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will remain the quality of the contest, especially in the closing stages of the marathon.
Some will remember the fascination that came with all the twists and turns — this week Motor Action having full control of the race, the next week FC Platinum taking pole position and then, right at the end, Dynamos edging their way into the lead.
Others will recall the party spoilers — little Masvingo United ending Callisto Pasuwa’s unbeaten run in the league and smashing a huge blow into DeMbare’s campaign at Mucheke with a stunning 1-0 win that left the Glamour Boys shell-shocked.
Or little Gunners going to Maglas, when FC Platinum used to be tenants before moving to their lovely home at Mandava, and coming out with a remarkable 3-0 win and then, somehow, repeating that magic with a 2-1 victory at Lafarge.
The Dynamos fans will remember the day it all ended in a blaze of glory, right in the stadium they call home, with the Airforce of Zimbabwe helicopter bringing the prized silverware the Glamour Boys had fought so gallantly to win in a campaign where their character shone brightly.
Incredibly, DeMbare only managed to squeeze to the top of the Premiership during the penultimate weekend of the race, after spending 28 weeks in the shadows, but once they put their noses in front, there was no stopping them and the champagne could be popped.
The FC Platinum fans will remember the day it all ended in heroic failure, right in the stadium they call home, when the Glamour Boys conducted a spectacular smash-and-grab raid, aided by the helping head of Daniel Veremu, in a campaign that promised so much but brought so little.
The CAPS United fans will remember how it all started, when their Green Machine roared and crushed everything in its path, with Simba Sithole terrorising defences and they all thought this was the year they would end half-a-dozen years of waiting for the league title.
Of course, it didn’t go according to script, Sithole left, so did the coach who had given him his first Premiership start at Shooting Stars, Moses Chunga, so did Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe, the man who briefly replaced Bambo, and a campaign that had promised so much ended up bringing in very little.
The Highlanders fans will recall a year in which their proud team made a spectacular nose-dive from a competitive side into one that, at times, was so ordinary it was barely recognisable as ithimu yezwe lonke, and — in that morass of mediocrity disguised as a hearty campaign — their pride was battered and bruised.
In Hwange, they will remember a red-letter campaign, thanks to the Midas Touch of a Zambian coach saved by fate from being one of the victims of the plane disaster that wiped out a generation of Chipolopolo’s finest footballers, in which they finally competed with the best.
Eventually, they finished fourth and qualified for the Caf Confederation Cup, and the elders of the community were suddenly being reminded of the time when Chipangano was a powerhouse and in their ranks they had players like Posani Sibanda, Nyaro Mumba, Rodreck Simwanza and Barry Daka.
For Shooting Stars, this was the year the music died, after exactly six years of Premiership flirtation, and where they came in with a bang, their exit from the big scene was without a whimper.
The shadow of Dynamos continued to stalk them right up to the end and a team that arrived on the Premiership stage, with virtually the entire DeMbare squad from the previous season in its corner, and played and lost their first top-flight match against the Glamour Boys, waved goodbye on the same afternoon the Glamour Boys were crowned champions.
The massive costs that come with running a football club buried little Kiglon and the Premiership, in 2012, will miss their passing game and a chief executive, Thomson Dondo, who fought for the cause of the small clubs and even wrote a letter to President Mugabe asking for the Government to bail out the top-flight teams.
Thirty thousand seven hundred and eighty fans paid to watch Dynamos being crowned champions on the final day of the season at Rufaro last year — the beautiful sights and moving sounds bringing a fitting close to a riveting contest that went all the distance and captured the imagination of the nation.
An estimated 10 000 or more somehow found their way into Rufaro that day, either through the use of privilege cards, by special invitations or massive leakages at the gates and, conservative estimates of the actual attendance that afternoon, will be around    40 000.
Oh, yes, it had all came down to the wire, to the very last kick of the match and, in the intensity of that riveting battle, the domestic Premiership had indeed found a rallying cry that spiced its brand and brought the fans back to the stadiums.

