Exciting Grootfontein outfit Chelsea Football Club has in the past produced a significant number of great footballers of substance. The maiden generation of Chelsea was spearheaded by the unmatched Damaseb cousins of Orlando and Pieces, the Francis siblings Erich and Tiger, Naobeb brothers Kid and Ruru, Tsandib siblings Elvis, Danaob and magical midfielder George Nawatiseb. In later years, a new generation took over the baton, but two specific youngsters of exceptional talent captured the imagination of the neutral fan. That pair was made up of Steven Damaseb and Boeta Mungunda. Sadly, the latter recently passed on after losing a battle against severe diabetes at age 56. New Era Sport today pays a dignified tribute to the departed Mungunda, unpacking his abbreviated football journey.
Grootfontein outfit Chelsea FC was generally regarded by many as the most entertaining football entity in the business, though the general belief is that the club has many a time been prejudiced by suspicious match officials.
The dominant view was that just because the club was not from Windhoek, it was always subjected to dodgy decisions by biased match officials, denying them victories that were there for the taking in major cup competitions.
And although the majority of the playing personnel became disillusioned – quitting the game while still at the pinnacle of their flourishing football careers – Chelsea managed to weather the storm, despite all the odds staked against them.
The team regrouped and recruited several youngsters, but the new blood could simply not replicate the club’s traditional carpet football implemented by the previous generation.
Attacking midfielder-cum-striker Mungunda was amongst the new arrivals. He went on to form a telekinetic partnership with Steven Damaseb in the firing line.
Born Dawid Mungunda on 19 January 1966 in Mariental, the young footballer was certainly destined for the bigger stage.
After all, elder brother Edu Karigub was a phenomenal midfielder, who cut his teeth in the tough and demanding rigours of domestic topflight football with Katutura giants African Stars and exciting Nau-Aib (Okahandja) outfit Battle Boys during an illustrious but short-lived football career.
Nephews Johannes and Lucky Mungunda were also formidable footies. Boeta relocated to Grootfontein at a very young age with his grandmother.
The family settled in the Omulunga township, and it was there where his interest in chasing an inflated pigskin gained momentum. Hardly out of his pair of shorts, aged just seven, Boeta was football-crazy like many other young boys in the hood and would play football at the slightest provocation, be it on his way to school or with friends in the dusty streets whenever time permitted.
He started playing competitive football at the age of 16 for local team Poison Arrows, an unfashionable outfit made up of predominantly Ovaherero-speaking blokes residing in that neck of the woods, playing alongside lanky playmaker, the late Poriro Upingasana, lethal goal-poacher Curtis Tjizepa, and Richard Neumann, amongst others.
Sadly, with the majority of the team’s playing personnel starting to grow a bit long in the tooth, it saw Arrows closing shop and thus obliging young Boeta to seek refuge at local rivals Dynamos FC.
And though Dynamos lived in the shadow of their celebrated neighbours Chelsea, the club boasted great athletes in the shape of Jouyee, Images, Socks, Timo Xoaseb and Zimbo, just to mention a few.
“After a few matches, I decided to join forces with boyhood club Chelsea in 1985, where I played alongside my childhood hero Orlando Damaseb. It was always my boyhood dream to rub shoulders with Orlando, and the first time I shared the dressing room with him was doubtlessly the biggest milestone of my entire football career,” revealed Boeta during an exclusive interview with New Era Sport back in 2017.
When he arrived at Chelsea, the club boasted a very competitive squad, led by the dangerous Francis brothers Richo and Tiger, Pieces Damaseb, Laza Auchumeb,Timo Xoaseb, Ruru and Kid Naobeb, Dave Ameb, Angolan import Elias Castanova, George Nawatiseb and Turu Horaseb.
However, by the following season, Chelsea underwent a major facelift, with a number of youngsters roped in to replace the ageing old guard. The new arrivals were led by the free-scoring Steven Damaseb, Alex Ganaseb, schoolteacher Gottfried Damaseb, versatile midfielder Puli Subeb and Doctor Hishiko.
With Boeta marshalling the firing line, the new-look Chelsea reached the final of the Metropolitan Cup where they came up against Young Ones, only to fall short (1-4).
Nonetheless, the club atoned for defeat by claiming the elusive coveted Namibia Soccer Super League (NSSL) title at the end of the 1986 campaign – dethroning inaugural league champions Tigers.
A highly-gifted natural goalscorer, Boeta was sparingly used as a false centre-forward (No.10), but the dribbling wizard would regularly register his name on the score- sheet with breathtaking goals.
Schooling in Rundu at the time, he enjoyed unsurpassed success with Chelsea, winning several knockout cups in Tsumeb, Otjiwarongo, Otavi, Khorixas and Rundu. Boeta also turned out for Rundu Chiefs.
His goalscoring prowess did not escape the eyes of talent scouts, and the stocky attacking midfielder was snapped up by Katutura glamour football club African Stars in 1988. He finally unleashed his full potential playing alongside the club’s blue-eyed boy, the late Juku Tjazuko, and the free-scoring Jackson Meroro in a three-pronged strike force.
The same year, Boeta was drafted into the South West Africa (SWA) Provincial Invitational Eleven, but as fate would have it, he was summoned back to his adopted Grootfontein to be closer to his ailing grandmother, and rejoined Chelsea, where he was installed as captain by head coach Orlando Damaseb.
Unfortunately, Chelsea found themselves in unfamiliar territory after they were relegated from the country’s topflight league. It was back to the drawing board for the ailing Omulunga outfit.
The club was obliged to start afresh with a completely new squad that saw highly gifted youngsters in the following sequence: James Shipunda, Steps Tsanigab, Samora Kubas, Ages Dandu, Doctor Hishiko, Dabae Damaseb, Hafeni ‘Teenage’ Muashekele, all thrown into the lion’s den alongside old bones Richo Francis, George Nawatiseb and Elka Tsuxub, as Chelsea was determined to steer the sinking ship out of stormy waters.
In the meantime, Boeta found employment as a cop with the Namibian Police Force, and was dispatched to the Garden Town of Okahandja in 1990. He wasted little time and joined newly-formed Liverpool, campaigning in the all-inclusive newly-formed Namibia Premier League (NPL).
“We had in our armoury veteran defender Albert Tjihero, younger brothers Jamanuka and Bimbo, Mbakero Jaezuruka, Dawid Snewe, Max Xamseb, Toufie Mbako, China Utoni and my elder brother Edu, under the leadership of Oscar Mengo,” he reflected at the time.
During his illustrious short stint with Liverpool, Boeta became the darling of the club’s usually hard-to-please supporters with his goalscoring ability. The serial net-rattler scored the only goal when Liverpool sent Tigers packing (1-0) in a league match, and registered his name on the score-sheet again via a well-taken brace against Young Ones in 1990.
He cemented himself as a vital cog in the star-studded Liverpool starting line-up, but his dream move was short- lived after he was badly injured in a horrific car accident.
The ordeal derailed his potential debut call-up for the Brave Warriors under wily Zimbabwean mentor Shepherd Murape, who had expressed a desire to include the tricky forward in his squad.
“Football was great in those days and despite the absence of financial incentives, we played for pride and bragging rights. It was very competitive, and I’m still shivering whenever I’ m recalling the tough battles with Life Fighters’ bone-crunching defender Sipho Kauripeke and Vemuna Hoveka of Hungry Lions.
They were doubtlessly the toughest defenders I have ever had to deal with during my playing career.”
At the time of his untimely departure, Boeta was burning the midnight oil alongside former players to revive the ailing fortunes of Chelsea in an effort to reclaim the team’s rightful place among the country’s finest football teams.