NORTON is iconic in its own way. The town, located on the main road connecting Zimbabwe’s capital Harare and the country’s second largest city Bulawayo, was founded as a railway settlement in 1914.
The town was named after a local farming family that had established its vast agriculture business in the 1890s and was a bedrock of this unique and cozy community.
In the last population census in Zimbabwe, it was revealed that 87 038 people live in Norton and proudly call the town home.
Norton is a key industrial focal point due to its proximity to water and power supplies and as a result, Nortonians have, for decades, had something to cling to as far as legacy is concerned.
Oliver Mtukudzi, in a legendary music career spanning four decades in which he blended traditional rhythms with global pop, left a mark in Norton courtesy of the Pakare Paye Arts Centre. The late globally recognised singer also owned a beautiful suburban house in his adopted hometown, on top of an earlier one he bought when he first settled in Norton.
Tuku loved Norton and its people, and the community loved him back. The footprint he left on the people in the town, is there for all to see.
It is perhaps befitting that in the same year that Tuku breathed his last, Norton gave birth to another ripple effect which created a strong and shared emotional bond — MWOS Football Club.
The birth of MWOS in 2019 has well and truly changed life for the Norton folk.
- Revisiting Majaivana’s last show… ‘We made huge losses’
- Edutainment mix: The nexus of music and cultural identity
- ChiTown acting mayor blocks election
- Promoter Mdu 3D defends foreigners 30 minute set
Keep Reading
“In Norton, Mashonaland West Province, MWOS Football Club stands as a beacon of hope, talent, and community spirit. Born in September 2019 from the visionary leadership of Moor’s World Of Sport directors, this club was founded to empower local youth through football, offering a platform to showcase talent and inspire greatness,” reads the MWOS biography on the club’s website.
“By nurturing role models on the pitch, MWOS FC aims to galvanise Norton’s next generation, channelling energy away from societal challenges and toward the unifying power of sport.
“Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which halted sporting activities just months after the club’s inception, MWOS FC’s resilience only strengthened its bond with Norton’s neighbourhoods, forging a legacy built on perseverance and pride.
“Today, MWOS FC is a symbol of Zimbabwean football’s evolving landscape.”
Seven years after the formation of MWOS, the general consensus among Nortonians is that the future is blue.
The people of Norton have embraced the club and feel like it’s part of their lives. When MWOS are at home at Ngoni Stadium, the atmosphere is unbelievable. The whole town comes to a standstill — young, old, men, women. MWOS is the only thing that matters for those 90 minutes.
MWOS chairman Clayton Arimoso believes the project will go a long way in ensuring that football in the town remains language spoken without words, and a force that unites people.
“One has to be over the moon happy if they are in the circumstances that we find ourselves in. We are only seven years old, true, but I believe our approach, planning and focus has allowed us to be where we are right,” Arimoso said.
“We want to go beyond what we have already achieved, that’s why you saw us implementing structures and participating in all the projects that we are partaking in.
“I can safely say, Norton is proud, MWOS FC as a whole is proud and the nation at large is and should be proud of the work being done at MWOS FC.”
Head coach Lloyd Mutasa, who guided the Punters to a historic second place finish as well as winning the Chibuku Super Cup semi-final in their debut campaign in the PSL last season, heaped praise on MWOS fans, insisting that their support has made the institution what it is now and what it will be in the future.
“The community are the fans, since joining this club I have seen how they are behind this team,’ Mutasa said.
“The support is more than words can describe for a team that is so young or might I say ‘new’. I am happy with the community and how it supports us.”
Bridget Seremwe, a die-hard MWOS fan and Norton resident who rarely misses any of the club’s matches at Ngoni, believes the football club is not only a way to entertain herself: it is at some point, a source of livelihood.
As such, MWOS will always be home.
“If it wasn’t for MWOS FC, I would probably be stuck in the dangerous world of drug and substance abuse or something,”Seremwe said.
“But every weekend whenever the team is playing, I make sure I attend the games whether home or away.
“I’m very proud to be part of the football club especially because during the renovations at Ngoni Stadium, the club chose to employ people in Norton and thankfully, I was one of those employed and that income was very important for me.”
The story of MWOS is not confined to just Premiership football, it includes a very soon to thrive academy system which has children from eight years of age being introduced to proper football training, something which is rare in Zimbabwe, yet real in Norton.
From the MWOS U-15, U-17, U-19, to the MWOS Queens, a football project is brewing in Norton and naturally, Nortonians are buzzing with excitement.
