Sober mind
With Dynamos Football Club nearing its 50th anniversary, it is a noble initiative to look at the position DeMbare finds itself in after half a century of top flight football and the position it could have been inwithin this time span history.
Formed in 1963 by black players who chose to rise above racial discrimination which they had suffered in other clubs,Dynamos ‘DeMbare’ quickly became a favourite as highlighted by the fact that it went on clinch the title in its year of inception, a record it still holds to this day.
2013 marks exactly 50 years from when Obadiah “Wasu” Sarupinda, Patrick Dzvene (late), Ephraim Mpariwa, Richard Chiminya, Nathan Maziti, Bernard “Magitare” Marriot, Josiah Akende (late), Allan “Teacher” Hlatywayo (late), Freddie Mkwesha, Jairos Banda, Danny Bricks, AloisMesikano, Sam Dauya (late) and Sydney Matthews started he journey which will lead their predecessors to Zimbabwean football dominance.
Robson Rundaba, who is now an official at Dynamos was once quoted as having said;
“When the club was formed it had a good base. Dynamos had its own brand of football; it was about entertainment and winning, attacking football.”
Dynamos legend and most successful coach, Sunday ‘Marimo’ Chidzambwa is recognised for strengthening the Defensive culture of the club. This has seen it having the least goals scored against, over quite some time.
Over the past 50 years DeMbare has won a record 19 league titles (1963, 1965,1970, 1976,1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2007, 2011 and 2012); winning it four times in a row from 1980 to 1983. The team has managed to defend its title a record six times making them the all time kings of Zimbabwean soccer. With countless league and knockout cups in its cabinet, soccer is short without it being mentioned. They have groomed and produced legends. They have moulded their institution into a typical beacon of Zimbabwean success.
DeMbare has unquestionably proved it mettle within the borders of Zimbabwe but its major down fall has been its lack of intelligence and depth in the African jungles over the past years.Dynamos is an African giant which is slowly going into hibernation even though few might take notice.
What those holding the reins of the DeMbare family have failed to do is to steer their ship closer to professional football like has been seen in North, South and West Africa.
After 50 years Dynamos has no stadium, no bus to compete with African giants and it still struggles to pay its fares and accommodation whenever it ventures into the African jungles. DeMbare is slowly falling into the pit of laughing stocks so many giants have fallen prey to.
Where it not for BancABC I bet ‘Team Zora-Butter’ would be having problems paying its troops.Being an ardent fan of Zimbabwean soccer I wonder where all those gate takings go to.This is what has to be done at DeMbare to make it a formidable club across Africa.
First things first, with all due respect to Highlanders Football Club, DeMbare needs to stop comparing itself to Bosso.Dynamos is an African giant with the highest number of league titles in the whole of Southern Africa. Its moniker ‘7 million’ has to mean something. They are a brand, better than most in southern Africa.
Even if the best two teams in Southern Africa in their respective leagues add up their titles, they still won’t get to 19.
Its high time DeMbare takes a North African approach to soccer, that approach has paid dividends for even teams in Europe (a closer look at Chelsea F.C is a good example).
Dynamos has to aim at the CAF Champions League crown and stop squabbling with Bosso, 50 years is a long wait for its legion of followers.Its trophy cabinet is short of that one trophy yet management is busy hunting for local glory day in day out, Africa’s biggest club cup is the real deal.
DeMbare needs to take a European approach to club management.
This simply means, Dynamos should stop its habit of hiring and firing coaches willy-nilly like what almost happened to KallistoPasuwa. They should let him instil his football culture over years, let’s say 10 years.
Arsenal Football Club have gone for seven years without a single cup but they still hold on to Arsene Wenger for a reason, that is how they have managed to remain a giant and that is how they have managed to create a type of play associated with them, that is what lacks at DeMbare.
It’s also high time DeMbare pays its players allowances and bonuses which are commensurate with what is expected of them. You cannot expect the crown from someone you are paying peanuts. It is about time the powers that be at DeMbare reward players with bonuses which are competitive enough to ward of predators from South Africa and Zimbabwe’s own F.C Platinum to be specific.
It also needs to stop selling players like it’s their main agenda.Dynamos is not an academy for wealthy clubs, it just has to stop selling its best players.
Look at Denver Mukamba, RodrickMutuma, TakesureChinyama and Simba Sithole just from the 2012 season, these players could have brought the Champions league crown home.This culture has to stop if the dream of a CAF Champions League Crown is to be made into reality.
Its high time Dynamos learnt to splash cash around, be extravagant enough to scare away vultures (buy a state of the art bus, build a stadium, pay highly competitive sums).
The funds are there.
DeMbare having amassed so many nick names over its 50 year history, (DeMbare, DeMbada, Zora-Butter, HainaNgozi, Kochekera, Chikopokopo, 7 Million) is still failing to effectivelymarketits replica jerseys to raise capital; that is a major setback.
Copy what is good and disregard that which is not, Dynamos and the rest of Zimbabwe’s clubs need to take a leaf from the South African league which has risen to be one of the best in Africa.
What is lacking at DeMbare is a man with a greater vision, I hope that man is found quickly enough before Egyptians and South Africans start making fun of the Zimbabwean soccer giants who never win anything.
A fish rots from the head down, hence introspection and change has to begin at the top before those in the lower echelons of the club ranks.
Happy Golden Jubilee Dynamos
‘DeMbare,’ ‘Zora-Butter!’
