Lee Sibanda has established himself as a regular in the senior game for the first time after a number of false starts and also played a role in the Red Lichties first every League Championship trophy win in their 14 decades of history when they lifted last season’s IRN-BRU SFL Third Division title.
The attacking midfielder has kept down a place as Paul Sheerin’s men began life well in the Second Division and he also netted the first goal in last Saturday’s 6-1 defeat of Albion Rovers that announced Arbroath are back in the title race after a disappointing run that saw Cowdenbeath pull eight points clear.
Sibanda said: “It has been a good year where I have played a lot of football and helped the team win the League. I had been in and out at Cowdenbeath during the first half of last season so it has been great to make my mark here.”
Whilst Sibanda is now getting noticed, it is an incredible 18 years ago that he first came to the attention of a senior side as he explained: “I was involved with my first club Dunfermline from when I was just nine. I came through their youth system and got a full-time contract there but unfortunately, I never made the first team.”
Injuries were partly to blame with Sibanda saying: “I suffered from Scoliosis, which is curvature of the spine, and had to go through two fairly big operations and one of them was in my final season so I never made the breakthrough there that I would have liked to.
“I was only 20 when I left and it was a big wrench to leave but that is how things turned out. I had a couple of months at Montrose but never really played there and I went on to play Junior football before heading off to Australia where I played and did some coaching.”
A broken ankle ended Sibanda’s time down under and when he got back to fitness, his former Assistant Manager at East End Park, Jimmy Nicholl, added him to his squad for the Blue Brazil’s assault on the First Division.
“I signed for them just after they had played their first League game of the season,” said Sibanda before adding, “I came on as a substitute in the second game against Stirling and scored the equaliser before we went on to win.”
Sibanda did not find the net again for the Central Park men and frustrated by a lack of starts, he took the opportunity to join Sheerin’s side last January and he has enjoyed the move.
“I have played more regularly at Arbroath and this season, I have chipped in with five goals. I am still getting stick about not scoring as much as I should. I should be getting a lot more according to our Assistant Manager Stewart Petrie.”
One thing that Petrie cannot complain about is the number of penalties that have been conceded by opposing teams as a Sibanda in full flight has been brought down in the box with the victim saying, “I have been brought down a fair few times. I like to be positive and I have a bit of pace that I tend to use to dart into the penalty box from deep positions. Defenders don’t like that and hence the reason I been brought down so often.”
“We have good penalty takers at the club with Steven Doris, Gavin Swankie and the gaffer always happy to try their luck from 12 yards.
After their recent run of six games without a win, Sibanda and his team-mates got back to winning ways last weekend with a win over a Coatbridge side that were promoted from the Third Division along with them last season.
After being neck and neck with Cowdenbeath for most of the season, the Gayfield men had fallen a bit behind Cowdenbeath but last weekend’s win and Forfar Athletic’s 1-0 success over Colin Cameron’s men on the same day saw that gap reduced to five points.
“It is good to put a bit of pressure back on Cowdenbeath,” said Sibanda before he added, “But more importantly, it was good to get back to winning ways.”
One of the games that Arbroath failed to win was a high profile Scottish Cup tie against Rangers that was shown live on Sky Sports and Sibanda reckons that the prospect of facing the Glasgow side affected them in the race for the Second Division Championship.
He explained: “It was good to get the Rangers game out of the way as we had not won a game after the draw pairing us together had been made. Subconsciously, it must have been preying on our minds but hopefully, we are back on the boil now.”
To ensure that they are back in the hunt, Arbroath will have to see off Angus neighbours Brechin City at Glebe Park this weekend with Sibanda saying: “This should be a really good game and another feisty Angus derby. The last one down there was a great game that we won 3-2. I came on for the boss quite early and scored our first goal so a repeat of that would be great.”
Sibanda reckons that Player/Manager Sheerin has pulled a masterstroke by bringing in former Dundee United and St. Johnstone striker Collin Samuel as it has put everyone at Gayfield on their toes.
He explained: “When you consider we now have two of the best strikers in the Second Division in Gavin and Steven facing competition for a place in our squad, it shows what a good move bringing Collin in was.
“Everybody now knows they face a fight to get a jersey and that can only be a good thing for the club.”
Despite Sibanda’s full-time career as a footballer ending at Dunfermline, he is involved in the game non-stop as apart from playing the game, he is already establishing a career in coaching.
He said: “I am pretty much involved in football full-time as I work as a football coach with a Sports Tour Company as well as doing some work with St. Andrews University. I really enjoy the coaching side of the game and it is a bit of a privilege to go out and get paid money for doing something I enjoy doing.”
There are no prizes for guessing what Sibanda wants to do when his playing days are over as he said: “I have done my Youth Licence already and am planning to get my B Licence through my work in the near future. In fact, I better get battering on with my preparation for it!”
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