The history of Namibian football will be incomplete if the name of Shepherd Murape does not appear in the golden pages of our national archives. He warmed himself up into the hearts and souls of many local football followers with his vast expertise of international football.
Without a shadow of doubt, the former Dynamos Football Club captain brought a new dimension to the local game introducing a new style of play similar to the English game as opposed to the German style of hard running football and tight man marking.
After stabilizing the Brave Warriors journey at the international stage, Murape turned his attention to club football. He was installed head coach of struggling Katutura giants African Stars Football Club and won the coveted league title at his first attempt with a skeleton squad of average players.
He laid the foundation for the revamped Reds’ triumph over recently crowned Namibian champions Ramblers in the thrilling final of the Metropolitan Champion of Champions Cup at Windhoek’s Independence stadium in 1993, in addition to the Castle Classic Trophy, the same season.
His next stop was the coastal harbor town of Walvis-Bay, where he found refuge with Kuisebmund outfit Blue Waters. The Zimbabwean tactician turned the Birds into a formidable unit reviving the club’s ailing fortunes with a new brand of entertaining football never witnessed before in that neck of the woods.
The wide awake Murape assembled a squad of previously untried youngsters blended with few experienced players to build one of the most exciting Blue Waters side in years. Under his watch, the likes of Vanoi Amadhila, Armando Pedro, Jean Martin, Sandro de Gouveia, Samuel ‘Olly’ Tjizumaue, Ephraim Mdota Martin-Shozi, Karasa Mupupa, all blossomed becoming overnight household names.
Under his watch, the Birds also clinched the national Premiership title, which culminated in qualification for the prestigious CAF club championship. He spearheaded the rejuvenated Birds to victory in the lucrative FNB, and BP Top 8 Cups.
Back home in his native Zimbabwe, Murape boasts a filthy rich resume having won several high profile silverware with boyhood club Dynamos. He also coached both the Zimbabwean youth and senior football teams at different intervals in addition to representing his motherland with distinction internationally.
The hard tackling defender was in the starting lineup when the hapless Rhodesian Invitational Eleven suffered a humiliating 7-0 defeat at the hands of the rampant South African Springbok side, which had the great Jomo Sono, Lawrence Chelin, Patson Banda, Phil Ntoseng, Shakes Mashaba, Patrick Ace Ntsoelengoe, Stuart Lilly, Jan Malombo Lichaba, Sacharias Vusi Lamola, Webster Lechaba, and many greats in their armory.
Having won almost every available silverware there was to be won on Namibian soil, it was time for new challenges. Armed with a spotless CV, Murape was not going to be short of proper suitors. He received numerous lucrative job offers to coach in neighboring South Africa.
The streetwise Zimbabwean national landed himself coaching portfolios with leading football teams from across the Orange River that included a stint with Soweto giants Orlando Pirates, Real Rovers, rescuing many struggling clubs from being relegated to the lower tier leagues.
Murape will go down in history as one of the most outstanding well decorated coaches to have ever operated on Namibian soil. He should be placed in
the same conversation as Raphael Mlungisi Ngubane, Dieter Widmann, Ben Bamfuschile, Vic Lovell, Ted Dumitru, Wolfgang Schuller, and few others who had left permanent footprints in Namibian football.