ZESCO United Football Club (simply often known as ZESCO) is a Zambian professional football club based in

Ndola Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia and third in terms of size and population, with a population of 475,194 (''2010 census provisional''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development aft ...

in Zambia, that competes in the

Zambia Super 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 receives ZMW500,000 ($26,414.20 ...

, Founded in 1974. The team plays its home matches at the

Levy Mwanawasa Stadium The Levy Mwanawasa Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Ndola, Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to a ...

. The club is wholly owned and sponsored by the state owned electricity supplier

ZESCO ZESCO (acronym for Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited) is a state-owned power company in Zambia. It is Zambia's largest power company producing about 80% of the electricity consumed in the country. ZESCO represents Zambia in the S ...

History and records

ZESCO United was founded in 1974. They became the first Zambian club to qualify for the CAF African Champions League Group stage in 2009. ZESCO United are one of only 3

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

n clubs including

Nkana Nkana is a section of the city of Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia which started off in the early part of the 20th century as a railway station to support the growing complex of copper mining operations. It was named after Chief Nkana, the loc ...

and

Green Buffaloes Green Buffaloes Football Club is a Zambia Army-sponsored football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an oppos ...

who hold an all time unbeaten home record against non

n opposition. ZESCO United also became the first Zambian Club this century to play against European opposition when they played against

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acc ...

in Abu Dhabi in 2008. They reached their first ever semi finals of the CAF African Champions League after a 2–2 draw away to Egyptian league champions

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

in Matchday 5 of the Champions' League quarter final group stage. They extended their all time unbeaten home record against non Zambian teams to 26 games on Saturday, 17 September 2016, after a 2–1 home win against South African league champions

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football ...

in the CAF African Champions League. The club also created history by being the first Zambian club to sign Asian players, with

Kosuke Nakamachi is a Japanese football player. Playing career After coming runner-up in the J2 player of the Year awards 2010 while playing for Avispa Fukuoka he was installed as Club Captain for the club as they returned to J1 in 2011. On 2 February 2019, N ...

from Japan.

Achievements

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 receives ZMW500,000 ($26,414.20 ...

: 9 ::2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 ::Runner up : 2005, 2009, 2013, 2016 *

ABSA Cup The ABSA Cup, formerly the Barclays Cup, is the current branding for an association football cup competition launched in 2007 by the Football Association of Zambia. Participants are decided half-way through current season (match day 17) and a ...

: 6 ::2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2019 ::Finalist : 2021 *

Zambian Charity Shield The Zambian Charity Shield officially called Samuel ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu Charity Shield since 2003 is a season opener match between the champions of the previous Super League season and the holders of the ABSA Cup. If the Super League champions als ...

: 5 ::2007, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2021 *

Zambian 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 Cu ...

: 1 ::2006 ::Finalist : 2007 *

Zambian Coca-Cola 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 ( ...

: 1 ::2007 *

Zambian Division One The Zambian Second Division, also known as Division due to sponsorship reasons, was the second division of the Football Association of Zambia. But the league pyramid was restructured before the season of 2019/20 when they also changed the league c ...

: 2 ::1980, 2003

Performance in CAF competitions

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 competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and c ...

: 9 appearances ::

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

– Last 32 ::

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

– Group stage (Top 8) :: 2011 – Last 16 ::

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

– Last 32 :: 2016 – Semi-finals ::

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

– Group stage (Top 16) ::

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

- First Round ::

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

- Group stage (Top 16) ::

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

- Preliminary round *

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and org ...

: 6 appearances :: 2006 – First Round ::

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

– First Round ::

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

– Last 16 ::

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

– Second round ::

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

– Quarter-finals ::

– Group stage (Top 16)

Players

Current squad

''As of 3 May 2021.''

Former players

* Marcel Kalonda

References

External links

* {{Zambian Premier League Football clubs in Zambia Association football clubs established in 1974 Ndola 1974 establishments in Zambia