Football in Zimbabwe seems to have taken a paradigm shift.
BY SAKHELENI NXUMALO
From community owned, to individually or company owned, now City fathers have joined the football bandwagon to own football clubs.
Gweru and Kwekwe City councils were among the first municipalities to form football teams — Kwekwe City and Gweru United — but the teams stayed long in the world of Division One until such a time that the councils were no longer able to continue bankrolling them. They then surrendered them to the community, a move that heralded their disappearance into oblivion.
But Harare City rose a shoulder above the rest to bring the first council-owned team into topflight league in its first year. Last year they were unlucky to miss the championship on the last day of the league to Harare giants Dynamos on an inferior goal difference.
This year three more municipal-owned teams have been promoted into the topflight league. Congratulations to Mutare City who were crowned champions in the Eastern Region, pipping Masvingo United to the title, Bulawayo City, who were crowned champions in the Southern Region and Border Strikers, champions from the Central Region.
Close sources revealed that Boarder Strikers are being bankrolled by Beitbridge Municipality, with Ngezi Platinum sponsored by a platinum mining company from the Northern Region.
However, municipal clubs have not received a warm welcome from residents, who accuse football teams of chewing large sums of money which could be channelled towards service delivery.
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This week Standardsport takes a look at Bulawayo City’s plans for its football team and how they will deal with the ire of residents.
Having gained promotion to play with the big boys and therefore poised to withstand the heat in the topflight league, Bulawayo City has to open their cheque book to acquire experience.
But from the look of things, Bulawayo City appears to be reading from Harare City’s blueprint which after having spent the first year in the league, they resorted to junior football development in the city.
Bulawayo City has earmarked council-owned recreational clubs and schools to provide talent for their developmental sides, a project Harare City embarked on just after gaining promotion to the extent of having all their primary school teachers undergoing Level One coaching courses.
The Bulawayo City team had no junior teams prior to their promotion into top flight football and club chairman Jerry Sibanda says plans are already in place to set up development structures.
“Our mission statement for the city is to have a vibrant junior policy and we have city council recreational clubs in every suburb that we are going to revamp. Juniors are not a problem as they are all over the city and our coaches will soon be visiting council-owned clubs and schools to identify talent,” Sibanda said.
According to the latest council minutes, a municipal sports club in Famona has already been identified as the official registered clubhouse for the Bulawayo City Football Club senior team.
The idea is for the team to use the facility for training purposes and also to generate income through club membership and related activities.
Fifa club licensing requirements state that top-flight teams should have an official clubhouse and have junior development structures in place. The Bulawayo City Council has in the past been involved in football development through their ward-based Under-16 tournaments, working in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Football Association.
“We have over the years been involved in junior football through the ward-based games but now we are also looking at harnessing talent for our premiership side. That will also create employment opportunities for junior coaches in the city’s various suburbs,” Sibanda added.
Other sporting disciplines are also set to benefit from the resuscitation of the council-owned recreational centres where a lot of yesteryear sports personalities were groomed.
Speaking soon after his team was crowned the regional champions at Barbourfields last month, Sibanda said the majority of the players that were in their books would be retained.
“We will take a third of the players that were part of the team in the first division with us to the premier league. I believe the best players are here, they are youngsters and I am confident they will fly the city’s flag high.”
