10 Of Katsande’s Major Achievements In His Decade At Chiefs
As former Zimbabwe Warriors midfield hardman Willard Katsande rounds off a major career milestone by reaching a decade at Kaizer Chiefs in August, he becomes the second Zimbabwean player to have played for the club’s first team for an impressive 10-year period after Tinashe Nengomasha.
We look back at ‘Salt ‘n’ Viniger’s 10 most recognisable achievements at the club so far.
1. Premier League Glory
Willard Katsande won his first premier league title with Kaizer Chiefs in 2012/13 season were he featured in 24 league games. They won the title with a game to spare after a 1-all draw against Supersport United . His second league title was in 2014/15 season. This was arguably one of his best season at the club where he featured in almost every game of the season. They won the league with three games to spare after an impressive 19 game unbeaten run in the league.
2. Nedbank Cup Winner
This is South Africa’s premier knockout trophy, equivalent to English’s FA Cup. Katsande played full game as Chiefs claimed a 1-0 victory over SuperSport United in the final on May 25, 2013, goal courtesy of Bernard Parker’s extra time strike and Chiefs subsequently crowned champions of the Nedbank Cup competition for the 13th time in the club’s history.
3. Scored On Derby
There’s no special goal moment than scoring on derby. Derby goals are cherished and always remembered. Katsande’s goal still rings back memory, and to make it special – it was his first official goal for the club after joining in 2011. He Scored the goal on 15 March 2014 in the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates, the same team he made his debut against, being a header in the 61st minute to beat the late Senzo Meyiwa in goals for Pirates. The goal won him many hearts from Amakhosi faithfulls
4. Club Leader
After captaining the side on an ad hoc basis in the absence of more senior players during Stuart Baxter’s tenure , Katsande was officially appointed the team’s vice-captain in 2016 by Steve Kompela but has been given the armband on several occasions.
5. MTN8 Winner
After a six year wait without winning the MTN8 trophy, Willard Katsande helped Chiefs win the cup after defeating rivals Orlando Pirates 0-1 to clinch the club’s 15th MTN8 title.
6. Player’s player of the season
After an impressive 2014/15 season, Katsande was honoured by his fellow teammates at the annual club’s gala, when he was voted Players’ Player of the Year for his outstanding season
7. Fans Player of the season
After winning four player of the month awards and scoring seven goals to become the club’s second top scorer of the season despite being a defensive midfielder – Katsande was the fans favorite. He was voted Vodacome Fans’ Player of the Year and also scooped the Online Player of the season award after overwhelmingly voted online by the fans.
8. Player of the season
2014/15 was the best season for Katsande. One could not picture the Amakhosi midfield without the Zimbabwean hardman, who has made a name for himself in the PSL and scored crucial goals for the club. His ability to protect the back four made him one of the best destroyers in the country and was rewarded accordingly after named the club’s player of the season.
9. 300 & Up
Katsande is one of the few players at Kaizer Chiefs, alongside Itumeleng Khune and Bernard Parker, to have played more than 300 games for the club. It was a milestone he reached late last year. He surpassed another Zimbabwe and Kaizer Chiefs legend Tinashe Nengomasha’s all time appearances of 317 appearances for the team.
Doctor Khumalo is the record holder with 397 appearances for Amakhosi followed by Simpiwe Tshabalala on 372, Brian Baloyi is on 347 while goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune is on 330. Thabo Mooki is on 329 followed by another Zimbabwean Tinashe Nengomasha with 317 appearances.
10.Legendary status
Having written his names into the annals of Kaizer Chiefs history, Willard Katsande will go down as an Amakhosi legend for years to come, Neil Tovey, a Chiefs legend in his own right after playing for the Soweto giants from January 1991 until he retired in 1999, said Katsande’s great career at Naturena merits legendary status.
“To play 10 years it shows you’ve done something good for the club. You know there’s not a lot of players who played 10 years for a club. It shows the club believes in you and you believe in the club,” Tovey said.
“He has earned it you know, he has earned it. It’s up to the club and the fans to decide on that.”
