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Bothwell Mahlengwe
WHEN Hippo Valley FC was promoted into the Premiership, the Chiredzi community celebrated a milestone sporting achievement.
The fierce rivalry between the two Tongaat Hullett owned sides, Hippo Valley and Triangle, was going to resume on the bigger stage.
Little did they know it was the beginning of the end.

I’m told when Hippo and Triangle clashed, the battle was fierce, and the built-up was always electrifying, something like a miniature “El Classico.”

Chiredzi United have been relegated from the Premiership, their fate was sealed when they were punished for failing to fulfil a league match against Chapungu at Ascot.

They were relegated with five games to play.

This is in sharp contrast to how the team was promoted when Moses Chunga led them into the Premiership with four games to spare.

Everyone involved in football had a reason to celebrate because we had witnessed the not-so-easy transformation of a once great player to a successful coach.

Not that Chunga hadn’t proved himself before but he had cemented his standing in the soccer coaching arena.

Now, he had proved himself to some of us who thought his title-winning act with Gunners in 2009 was based on sheer luck.

Immediately Hippo’s promotion, Tongaat Hullett announced that they could not sponsor two teams in the Premier League so one had to go.

To me it was the right thing.

The economic environment was, and still is, tough.

Sponsoring two teams in the Premiership would have been taxing and would have affected the general warfare of the company.

This was likely to have a negative effect on the welfare of the whole community since its survival is largely dependent on Tongaat Hullett-owned companies Triangle Limited and Hippo Valley Estates.

The early announcement meant the community had ample time to organise itself and come up with a decision.

That was not to be as confusion, stupidity and big egos reigned supreme.

That saw the birth of a poorly-funded and amateurish run Chiredzi FC, a team that almost turned our top-flight league into a circus.

First, it was the lack of funds for registering players and the fight for control of the club.

Then, there was the massive player exodus and the attempt to register more than the number of players permitted during the mid-season window.

The final blows were the unwarranted utterances by Gishon Ntini, the failure to fulfil the Chapungu fixture and the resultant loss of the three points.

I always felt that they should have merged the two teams to come up with one big and stronger team.

Then, they would find a way of swapping the other PSL franchise for a Division one franchise, which they would then use for junior development.

A strong team built from the amalgamation of Hippo Valley and Triangle FC, a club with the backing of the whole community whose funding and sustainability was well secured by Tongaat Hullett, with a good and clear channel for junior development, would have been a force.

However, it didn’t happen that way.

Tongaat Hullett held on to Triangle FC, a well-funded club while Hippo FC turned into a community club, poor and run by amateurish administrators.

I don’t see Chiredzi FC surviving next year, I don’t see the current promoters continuing next season and the team is likely to meet the same fate like Hardbody, Tripple B and Motor Action.

Sadly, Triangle could also be relegated.

My picks for the chop this season are Bantu Rovers and Chiredzi (already relegated) and either Black Rhinos, Triangle or Shabanie.

I have to confess that I have a soft spot for Black Rhinos and Shabanie.

Rhinos, because of my past relations with the players, coaches and executive members and Shabanie because it has gone through a lot in the past and Zvenyika Makonese has shown that experience truly comes with age.

Triangle, being a well-run-and-funded club, should have given us more.

With all those resources, their performance has been pathetic and they don’t justify another season in the top-flight league.

They already got their reward in the form of the One Wallet Cup they won.

I wouldn’t mourn their demotion a little bit.

It is of their making — a community cursed.

When they look back they will rue the opportunity they had to build a strong foundation for making Chiredzi a big football fortress.

Their remaining fixtures are very tricky.

They meet a team fighting for a top four finish, Hwange, a team with nothing to lose, Chiredzi, and another fighting relegation candidate, Shabanie.

However, they have their fate in their hands.

All their remaining fixtures are going to be played in Chiredzi.

Of interest would be their match against Chiredzi.

All eyes would be on that game.

Will professionalism save the day or underhand dealings will come into play to save the community from another long period of no Premiership football?

We wait to see.

• Bothwell Mahlengwe is a banker and former Premiership football and can be contacted, for feedback purposes, on the email – [email protected]