Online Reporter
Robson Sharuko
Metros Editor
IT’S been a long time since Highlanders won the league championship – 20 years to be precise.
A lot has changed around the world since Methembe Ndlovu guided a fine collection of players to the league championship in 2006.
It was a golden period for Bosso.
They were the dominant team in the country and their fans’ roadshows provided a fitting motion picture soundtrack to the success on the pitch.
They won four league titles, on the bounce, at the turn of the millennium and the City of Kings was so dominant that five straight titles were won by its clubs between 2009 and 2003.
Amazulu joined the feast in 2003 and, even on that occasion when they failed to make it five league championships in a row, Bosso still finished second.
CAPS United arrived on the scene and brought the championship back to the capital in 2004 and 2005.
But, in 2006, it was back in Bulawayo.
What we didn’t know back then was that this was the last time Highlanders would be crowned champions.
It’s been a lengthy wait.
Kelvin Kaindu took them close in 2012 when his Bosso team finished with the same number of points as Dynamos only to lose the championship on goal difference.
That Bosso team lost only one game throughout the season.
Now, Highlanders have Benjani as the man in charge, and he has been tasked with winning the league title in the year that Bosso are celebrating 100 years of existence.
To understand how long the Bosso fans have been waiting for the league championship, one just needs to look at the following:
- The first iPhone, which is often referred to as the iPhone 2G, had not been made when Bosso last won the championship.
Steve Jobs first announced on January 9, 2007, just a month after Bosso had been crowned champions, that Apple would be releasing the original iPhone. It was released in the United States on June 29, 2007.
It was something the industry had never seen before and its 3.5-inch multi-touch display, an iPod, and a web browser, ushered in the modern smartphone era. So every time you see an iPhone, whichever type, remember none of these gadgets were there the last time Bosso were champions.
- TikTok was not there when Highlanders last won the championship in 2006. In fact, ten years would pass before TikTok was launched in China. It was introduced in September 2016. That was the year that Bosso marked a decade without winning the league championship.
It was the year CAPS United were crowned champions. Ten years later, Bosso have not won the championship. TikTok was introduced to the world in September 2017.
- Instagram was also not there when Bosso last won the league championship in 2006. Infact, four years would pass before Instagram was launched on October 12, 2010 in San Francisco, United States. It’s very likely that tens of thousands of Bosso fans are on Instagram and it’s an app that didn’t exist the last time their club were crowned champions.
Mathew Masinge