And Here We Go Once Again
Today, the 2012 Castle Lager Premiership season gets underway with FC Platinum and Motor Action all swinging into action with the big boys — Dynamos, CAPS United and Highlanders — plunging into battle tomorrow.
Last year’s campaign set high standards in terms of the quality of the game that was on offer and the overall entertainment package that was delivered at the stadiums.
Fresh talent emerged and exploded on the big stage.
Denver Mukamba, at his best, was irresistible. Archford Gutu, when focused, was simply brilliant. Donald Ngoma, when in full flow, was unstoppable. Simba Sithole, when it mattered most, always seemed to deliver, including some spectacular goals. Rahman Kutsanzira, when inspired, was a player you paid to watch.
Qadr Amin exploded from nowhere to become the Gunners’ skipper and even play for the national team and in Cliff Sekete, Leonard Fiyado and Michelle Katsvairo, Cuthbert Chitima’s team had the most impressive youthful talent in the Premiership that played the game with a swagger that was good to the eye.
The veterans also stood firm and took their game a notch up the scale.
Washington Arubi overshadowed everyone with a performance in goals that was as heroic as it was inspirational and brought back a flood of memories of the bygone         days when the men who occupied the last line of Dynamos’ defensive wall were genuine stars.
Men like Japhet Mparutsa, men like Frank Mkanga, men like Lucky Dube, men like Gift Muzadzi, men like George Mandizvidza, men like Ernest Chirambadare, you name them, solid rocks on which the defensive walls were built.
Tafadzwa Dube found his touch, playing in a team where he didn’t have to worry about where his next meal would come from, and duly deserved his medal as the second best player in the Premiership when the individual awards were handed out at the end.
Allan Gahadzikwa remained a shining beacon at the Mighty Bulls, impressing by his consistency and repeatedly destroying opponents by his deceptive runs from midfield into the box, and when he was in full cry, Motor Action looked like a team that could be champions again.
There was a product on offer, which had a bit of quality, and the fans caught the scent and came in their thousands back to the stadiums and the Harare Derby showdown between Dynamos and CAPS United proved too big a game to be played at Rufaro without putting the lives of people at risk.
Last year, the Premiership moved an inch forward and that two of its games were broadcast live on SuperSport was testimony of the league’s stunning transformation.
The challenge, as another season begins, is to maintain or even better those standards.
There is need to believe because, unlike in the previous years, we haven’t seen a mass movement of the best players from the Premiership to Super Diski and the main characters from last year, with the exclusion of Cuthbert Malajila who joined the party in mid-season, and Gutu who is now based in Sweden, are still around.
That alone brings hope.
It’s likely that Sekete will be a better player this season because, at his youthful age, he can only continue to get better and there is reason to believe that Mukamba, Amin, Fiyado, Katsvairo, Joel Ngodzo, and most of the emerging talents, will also get better.
The best player last season, Arubi, is still around and that is a plus for those who like quality football because that is exactly what the goalkeeper represented during a sensational season for the Glamour Boys last year.
For good measure, we have even become attractive to European coaches again and Northern Irishman, Sean Connor, will take charge of CAPS United with his first adventure in Zvishavane tomorrow.
When our league begins to attract such personnel and entice them to leave their European bases to settle here, then you know we must be doing something right and we are back to the good old days when coaches like Eddie May and Clemence Westerhof used to take charge of our local clubs.
Takesure Chinyama has also come back home from a successful stint in Poland where he played for that country’s biggest team and, if his start to the season is anything to go by, then fans can expect an explosive ride.
CAPS United are saddled by the weight of their fans expectations and they simply have to do better and you can’t fault them for trying and, in a season where we have seen more players coming into the club than those leaving, there is a reason to believe.
This season promises to be better, no doubt about that, because DeMbare are likely to be stronger since their greenhorns have matured a bit, FC Platinum have strengthened their squad, Makepekepe have invested in both technical and playing staff and want to paint the whole league green, Hwange will be hard to beat and expect some surprises from Chicken Inn.
You can feel the wave of expectation and you get the impression that the fans can hardly wait for the battles to get underway once again and even the heavens look in a hurry to bless the momentous occasion and yesterday The Herald quoted the Meteorological Department saying heavy rains will pound the country this weekend.
Come on guys, the ball is your court and do it for the fans, and being one of those who like to see the real stars of this game — the players and coaches dominating the headlines instead of the administrators — I can hardly wait for explosion.

Article Of The Week
Mbongeni Ncube and Martin Mpofu
Have you ever wondered why silverware has eluded Bulawayo giants, Highlanders Football Club, in recent years?
If you believe in the supernatural powers, and of which most people do, this could be the answer.
The team was cursed by a 120-year-old Malawian man for allegedly failing to pay a debt accrued in the 1970s.
Kachabanda Bwanale, who returned to Zimbabwe in 2011 after touring African countries to conduct healing sessions, claims that he cast a spell on Bosso.
Bwanale further claimed that he had a cordial working relationship with a former Bosso chairman, now late, in the ’70s.
However, the executive which succeeded him failed to honour their side of the bargain, a deed which has not been taken kindly to by Bwanale.
“In the ‘70s, I came to Zimbabwe and that is when I met the chairman after someone said he needed help to bolster Bosso’s performance,” said the centenarian.
“Our relationship was professional, I would prepare muti for the team and, in turn, he (the late Bosso chairman) gave me my dues.
“All that changed after he left the team. The new executive continued using my services but never paid. After various efforts to get my money failed, I gave up.”
Bwanale, who was angered by the executive’s apparent disregard for their obligations, said the only way Mahlolanyama could regain their place in the sun was to render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
“You see, that is why they are losing like this. I knew that they were the best team in Zimbabwe at the turn of the century and all along I was waiting for the opportune time to strike,” said Bwanale.
“I am back now, trophies will continue to elude them until they give me my money.
“You see, I am old now and I don’t quite remember how much it was. If at least the new guys acknowledge that they owe me, we can come to a mutual understanding.
“Imali kayiboli mfana, lesikwelede sofileyo siyabhadalwa. My family is well known in the Mwanza area in Malawi for its powerful muti, just ask any Malawian guy you know.”
Contacted for comment, Highlanders chairman, Peter Dube, said the team plays using boots and not juju.
“It will be inappropriate for me to comment on such a matter but what I can tell you is that we play using boots,” said Dube.
“I can even show you the team’s training schedule and diet. Like everyone else we also pray to God.”

l Article reproduced courtesy of our sister Bulawayo tabloid newspaper, B-Metro.

