Clubs The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) a ...

: 3 appearances ::

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

: Quarter-Finals ::

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

: Quarter-Finals ::

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

: Second Round ::

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

: Second Round *

CAF Cup The CAF Cup was an annual competition organised by the CAF for domestic leagues runners-up of member associations who have not qualified to one of the two pre-existing CAF international club competitions the African Cup of Champions Clubs or t ...

: 3 appearances ::1996 – First Round ::1997 – Second Round ::2002 – First Round *

CAF Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

: 3 appearances ::1992 – Second Round ::1993 – First Round ::1995 – Second Round

References

Football clubs in Zambia Kabwe {{Zambia-footyclub-stub