admin . Raymond Jaravaza
LIFE goes on for relegated Border Strikers and the club is already looking ahead with their immediate task being to convince coach Luke Masomere to go down with the team to Division One next season.
Border Strikersa�� 3-0 defeat to Mutare City Rovers last weekend marked the end of their relationship with the Premier Soccer League for the 2017 season.
Their last three matches against Triangle United, Chicken Inn and ZPC Kariba are merely dead rubbers which will amount to nothing for the Beitbridge-based team.
Club chairman Combat Moyo, however, reckons now is the time to retrospect while also mapping a way forward.
And the starting point is convincing Masomere, the nomadic and veteran coach who has been in charge of a number of PSL teams in the past, to go down with the team to the Central Region Division One league.
a�?The key is continuity and that means going into Division One next year with coach Masomere and the bulk of our players.
a�?We will sit down with the coach and make our position clear that we would like him to stay but obviously the decision to stay or leave lies with him,a�? Moyo told B-Metro Sport.
Looking back at the disastrous 2016 season which the team battled relegation from the onset Moyo believes their biggest let down was investing in the construction of Dulibadzimu Stadium while neglecting the team.
At one point Border Strikers players threatened to down their soccer boots in protest over unpaid salaries and unbearable living conditions at their living quarters provided by the club.
a�?We put so many resources on renovating Dulibadzimu Stadium and somehow neglected to invest in the team.
a�?By the time Dulibadzimu was complete we had lost valuable points in the league, a situation that proved costly for the team at the end of the season,a�? he added.
Playing at Maglas Stadium in Zvishavane before the completion of renovations at Dulibadzimu also hurt the club financially.
a�?We recorded losses of about more than $1 000 for every single game we played at Maglas because an average of just 20 people would pay to watch our games yet we had to pay referees and transport the team among other expenses.
a�?But the situation got better when the PSL finally allowed us to play at Dulibadzimu as we were able to attract close to 3 000 fans for our home matches and that meant we could pay our players,a�? he added.
Dulibadzimu Stadium was initially condemned by the PSL forcing Border Strikers to play their home matches at Maglas Stadium, 280 kilometres away from their preferred home ground.
After months of renovations Dulibadzimu was finally cleared by the PSL.
derick.khumalo