Player #544 for Aston Villa, Emment Kapengwe played as a midfielder for the club in 1969-70 making 3 appearances.

Emment was born in Broken Hill, Zambia on 27 March 1943 and he made his debut appearance for Villa on Wednesday, 12 November 1969 aged 26.

Tommy Docherty had signed Emment from Atlanta Chiefs in a combined deal with fellow Zambian Freddie Mwila with the pair becoming the first African players to sign for the club.

Docherty had spotted the pair in a pre-season friendly and immediately moved to sign them up despite the huge step up in football from the NASL to the second tier in England.

Emment was simply sensational on his debut as one spectator revealed:

“In nearly 30 years of watching football I have never seen a player make such an impact in his first football league appearance. He showed more natural talent than any other player on the field and remember he was in the company of Bruce Rioch who cost a six-figure fee.”

Like much of the short, maligned Tommy Docherty regime however Emment’s debut proved a false dawn as two further appearances solicited significantly lessened performances and as a result Emment made his final appearance for Villa on Monday, 16 March 1970 aged 26 by which time Vic Crowe had been installed as Docherty’s replacement.

To add insult to injury as he led Villa to the third tier, the failed former Villa boss Docherty was alleged to have enticed both Kapengwe and his compatriot Mwila away from the Villa following his sacking saying “Look, I am going away elsewhere but if you want to stay, you are at liberty to do so.”

Both left Villa at the end of the season mid-way through their two-year deals and returned to Zambian football before returning to Atlanta Chiefs in July 1970.

Emment passed away on 17 September 1988 aged just 45.