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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
KEEGAN MUMBA would have been 60 this year, his special place in Dynamos’ history firmly secured, the only foreign coach to ever guide the Glamour Boys to a league championship success story.

That glorious tale would have been written in a special year for them, in 2003, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the club’s formation back in 1963.

It would have ensured the Glamour Boys’ darkest period, when it comes to a barren run without a league championship, stretching for 10 years between 1997 and 2007, would not have been part of their illustrious history.

Agent Sawu, back home exactly 10 years after being crowned Soccer Star of the Year and leaving on an adventure that took him to Switzerland and China, would also have been rewarded with a first domestic Premiership winners’ medal.

Thirteen league goals for the old Warrior, on his homecoming show where he chose the blue-and-white DeMbare strip because it provided him with the nostalgia of his time at Zimbabwe Saints, provided a reminder that, even at 32, he remained a trusted gunslinger.

Only Sageby Sandaka, somehow claiming he was still 17, exactly four years after making his Premiership debut, Norman Komani and Mike Bingadadi, scored more.

Francis Chandida, James Matola, Eddie Mashiri, Musareka Jenitala, Clive Mwale and Norman Maroto would have been the other super heroes of that Glamour Boys side had they ended the campaign as champions and not in third place.

After a poor start, in which they lost their first two games, cost coach Elvis Chiweshe his job, DeMbare regrouped and, under the shrewd guidance of Mumba, fought back to take control of the championship race by September.

An impressive 3-0 win over Highlanders at Barbourfields, with goals from Matola, Jenitala and Edmore Mufema, provided the highlight of that resurgence and, when Bosso came to Rufaro the following week, they were well beaten 2-0.

“We still have eight more games to play, and all of them will be like Cup finals,’’ said Mumba. “The race is still open and if you look at the top three teams, they have almost similar points.”

Today, Mumba — who died on March 29, 2014, lies buried at the Leopards Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Lusaka.

His star quality, even in death, was demonstrated by the bigwigs, led by the then Zambian Defence Minister, Edgar Lungu, who is now the country’s President, who attended the coach’s funeral.

However, Mumba’s DeMbare revolution didn’t deliver the championship as, by the time the drama was all over, they finished third behind champions Amazulu and runners-up Highlanders.

For years, both the coach and his Glamour Boys, were left to rue what they believed to have been a grand scheme by the football leaders to deny them glory that season.

The controversy and chaos centred on the decision by the Premier Soccer League to deduct three points from Dynamos tally in October after they ruled striker Edmore Mufema should not have been fielded against Lancashire Steel on August 3 in a game the Glamour Boys won 2-1.

The PSL deducted three points from the Glamour Boys tally but, somehow, didn’t annul the result of that match which means that, even today, the final table doesn’t read well given DeMbare’s win that day, and the goals they scored and conceded, are still reflected on the log. The result should have been nullified and that means the final table should read that Dynamos won 14 games, drew six, lost six, scored 43 goals and conceded 26.

But, that just tells half the story of the controversy which, in the end, saw the Glamour Boys finishing three points behind Amazulu, in the championship race, after those three points had been deducted from their tally. Dynamos took their case to the ZIFA Appeals Committee who ruled Mufema, then the subject of a tug-of-war ownership battle which also featured Motor Action, belonged to the Glamour Boys and ordered the striker to pay back the $5 million which the Mighty Bulls had given him to secure his services.

Mufema paid back that amount but the Mighty Bulls took their case to the High Court and Justice Tedious Karwi, on September 17, ruled in their favour that the striker was their player. The Glamour Boys, unhappy with the decision, also took their case to the High Court arguing that, by the time they used the striker against Lancashire Steel, they did not break any rules and they should get their points back.

However, the High Court threw out the Glamour Boys case.

Mumba said his men never recovered from the effects of the boardroom battles, especially when the three points were docked from their tally, and it reflected in the results that followed that decision.

They lost all their next three league matches, at Rufaro of all places, going down 1-2 to Sporting Lions in Round 21, by the same scoreline to Chapungu in Round 22 and 1-3 to Njube Sundowns in Round 23.

A 2-2 draw at Hwange in Round 24 did little to repair the damage inflicted by those losses at home and Mumba, and his men, were left to wonder what would have been had the boardroom chaos not played a big part in deciding the outcome of that championship race.

It’s easy now, to say that even if DeMbare had been handed the three points deducted from their tally, they would still have lost the championship race to Usuthu on goal difference, with the two teams ending on the same number of points (51).

However, that argument doesn’t take into consideration the damage, in terms of focus, which the decision had on those Glamour Boys, ending with them losing those three key matches, on the trot, at Rufaro, in the aftermath of the deduction of those points.

Today, the same PSL bullies smaller clubs by expelling them, for taking football matters to court, as if the league’s leaders have forgotten that, in 2003, they allowed an entire championship race to be defined by a High Court case.

They can’t say they are trying to avoid a similar scenario because they didn’t sanction the Mighty Bulls, for doing that and, instead, they suspended Mufema for four months.

In an era dominated by mediocrity and fierce in-house battles at DeMbare, as the club struggled to adjust to life after their Champions League heroics of 1998 and 1999, Mumba and his Class of 2003 were probably the best of those Glamour Boys. It’s a pity both the coach, and his men, didn’t get the perfect prize to celebrate the club’s 40th birthday anniversary.

No one can fault them for trying and, it’s sad, when football remembers Keegan Mumba, when he would have turned 60 this year, there won’t be that golden attachment he was the only coach to guide the Glamour Boys to the league championship.