Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN football is about to witness an unprecedented phenomenon in the Eastern Region Division One for the 2027 season — a league so loaded that it will be a mini-Premier Soccer League in its own right.
Never in the history of domestic football have the nation’s EIGHT former Premiership teams found themselves in the same Division One basket at the same time.
Certainly, this will be a Premier League in Division One apparel!
The 2027 cast
For 2027, the Eastern Region will have the recently relegated Triangle United, Manica Diamonds, GreenFuel FC, Bikita Minerals, old PSL soldiers, Buffaloes FC, Masvingo United, Mutare City Rovers and Tenax CS FC — all of whom once had a dance with the domestic top-flight league.
To spice up the competition, teams that include Renco Mine FC, FC Wangu Mazodze (Bikita Chida), Grand Legacy, Deportivo La Murambinda will be part of this league.
For a league that was once infamous for lack of competition, whereby the team that eventually got promoted was known from MatchDay One, this is an achievement of Mt Everest proportions.
The lack of stay power in the top-flight league is something that critics of this region have questioned multiple times, but that certainly comes with a plethora of reasons.
But the presence of such a huge number of former Premiership teams, on the flip side, speaks volumes of the rich competition that is set to be witnessed next season.
A region with a rich, but painful history
The Eastern Region, covering Manicaland, Masvingo and Mashonaland East, is arguably the most historic region in Zimbabwean football.
In the early 90s, Tanganda FC lifted the Castle Cup in 1993.
Masvingo United, the beloved Yuna Yuna to its nostalgic fans, won promotion in 1999, and came within 90 minutes of winning the PSL title in 2005, before losing 1-2 to Dynamos at Mucheke.
They were relegated in 2011, and Masvingo city is still to have PSL football since then.
Buffaloes FC, under the late Brigadier-General Gibbs Kachana, were promoted at the end of the 1999 season, and again in 2011, spending four seasons in the top-flight with the financial assistance of the late businessman, Hlanganiso Matangaidze, before their 2015 relegation.
Triangle United won the region title in 2012 and again in 2024, winning the Chibuku Super Cup in 2018.
Manica Diamonds achieved the province’s highest ever finish in the Premier Soccer League when they ended the season in second place in 2023.
Then came the collapse.
On November 23 last year, Yadah, GreenFuel and Bikita Minerals, all failed to win on the final day – Yadah losing 0-1 to Simba Bhora, GreenFuel drawing 1-1 with Triangle United, and Bikita losing 0-1 to Manica Diamonds — and were relegated.
This season, Triangle and Manica Diamonds joined them.
Triangle beat Simba Bhora 2-0 at Gibbo on MatchDay 33, but still went down because Bulawayo Chiefs won.
Balance of probability
As we wait for next season, all things being equal and without major shifts or additions to the Pacific Storm Eastern Region Division One League, in this writer’s opinion, Triangle United are 35 percent favourites to win it, GreenFuel 25 percent, Manica Diamonds 20 percent, Renco/Murambinda 20 percent.
The Sugar Boys, as Triangle are affectionately known, still have PSL infrastructure — Gibbo Stadium — and payroll three times bigger than community clubs.
As Triangle coach, Genesis Mangombe, said after relegation: “We need to put our focus on next season, and how best we can make sure that the team quickly bounces back.”
As Manica Diamonds manager, Ticharambana Zikai, warned: “The demise of Triangle and Manica Diamonds to join the likes of GreenFuel and Bikita Minerals in the less fashionable Eastern Region Division One is a serious concern. Considering that all these teams are corporate backed, it raises alarm.”
Fan expectation will be brutal.
Manicaland wants Manica Diamonds back.
Masvingo wants Yuna Yuna back after 15 years without PSL football at Mucheke. That pressure will likely see coaches being sacked by MatchDay 10.
What will competition be like?
It will be a mini-PSL with derbies every weekend.
Triangle vs GreenFuel (Lowveld derby), Buffaloes vs Mutare City (Mutare derby), Mutare City vs Tenax (Mutare derby), Manica Diamonds vs Tenax (Mutare derby) Manica Diamonds v Buffaloes (Mutare derby) Masvingo United vs Renco (Masvingo derby), Masvingo United vs Bikita Minerals (Masvingo derby) and many more.
The surprise packages, who gave a very good account of themselves, and are certainly going to make the competition more exciting as well as every point worth the effort, Renco Mine, FC Wangu Mazodze and Grand Legacy will have no pressure.
Renco Mine, a club representing the Renco gold mine community near Masvingo, has been a constant feature in this league since the 80s.
The gold miners of Renco Mine have already showed this year that they can beat anyone despite being underdogs.
And in the end, one team will go up.
Three will go down to Division Two.
Seven former Premier Soccer teams will be left crying and facing the reality of having to try again in 2028.
For the fans from Chipinge to Mwenezi, from Marondera to Bikita, it will be the saltiest, most painful, and most entertaining season ever witnessed!
