Arenel ready for PSL, to unveil kit

ARENEL have settled for Luveve Stadium as their home ground for their maiden dance in the topflight league and say they are ready to compete with the top teams in the local league.

However, Luveve Stadium still has to pass the First Instance Board (FIB) test to host Premiership games.

The Premiership newsboys used White City Stadium for their Southern Region Division One campaign and given an option between Barbourfields Stadium and Luveve Stadium, they have settled for the latter.

Topflight league games were meant to commence this weekend but the PSL has since postponed them to kick off on March 9.

This, according to PSL, has been necessitated by the need to ensure there are safe, secure and adequate venues to host Castle Lager PSL matches.

Coach Farai Tawachera, says the delay to the start of the new season is not so much of an advantage.

“Look, the games are eventually going to start and you have to be ready for that. The break does give us extra time to prepare but it’s not a big advantage,” said Tawachera.

Arenel will open their campaign against defending league and Castle Challenge Cup winners Ngezi Platinum at home.

A big test for a side making their debut season but Tawachera is not showing any signs of fear.

“They are a side with quality. We have watched some videos from their Castle Challenge Cup final and there is no doubt about the quality they have.

However, there are a few things we have picked up that we will try to work on in our bid to upset them. We have a combination of youth and experience and we feel these will be able to do the job for us,” said Tawachera.

Arenel kept the majority of the side that won them promotion and added a few new faces into the fray.

Defender Moses Jackson and midfielder Crispen Machisi are some of the experienced players who have joined the team.

Already the team had experience in the form of former Highlanders midfielders Simon Munawa and Brian Jaravaza as well as former Bulawayo City goalkeeper Aaron Ngwenya.

Arenel ended their Southern Region Division One campaign without a loss under the guidance of Kudzai Mhandire, who has since been re-assigned to the post of team manager. This comes after the club lured former Quelaton and Bulawayo City gaffer Tawechera to take over as the new head coach.

Meanwhile, Fungai Muderere writes, that the new boys are set to unveil their kit at White City Stadium tomorrow.

Club administrator Juma Phiri, who previously worked at the Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC), Hwange, Mwana Africa, Shangani, Chicken Inn, Kwekwe United and Talen Vision, said the unveiling will be held at 12 pm , three hours before they engage in a friendly match against Gweru based PSL returnees TelOne.

Gate charges are pegged at US$2.

Arenel Movers entered into a partnership with Harare-based Genesis Sporting to be their official kit sponsor.

“Our kit unveiling event will be held on Saturday at White City Stadium just before we play TelOne in a friendly match. We are happy that we got such a deal and we hope it will be a fruitful one as well,” said Phiri.

While he could not be drawn into mentioning how long the partnership will last, impeccable sources revealed that the two parties are set to work hand in glove for two years from January 2024 to December 2025.

The agreement between the two parties that was seen by this publication reads: “The free kit package will be made up of the following items (a) up to 32 sets of football uniforms (home), (b) up to 32 sets of football uniforms (away) (c) up to eight coaching uniforms (d) two sponsor branded banners (e) 20% discount on all sportswear orders from Genesis Sporting for the duration of the agreement. Genesis Sporting will recover its costs through sales of replicas to fans. Additionally, more items will be added to the package if certain sales targets are met.”

Upon reaching a target of 200 replicas sold, the following will be added to the package.

“Up to 32 sets of football uniforms (alternative kit), up to 30 Bibs and up to 32 Sets of training uniforms,” further read the proposal.

After reaching a target of selling 300 replicas, the club will get 32 tracksuits, the same number of travelling shirts and toiletry bags will be added.

Then under the guidance of Kudzai Mhandire, Arenel Movers won the Zifa Southern Region Division One League’s sole ticket into the country’s elite football league beating fellow seasoned campaigners, ZPC Hwange and Talen Vision to it.

Arenel won the league with four games to spare.

Mhandire is a Zifa Level Four Certificate holder and it is a development that has seen Arenel Movers hire Farai Tawarechera, a Caf A holder to be their head coach. – @innocentskizoe