*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.
Tostao Kwashi
Appearances: 0+3 Goals: 0
Date / Year of birth: 15th March 1980
Position: Winger / Striker
Season of first appearance: 2003/04
Season of last appearance: 2003/04
Also played for: Caps United Harare (Zimbabwe), FK Mjolner Narvik (Norway), Mjallby (Sweden), Fisher Athletic (London), Queens Park Rangers (0), Gravesend & Northfleet, Dartford, Gach Dong Tam Long An (Vietnam), Mitsustar Haier Haiphong (Vietnam) and Thanh Hoa (Vietnam)
Attacking player born in Zimbabwe and named Fungai although he was always known as 'Tostao'. He joined Harare club Caps United as an eight year-old and progressed through the youth ranks, eventually making his first team debut aged 17 in 1997. By then Tostao's father Steven Kwashi was the club's coach / manager and he was a former Zimbabwe international who went on to win the country's 'Coach of the Year' award three times. Tostao played for Zimbabwe at Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 level whilst playing for Caps and during 1999/00 he won nine full international caps. He also played for Zimbabwe in the 1999 African Youth Championships in Guinea.
Tostao left Zimbabwe towards the end of 2000 to try his luck in Europe and he had a spell with Norwegian club FK Mjolner Narvik before moving on to Mjallby of Sweden in March 2001.
Later in 2001 he moved to England to study at Greenwich University and Tostao played for Fisher during the 2001/02 campaign, scoring four goals in 19 appearances for them. He also had a trial with Queens Park Rangers and scored on his debut for their reserves.
In the summer of 2002 Tostao joined Gravesend & Northfleet and quickly became a very popular player there. The Thanet Times said he was the Fleet's "main threat" in their 2-1 home defeat against Margate in the FA Cup on 26.10.02. At the end of October 2002 Tostao was on the verge of signing for Irish club St.Patrick's but the deal fell through at the last moment due to work permit problems and he stayed with Gravesend. Tostao had made a total of 34 appearances (14 as sub) and scored five goals for the Fleet when he was released by the club in August 2003 due to what were described as "breaches of club discipline". Manager Andy Ford said the decision to part company with Tostao was taken because he had "stepped out of line not once, but three or four times."
At the start of September 2003 Tostao joined Margate as a non-contract player and made his debut as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat against Chester in the Conference at Dover on 6.9.03. The Thanet Times said he "put in an impressive debut performance" after joining the forward line with 30 minutes left. Tostao also made sub appearances in a 3-2 defeat at Accrington on 13.9.03 and a 1-0 defeat against Barnet at Dover on 23.9.03 but early in October he signed for Southern League Division 1 East club Dartford. The deal was initially on a dual-registration basis which allowed Margate to recall Tostao if the club chose to do so but his Conference registration was later cancelled.
Tostao scored 15 goals for the Darts before the end of the 2003/04 season and stayed with the club for the 2004/05 campaign too. In February 2005 he turned down approaches from Welling and Tonbridge and explained "People leave for the royalty and they don't have any loyalty - I am not like that ! It's not all about money in life. Sometimes happiness is much more important than money. I just wanted to fight for Dartford and I don't want to jump the ship."
Tostao went on to score over 20 goals during 2004/05 and won Dartford's 'Supporters' Player of the Year' award before going to Vietnam in the summer of 2005. He did some coaching there and also played for Gach Dong Tam Long An. They were in the top league in Vietnam and Tostao scored seven goals during the 2005 season which ran from January to August 2005 inclusive. His performances helped Gach Dong Tam Long An to win a league and cup double.
In December 2005 Tostao flew back to Zimbabwe with the intention of flying on from there to England to rejoin Dartford but when he arrived at the airport to check in for his flight to England he had his ticket confiscated by immigration officials. As a result Tostao decided to return to Vietnam.
In January 2006 he joined Mitsustar Haier Haiphong and scored twice on his debut for them against his old club Dong Tam in the 1st Round of the 2006 season's league games. He notched up four goals in his first six matches for Mitsustar Haier Haiphong and by then match reports etc just called him Tostao or Le Tostao and didn't include his surname.
He spent three seasons with Mitsustar Haier Haiphong and Tostao scored 65 goals for the club before signing for Vietnamese glamour side Thanh Hoa in November 2009. In February 2010 he helped them to win the National Super Cup for the first time after defeating SHB Danang.
Tostao rejoined Gach Dong Tarm Long for the 2011 season.
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
FAC |
FAT |
|
KSC |
| |
|
2003/04 (MFC) |
0 (51) |
3 |
0 |
CONFERENCE (16TH OF 22) |
4QR |
5R |
W |
||
Margate demoted to new
Conference South due to ground
issues. | |||||||||