BREAKING RECORDS. . . DeMbare’s worst barren run

Robson Sharuko
H-Metro Editor
IF Dynamos fail to win the league championship this season, it will mark the WORST BARREN run, without major silverware, in their illustrious 59-year history.

A major piece of silverware is either the league championship or the premier knockout tournament.

For the better part of the history of the domestic top-flight league, it was the championship and the Castle Cup.

Then, it became the league and ZIFA Unity Cup, briefly, the league and BP League Cup, the league and CBZ Cup, the league and the Mbada Diamonds Cup.

Since 2014, it has been the league and the Chibuku Super Cup.

DeMbare’s penalty shootout defeat to FC Platinum, in the Chibuku Super Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, closed the door on their more realistic target, in terms of silverware.

This means if they fail to beat the Zvishavane side, in the league race, Dynamos would just have completed their WORST BARREN run, in terms of years spent without major silverware, in their history.

The Glamour Boys are set to celebrate their 60th anniversary next year but, unless they erase the eight-point deficit, in the last seven games, they will celebrate that milestone under a dark cloud.

Until now, their worst run, without winning any of the two major trophies, was the SIX years they spent between 1970 and 1976.

But, even back then, they showed some life as they lost to Mhagura and Hwange in the final of the Castle Cup in 1972 and 1973.

Before that, their worst run had been FIVE years, between 1965 and 1970, but even then, they showed a bit of life and reached the final of the Castle Cup in 1968, only to lose 1-4 to Arcadia United.

After winning the 1997 league title, DeMbare had to wait a decade to win it again, in 2007.

But, at least, they won the BP League Cup in 2000, with a 2-1 win over Motor Action, and the ZIFA Unity Cup in 2003, after a 2-1 extra-time win over Bosso.

With their last league title having come in 2014, and the disruptions which were brought by Covid-19, the reality is that, if they don’t win the championship this campaign, Dynamos would have gone SEVEN seasons without winning any major silverware.

SIX league championships would have come and gone, without the Glamour Boys winning any of them.

But, crucially, in terms of setting the WORST record, SEVEN major knockout tournaments, represented by the Chibuku Super Cup, would have come and gone, without Dynamos winning any of them.

Put simply, this means that, for the first time in 59 years, THIRTEEN battles for the league championship, and the biggest knockout tournament, would have been held, with DeMbare failing to win any of them.

It will also mark the FIRST time that the Glamour Boys would have failed to win any of the major pieces of silverware, during a period in which one club would have won four league titles on the bounce.

FC Platinum are firmly on course to win their fourth league title in a row.

If that happens, as is largely expected, Dynamos would have failed to win, either the League or Cup, for the first time, during such an historic campaign for one of their major rivals.

When Highlanders won four leagues on the trot, at the turn of the millennium, Dynamos won the BP League Cup in 2000.