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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

AT the entrance of one of the leading sports clubs in Harare is a billboard with a picture of a raging bull.

There are also some bold letters which read, “Once A Bull, Always A Bull – Welcome To The Home Of Motor Action.”

The Mighty Bulls!

They could have been celebrating their 20th anniversary this year.

But the billboard, at the sports club, is probably all that is left to capture the powerful football dream the late club owner, Eric Rosen, and his wife Liz, had.

“Eric was very passionate about football. It also happened I shared the same passion because my brother played professional football in Zambia,” said Liz.

“But Eric had been involved in football for a long time.

“If you remember, he was the chairman of Arcadia and they had disagreements with the people there and he decided to start his own thing.

“He bought the franchise of Blackpool in 2000 and that’s how Motor Action came about.”

Formed in 2000, and relegated in 2013, Motor Action left an endelible footprint on the domestic football scene.

Apart from the passion displayed by the Rosen family, and the band of colourful supporters, the Mighty Bulls, as they were known, were a model of professionalism.

Although there was virtually nothing to gain, materially from supporting football, the Rosens still committed to develop a professional club.

They had their fair share of success, including winning the league title in 2010, the 2011 BancABC Sup8r Cup and the 2005 Silver Jubilee Independence Trophy.

They produced talented players such as Clement Matawu, Prince Matore, Marlon Jani and Musa Mguni, to mention just a few.

The Mighty Bulls had their own training base and home ground, something bigger clubs like Dynamos and CAPS United, are still struggling to have up to this day.

“Football meant everything to Eric so, when the club was formed, we sat down and I suggested we call it Motor Action because we were running a motor spares company by that name,’’ Liz said.

“I think the company did so much for football and it also had to benefit by being marketed by using the name.

“I remember we were the first team to truly turn professional in Zimbabwe. Football was part-time for most of the guys, even the big teams.

“Players were employed elsewhere and they had to train in the evening after their day job but, at Motor Action, Eric told the guys that they were fully employed and they were given contracts with salaries.

“We were also passionate about development. We signed young players from different parts of the country and bought a house where these guys were well looked after.

“That’s how we brought the Matawu brothers from Shamva, Muga Mguni from Bulawayo and a few other guys from Zambia.

“They were very young and the club paid their school fees at Churchill, bought school uniforms and groceries to make sure they were comfortable.

“We also visited Sakubva and Kariba a lot and we had plans for football ventures there. Actually, Eric had adopted a school in Kariba after seeing pupils learning under trees and without enough equipment.

“He had partners coming from Germany and Portugal, and they arrived on a Friday, and he died I think two days later, before anything was concluded.’’

Rosen died of a sudden heart attack in January 2016.

Liz is still keen to revive the empire her late husband built.

“If I get partners, I will name the academy Eric Rosen Academy.”

Eric and Liz Risen were powerful football figures in the 2000s.

Together with trusted football administrator, Simeon Jamanda, they took the team to another level.

“A successful team beats with one heart, this team wrote a beautiful page of Zimbabwe football history,” says Jamanda.

“It was a long journey, full of learning and achieving, the professionalism instilled by the late Eric Rosen inspired us all.

“My memorable game winning the Silver Jubilee Trophy, in front of a capacity crowd at Barbourfields, versus Highlanders,

“We introduced the brass band to liven up the stadium atmosphere and created a family fun day of sports.

“The football team may no longer be around in the PSL, still there is a lot to celebrate.’’

Rosen employed reputable coaches like Rahman Gumbo and Joey Antipas to implement this vision.

Antipas, who won the league title with the team in 2010, remembers it very.

“I was there in the technical team with the late Ashton ‘Papa’ Nyazika, Shacky Tauro and Zivanayi Chiyangwa from the beginning,” said Antipas.

“We went into the market and bought some experienced players like Silver Chigwenje, Cheche Billiat and Frank Nyamukuta.

“It was quite a formidable side and we came third in our debut season. The following season we decided to recruit youngsters and we raided Black Aces and got Tinashe Nengomasha, Mike Bibgadadi and Francis Jeyimani.

“We also got Prince Matore from DT.

“Rose’s dream was to develop, win the title and play in Africa. We managed to do that and we also won the BancABC Super Cup and played Champions League and Confederation Cup as well.

“We still have a WhatsApp group of former players and officials where we often go down memory lane.’’

The former Warriors coach also explained how he fished 2006 Soccer Star Matawu from Shamva.

“I personally went there when I heard there was a talented young boy. He had a small frame but  was quite something else.

“He was then enrolled at Churchill.

“His brother Louis came later. But there were also other youngsters like Edward Tembo, Salim Milanzi and also Isaac Masame,” said Antipas.

The harsh economic challenges began to bite and by 2013 and the Mighty Bulls were relegated.