Zimbabwe: Premier League Nations
The final destination of our alphabetical world tour is Zimbabwe. According to the Premier League website, four Zimbabweans have appeared in the Premier League, including two from the very first season.
First Player – Peter Ndlovu (Coventry City; 1992-97)
Entering as a substitute in Coventry’s second game of the 1992/93 season, Peter Ndlovu became the first African to appear in the Premier League.
Bruce Grobbelaar would become the second later that season, having made over 400 appearances for Liverpool before the rebranding of the English top-flight.
An entertaining striker, Ndlovu scored 34 goals over five seasons with the Sky Blues before spending time in the lower divisions with Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United.
Records
- Most appearances – Peter Ndlovu (154)
- First appearance – Peter Ndlovu (Spurs 0-2 COVENTRY, August 19th 1992)
- Most goals – Peter Ndlovu (34)
- First goal – Peter Ndlovu (Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 COVENTRY, September 2nd 1992)
Other Players
Following Ndlovu and Grobbelaar, Benjani Mwaruwari became the third Zimbabwean to appear in the Premier League in 2006. His first English club was Portsmouth, staying for two seasons before moving to Manchester City and later Sunderland and Blackburn.
The final and most recent Premier League Zimbabwean is Marvelous Nakamba, who has made 21 appearances for Aston Villa so far in 2019/20 in his debut season at Villa Park.
Trivia
- Despite there being only four Zimbabweans in the history of the Premier League, a Zimbabwean has made a Premier League appearance in all four decades since the competition began.
- Peter Ndlovu and Bruce Grobbelaar were the only Africans to feature in the first season of the Premier League.
- Zimbabwe’s four appearances at the Africa Cup of Nations finals have all come since 2000 (2004, 2006, 2017 and 2019).