The Magic Of Football
Archford Gutu grew up the tough way in Mbare, losing both his parents at a young age, and scrambling for everything just to keep going, to get food on the plate and a place to sleep.
But God gave him a talent to change his life and, crucially, he met a guy who understood him and saw the potential he had, taking care of his welfare just after he had become a teen and managing everything about his life.
Calvin Nyazema and Gutu have been rewarded for all the years they put into their project to turn this young man into a professional football and the boy who couldn’t get a meal on the dinner table in Mbare last month was in Spain for a tour with his Swedish team Kalmar FF.
There he dined and wined with players from Ukraine’s perennial Champions League campaigners, Shakhtar Donetsk, Denmark’s nine-time champions FC Copenhagen, Russian giants Sparktak Moscow and FC Anzhi Makhachkala, owned by Russian billionaire Suleyman Kerimov.
He chatted and dined with Samuel Eto’o, the world’s most paid football player, in La Manga and got hints and advice about how to make it in this tough world of football.
Now, if you ask me, that is simply sensational, stuff that dreams are made off.
That is football and if Gutu can make it, why not Denver, why not Kutsanzira, why not Josta, why not Qadr, why not Michelle, why not Sekete, why not Fiyado?
If you follow Archie’s story closely you see that we have the football talent to grace the European clubs but, crucially, we have a football culture that is hostile to career paths opening up for our players.
Why?
Because, in our football, the players are not the most important thing and not every player is lucky enough to get a manager like Calvin Nyazema who puts in hours of his time into that player’s management.
In our football culture administrators are the be-all-and-end-all and players, who should be the main actors, are relegated into a sideshow.

Saintfiet Gets His Job
Tom Sainfiet has emerged in Nigeria after being appointed Technical Director, just like our own Dieter Klaus-Pagels, of the Nigerian National Football Federation on a four-year contract worth a cool US$20 000 a month.
Good for him!
The Nigerians are no longer the force they used to be and, just like us, they also missed the 2012 Nations Cup finals.
For all their big profile, thanks to 140 million plus citizens passionate about football, the Super Eagles have only won two Nations Cup finals and questions remain about the dominance of their junior national teams amid concerns about their correct ages.
So, if you ask me, Saintfiet is probably  qualified to be the technical director of            the NFF because while the Super Eagles        have a big profile, the reality is that they       have become a lightweight and when Tom was coaching Ethiopia, they held them to a draw.
But, as expected, there is a huge uproar over that appointment and the reaction of the fans has been telling:
“Complete nonsense! From Namibia to Ethiopia, now Nigeria! The idiots that made the appointment should be fired. I’d say Tom Saintfiet has agreed to split his salary down the middle with those who have appointed him.
“What happens to (Steve) Keshi? Could this be why he was so angry while speaking on the phone at the MMA on Tuesday night? I think one of the major problems for football in Nigeria is the very disorganized team administering football,” — Sizzla Sizzla (Jnr)
“The embarrassing rot in our sports is largely a factor of greed, quest for immediate gain and a lack of foresight. The mindset must change if we seriously desire a visible change in our sports,” — Nijaombudsman
“Neo-colonialism at its best . . . when will we start promoting our own?’ — Shonam

The Penalty That Wasn’t Given
English football is shaking today in the wake of the controversy that followed referee Michael Oliver’s decision to reject Fulham’s appeals after Michael Carrick bundled into Danny Murphy in the box.
Patrick Vieira and Manchester City have both blasted the BBC for twisting the comments of the World Cup winner in which Vieira is quoted as saying United gets favours from referees at Old Trafford.
The BBC reporter, Dan Roan, who interviewed Vieira, has since been banned from all Manchester City club media activities.
Tim Long, a British broadcaster, has chronicled that of the 14 wrong decisions given by referees in matches involving Manchester United, seven favoured United, seven favoured their opponents.
I guess, in this game, it evens out in the end and didn’t United deserve a penalty for a handball from Evra’s cross in the same game?
We might strip Barcelona of their 2009 Champions League crown because in the second leg of the semi-finals, when they trailed Chelsea 0-1, they were given a helping hand by referee Tom Henning, including a blatant handball by Gerard Pique in the box, to deny Anelka a scoring opportunity that would have ended the contest.
But we all know that, overally, Barca were the best team in that tournament that year.
We might as well go back to ’66, strip England of their World Cup crown because the third goal was given even when it was clear Geoff Hurst’s effort didn’t cross the line.
We will strip Argentina of the ’86 crown because Diego Maradona used his hand to score the first goal against England in a 2-1 win in the quarter-finals.
But that would be wrong because, even for all those monumental referees’ blunders, England and Argentina were the best teams in ’66 and ’86.
Fortune, as they say, favours the brilliant.
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitoooooooooooooooooooooooo!

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