Talented forward Peter Banda hopes joining Moldova league champions, Sheriff Tisapol FC, could act as a springboard for an illustrious career on the big platform of European football.
Peter Banda spoke to Sheriff media team a few days after completing his six-month loan switch from Malawi’s TNM Super League champions, Nyasa Big Bullets FC.
“I’m deeply excited for this opportunity that FC Sheriff has given me. It’s a dream come true because I’ve always had the bigger picture of me playing in Europe. Getting this deal is not only a big thing to me but it’s also a big thing to Malawian football, especially to my fellow youngsters who have ambitions to play at a bigger stage like this one, so when I say I’m deeply excited, I really am because this is a very important step for me,” he told the club’s website.
The Malawi Player of the Year 2019 added that it was inevitable that he would pursue a football career, as he comes from a family of sportsmen and women.
“Football is something that has been deep-rooted in me. I was introduced to football at birth. Yes, my father (unfortunately, he is no longer with us) was playing for the biggest club in Malawi and apart from him, my whole family is a football/sports family.
“My grandfather, who was for a long time coach for the Malawi Netball Team was also a football person, my uncles, cousins and almost everyone in my family is fond of football, so you can see how I was influenced into taking football as my career,” he was quoted saying.
Peter Banda was referring his late father, Chikondi Banda, who formed a deadly quartet at Bullets in the late 1990s alongside Muzipasi Mwangonde, James Chimera Junior and Andrew Chikhosi.
Chikondi Banda did not have a stellar career with the Flames, but he was a star for junior national teams, including the under-20 team that qualified for the African Youth Championship finals in Ghana in 1999 under the mentorship of coach Alex Masanjala and technical director Manfred Hoener.
As an attacking midfielder, Chikondi Banda played for Civo United, Bullets, Wanderers, Michiru Castles and Nyasa United before he called it time on his career.
He died in 2013 well before his son had established himself as a professional footballer.
Peter Banda has since kept his father’s legacy alive after announcing his arrival on the big stage in 2016 when he won the Golden Boot Award for the Cosafa Under-17 Championship in Mauritius in 2016 when the then Deklerk Msakakuona charges bagged bronze medal.
He was then playing for the FMB Southern Region side, Griffin Saenda Stars, before Bullets signed him two seasons ago. At Sheriff, he has reunited with ex-Bullets team-mate, Charles Petro.
Peter Banda rose through the ranks, featuring for the under-17, 20, 23 then the Flames.
In 2018, he also attended trials at BidVest Wits, Orlando Pirates (South Africa) and Clube Brugge in Belgium with no success.