He first went to the Catholic School in Broken Hill from 1949 to 1951 and when his father joined the mines on the Copperbelt,[1] the family moved to Kitwe where he got interested in football and like many of Zambia's soccer stars, learned the game the hard way.

Due to lack of facilities, Kapengwe and his friends used to play on a bare ground at Bwafwano community centre in Kamitondo Township with tennis balls and home-made footballs.

[2] Kapengwe first played in goal for amateur side Kitwe Boma Tigers in 1957 together with some great names of that time such as Protasio Makofi and Adriano Musa.

He featured prominently for Tigers and alternated between the goal and the right wing, gaining vast experience by playing with, and against players like Samuel 'Zoom' Ndhlovu, Willie Chifita and Ginger Pensulo.

The issue was finally settled when the Senior Community Development Officer for Kitwe Municipal Council intervened saying she saw no reason for him to join the Lions if it would help him earn a living.

He joined them in January 1963 and a month later with the formation of the Zambian National Football League, the team merged with Tigers to form Kitwe United.

There were only five men from the "dark continent": Kapengwe, Mwila, Mwikuta, Willy Evans of Ghana and South African Kaizer Motaung who incidentally, underwent his trial by featuring for Mufulira Blackpool in Zambia.

Kapengwe enjoyed his stay in the States and his most memorable moment was when Chiefs played against Brazil's top club Santos who featured the great Pelé in August 1968.

Chiefs scored a goal after 19 seconds to stun Santos as described by Kapengwe: "We won the toss and our captain Vic chose the kick-off.

[4] At the end of the 1969 season, Kapengwe quit Chiefs who had by then changed their name to the Atlanta Apollos because of a switch in management following losses due to the unpopularity of the game in its infancy in the country.

[2] At Villa, who were battling for survival at the bottom of the division II table, they met an energetic central defender called Brian Tiler who would later coach Zambia.

[10] Kapengwe was the heart and soul of United and his philosophy as player-coach was to fashion the team into an attacking force and it paid off as Kitwe consistently remained at the top of the league for most part of the season and scooped the Challenge Cup.

[5] Atlanta Apollos offered Kapengwe an attractive contract but City of Lusaka stood in his way, demanding $20,000 as a condition for giving him an international release.

The US club offered to sponsor him on a six-month coaching course in Britain at the end of the season which he explained to City would be of great benefit in the future but they would not budge.

The following day, he was told he would replace his hero Pensulo at outside right in the game against Congo Brazzaville and though he had no confidence at first, he scored on his international debut for Northern Rhodesia with a thunderous strike from somewhere near the centre-line.

His job as a Recreational Officer for Kitwe City Council gave him wide opportunities to train and coach future soccer Zambian internationals.

Although Kapengwe would return to Zambia for holidays between seasons, his three years in Atlanta cost him his first wife who could not endure his long absences from home.