Former Chapungu player Edmore Chapfungamoyo was yesterday unveiled as the new Caps United team captain in a unique captaincy structure at the Green Machine which also saw David Sengu appointed as club captain.
The appointments come 48 hours before Caps open their 2012 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign with a tricky away tie against Shabanie Mine at Maglas on Sunday.
Explaining the structure at a Press conference yesterday, Caps manager Sean Connor, who was flanked by the two captains, said Chapfungamoyo will be the on-pitch leader of the team and will be deputised by Tapuwa Kumbuyani.
On the other had Sengu — one of the longest-serving players at the club, who also captained the last Caps side to win the league championship — will act as ambassador of the team.
“David (Sengu), as you know, who has won the league championship with Caps United before has served the club for a long time and knows the history of the club.
“He has earned my respect over the last couple of weeks in the way he has conducted himself and has convinced me he is the right man for the job. He will be the ambassador of the club and will work closely with me and Lloyd (Chitembwe) and all the grievances from the players will come through David. The players have already formed their own players’ committee,” said Connor.
“Eddie (Chapfungamoyo) will be the on-pitch captain. He has certainly impressed me from day one. Any of the new ideas we have introduced, he has quickly grasped and he’s constantly asking questions on how he can improve his game. He’s an honest, hard worker and exemplary professional who deserves to be the on-pitch leader of the team,” Connor said.
Connor said while the culture of appointing a separate club and team captain was alien to local football, it was common in European clubs. “A lot of clubs in England have club captains and their role is more of overall responsibility for the day-to-day relationship between the players and coaching staff while the team captain is the on-field leader.”
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Chapfungamoyo said: “To play for Caps United is a challenge on its own; captaining the club is a bigger responsibility. I’m, however, confident that it won’t put me under any pressure and I’ll execute my duties well.”
Sengu said having captained the club before, the new appointment was not something new and he would carry on from where he had left off.
Meanwhile, Connor said while he did not know much about his opponents except from what he had heard from his colleagues, he foresaw a tough encounter at Shabanie.
“It’s been difficult to get find out more about Shabanie, but after this week we won’t have that difficulty. All our opposition will now be properly watched and studied. Kennedy (Nagoli) will be watching Motor Action on Saturday (tomorrow) and that will be the trend every week.
“However, the first match of the season is always difficult no matter which team you play because it’s almost like a cup final. All the teams will get there with a lot of enthusiasm after working hard during the pre-season and obviously Shabanie will be more confident because they are at home.”
