[15] Upon retirement, Chitalu took to coaching and was in charge of the Zambia national team when the entire squad perished in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon on 27 April 1993.

Shortly afterwards, he was surprised when the Recreation Officer, Bennie Evans, invited him to Fisansa Youth Club for a trial after which he started playing for the team as a centre-forward.

Chitalu's talent was noticed by a club trainer called Tirivavi, who encouraged him to concentrate on playing football and forget about boxing so he hung up his gloves conditioned too by the fact that not many boys of his age were interested in the sport.

[18][20] In 1966 now wearing the number 10 shirt for Kitwe United, cemented his place in the side and was one of its leading scorers, with 14 goals, although the team could only manage a sixth-place finish.

[18][20] The strong and aggressive teenager, who admired the Scottish striker Denis Law, showed plenty of skill but also had a reputation for being temperamental and rough.

After being warned several times for rough play, he was finally booked by the referee but Chitalu gave his name as Denis Law and this earned him a sending off.

As he was already on a warning for bad behaviour, the disciplinary committee of the Zambian NFL came down hard on him and suspended him for the rest of the season for giving the referee a false name.

He said each time he had committed an offence in the past, he used to question the referee but Kitwe United officials had been responsible for changing his character.

He was suspended for six months for leaving the national team's training camp without permission, despite his explanation that he was unwell and had gone to seek treatment from his doctor in Luanshya.

[19] He won the league and Chibuku Cup double in his first season at Kabwe Warriors and ended the year as top scorer with 51 goals for club and country.

[31] Chitalu kicked off the 1972 season by scoring a brace when Kabwe Warriors drew 2–2 with Majantja FC in Maseru in the African Cup of Champions Clubs on 23 January 1972.

He followed this up with a lesson in clinical finishing, scoring seven goals when Kabwe Warriors overwhelmed the Sothos 9–0 in the second leg on 6 February 1972 at Dag Hammarskjöld Stadium in Ndola.

He scored a hat-trick when Kabwe Warriors beat Maseru United 7–1 in an international friendly at the same venue in March and 4 goals in a 14–2 thrashing of Norco Rangers in a Chibuku Cup first round match to pull away from the rest of the field.

When Zambia met Lesotho in a FIFA World Cup qualification game in June, he struck twice in a 6–1 victory and was also on the score-sheet in friendly matches against Union Española of Chile.

At the end of the season Kabwe Warriors had swept all the silverware on offer, a haul which included the Footballer of the Year and Top scorer awards for Chitalu who attributed his success to the good support of his teammates.

For his remarkable achievement, Chitalu received a special yellow ball from sponsors Rothmans International which had his name and number of goals inscribed on it.

The Football Association of Zambia presented the evidence to FIFA but a spokesperson responded that they would ratify neither Messi's nor Chitalu's records as they do not keep statistical track of domestic competitions.

[39] Chitalu played a prominent role during the World Cup qualification matches against Sudan with Zambia being eliminated on a strange rule which was peculiar to Africa and favoured the team that won the second leg.

[40] Planned protests led to nothing as FIFA explained: Chitalu was in the team that beat Nigeria 5–1 on 15 July 1973 in Lusaka to qualify to the 1974 African Cup of Nations.

He made a comeback when Zambia coach Brightwell Banda took charge of the team, coming off the bench to score two goals in a crucial World Cup qualification tie against Uganda on 27 February 1977 in a 4–2 victory in Ndola.

[42] He repeated the feat five months later in an Africa Cup of Nations qualification game against Algeria with Zambia trailing 2–0 from the first leg in Algiers.

The following year, Chitalu graced his second Africa Cup of Nations at Ghana 1978 but Zambia lost him to injury in the first game and were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

[49] Although he denied attacking the referee, the Football Association of Zambia meted out an even heavier punishment when they banned him for life and Kabwe Warriors were fined and docked points for the abandonment of the game.

[50] It seemed like an ignominious end for the famed goal-king but his club mounted an appeal and the life ban was lifted and replaced by a two-year probation period and a fine.

[53] In October 1987, he was appointed Administrative Manager for the national team and the following year, Zambia qualified to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games after a nerve-wracking 2–1 aggregate win over Ghana.

[61] Zambia were tipped to make it all the way to the 1994 World Cup,[62] but on their way to Senegal the team met its fate in the horrific air disaster off the coast of Gabon.

Chitalu married Christine Chibale in October 1972, in between two matches against Ghana's Hearts of Oak in the African Cup of Champions Clubs.

[64] On 27 April 1993, the Zambia national team was travelling to Senegal for the first of their 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification games in the group stage.

Thirty people on board including Michael Mwape, the president of the Football Association of Zambia, Chitalu and eighteen players died in the accident.

Pons amongst others excluded goals scored in the Charity Shield and the Chibuku Cup, indirectly basing his assumptions on the fact that the website of the Zambian FA makes no direct reference to these tournaments.