Willard Katsande (born 15 January 1986 in Mutoko) is a retired professional footballer, a former player of Premier Soccer League club Kaizer Chiefs and the Zimbabwe national team. He also played with DStv Premiership sides Ajax Cape Town and Sekhukhune United.
Club career
Early career
Known as a midfield work-horse, Willard Katsande began his career playing for local lower division clubs in Zimbabwe such as Frontier Steel (2002–2005), Feruka (2006–2007) and a popular giant killing club from Mutare, called Highway (2007–2009) from where he was recruited to play for Gunners F.C. in Harare for the 2009–10 season.
Gunners F.C.
At Gunners, Katsande made a huge contribution to the club's campaign in the CAF Champions League qualifiers. He was in irresistible form as the Gunners shocked African giants Al-Ahly 1–0 at
Rufaro Stadium in the Champions League second round match before eventually bowing out on 2–1 aggregate, after losing the reverse encounter 2–0 in Cairo. The Gunners would however finish 1st in their league, clinching the title as Zimbabwean Premier League Champions for the 2009–10 season.
Ajax Cape Town
Willard Katsande made his professional debut for Ajax Cape Town on 12 December 2010 in a 2–0 win against Mpumalanga Black Aces at
Atlantic Stadium in Witbank. He was acquired by Ajax Cape Town in the summer of 2010 as a transfer from Zimbabwean club Gunners F.C., having left a lasting impression on the club by his earlier performance with the Gunners in the CAF Champions League qualifiers.
Kaizer Chiefs
On 15 August 2011 it was announced that Willard Katsande had joined the Kaizer Chiefs, after Chiefs manager Bobby Motaung saw his performance, while attending an international friendly match between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Katsande made his debut on 10 September 2011 in the MTN 8 final against
Orlando Pirates coming in for Tshabalala in the 81st minute.
In his first 12 league matches for Chiefs, Katsande got 5 yellow cards.
Katsande won the Premier Soccer League and the
Nedbank Cup in 2013 where he was the most booked player with 10 yellow cards including one red card.
Katsande scored a long range scorcher after taking a few steps off the centre line in a 4–1 win over Bloemfontein Celtic on 21 July 2013 with his fellow countryman
Knowledge Musona scoring on debut.
Katsande scored his first official 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 in a 1–0 win. He scored almost on the goal line and headed past Senzo Meyiwa.
International career
Katsande was called up for national duty to represent Zimbabwe as of 2010, after his successful run with the Gunners, playing for the country's 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Career statistics
Club
.
| + Statistics |
|
|
| Kaizer Chiefs | 2011–12 | Premier Soccer League | 0 |
2012–13 | Premier Soccer League | 0 |
2013–14 | Premier Soccer League | 1 |
2014–15 | Premier Soccer League | 2 |
2015–16 | Premier Soccer League | 7 |
| 2016-17 | Premier Soccer League | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
|
|
International
.
[
]
International goals
. Scores and results list Zimbabwe's goal tally first.
Honours
Gunners
-
Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League: 2009–10
Ajax Cape Town
Kaizer Chiefs
-
Premier Soccer League: 2012–13, 2014–15
-
Nedbank Cup: 2012–13
-
MTN 8: 2014
