Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube
Zimpapers Sports Hub
BULAWAYO giants Highlanders, one of Zimbabwe’s oldest sporting institutions, are facing one of their most difficult periods as financial challenges threaten to overshadow their preparations for a landmark centenary in 2026.
Highlanders are also still trapped in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League’s relegation matrix ahead of the Super Sunday Match-day 34 fixtures on November 23.
Bosso, who have long been considered a cornerstone of the domestic game have never been demoted from the top-flight league.
Highlanders, however, find themselves fighting battles on two fronts, survival in the Premiership and to stay afloat off the field.
Their fate in the top-flight will be decided when they face city rivals Chicken Inn in a Bulawayo derby at Barbourfields on the final day of the season.
Chicken Inn are also not safe from the drop zone either, in a crazy season in which any of the bottom eight teams could go under.
Despite their historic stature and deep community roots, Highlanders have endured a nearly two-decade championship drought.
In fact, Bosso who last won the league under Methembe Ndlovu in 2006, will clock 20 years without a league title in the same season on which they should be celebrating their Centenary.
One would also have to look back to 2019 to see when Highlanders last won major silverware — the Chibuku Super Cup — delivered by their current coach Pieter de Jongh.
Since then, results have remained inconsistent while silverware has been elusive.
A number of coaching changes which have seen the likes of Mandla Mpofu, club legend Madinda Ndlovu, Baltemar Britto, Kelvin Kaindu and Try Ncube, taking charge have not yielded success.
Now the Bosso chiefs have turned back to Dutchman De Jongh but he too would now have to wait for next year, having returned when the 2025 damage had literally been done.
This season, Bosso have spent more time avoiding relegation than challenging for honours.
Similarly, their developmental side, Bosso 90, narrowly escaped demotion only because their final opponents, Ajax Hotspurs, failed to fulfil their fixture after collapsing under the weight of financial problems.
Bosso insiders say the cracks run deeper than results. The club is weighed down by a large wage bill and an inflated squad.
Highlanders have 42 contracted players, including those under Bosso 90, but only a handful have met the standards expected at such a storied club.
The financial strain is clear and the team’s monthly wage bill stands at around US$71 000, while sponsorship covers just US$41 000.
This means the difference about US$30 000 must be covered through other income streams, largely gate takings, which themselves have dwindled owing to low attendance against rising Match-day costs.
“The board has realised there’s simply not enough quality in the squad,” said a source close to the club. “Even De Jongh’s mid-season signings failed to turn things around. If Kaindu struggled, so did Ncube and De Jongh, they all faced the same limitations.”
The leadership is reportedly considering a significant reduction in player contracts next season to align costs with revenue, but that may spark new challenges.
Without adequate funds to settle player contracts, Highlanders, who earlier in the year also faced FIFA Disciplinary sanctions for failing to pay Britto, risk incurring a deepening debt.
Observers have also pointed to a worrying decline in Highlanders’ player development structures.
Once famed for producing national team talent, Bosso’s junior system has struggled to churn out players of the calibre that once defined the club. In earlier decades, the team was a reliable supplier to the Young Warriors.
Now it is rare for a Bosso junior to break into the national Under-17 or Under-20 teams.
“It has been a tough year for Highlanders,” said one long-time supporter.
“The first team, Bosso 90 and the women’s side, Highlanders Royals, have all faced relegation scares. That’s not the Bosso we grew up admiring.”
When reached for comment on Monday regarding the size of the squad and the wage bill, Highlanders chief executive officer Denzil Mnkandla told Zimpapers Sports Hub that he would respond after consulting management.
He later indicated that the matter would be addressed by board chairman, Luke Mnkandla, to whom repeated attempts to contact were unsuccessful.
But for Highlanders, turning 100 was meant to mark a proud moment in their legacy.
Now it is all looking gloomy ahead of that Centenary milestone.
A century since their formation, Bosso’s greatest challenge may no longer be about winning trophies, but staying afloat in a rapidly changing football and economic landscape.
