adminFreedom Mutanda Sports Correspondent
MANY Chipangayi villagers are appealing to Rating management to consider resuscitating the heyday of Zifa Manicaland Division 2 football at their beloved stadium.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s ARDA Middle Sabi Football Club reigned supreme. It even played in Division One and made waves before it eventually folded owing to the devastating drought, the worst in living memory which struck the country in 1992. Supporting soccer became a luxury as the parastatal could no longer carry out economic activities at the estate.
That sounded a death knell for the development of football in Middle Sabi. Gift Muumbe re-lived those days and a glint in his eye showed how much he loved a rekindling of the good old days.
“We used to host Arcadia and Rio Tinto football clubs among a host of Division One teams. Charlie Jones and the member-in-charge, Masimba Dinyero, know this ground. John Rugg, the legendary gaffer sat on the bench and barked instructions here. We had our own Patrick Masimbe, Kumbulani Mabuya and Gilbert Zivamba. Those were the days of Kunouyei!” said a fan.
Away from the nostalgic memories of history, it is important to note that when Rating came on board following the public-private partnership entered by those two companies in 2009, football was resumed and the club joined Division Two in 2010 under the chairmanship of Kamwala. Although it did not make an impression as “Kunouyei”, Rating did a sterling job of ending the season on a respectable position.
At one time The Manica Post soccer reporter called the club ‘unpredictable and tenacious.’ Teams were very uncomfortable to play against it as the team boasted the talents of Control Sithole, Barnabas Sithole and Remekedzai Damiso who were the fulcrum of Silo Power Football Club which nearly stormed into Division One in 2006. James Muhala, the respected bearded soccer coach and trainer of coaches, once wanted to take Barnabas Sithole to Monomotapa FC after seeing his exploits against Frontier Steel at Mutare Boys’ High grounds.
The script took a gothic turn in 2012 after the company opted not to join the Division Two League citing financial constraints. Since then, the community is starved of Sunday entertainment and there were no glad tidings from the management.
Interestingly, Rating’s sister estate, Macdom in Chisumbanje has a team in Division Two albeit in the Masvingo region. That community of Chisumbanje is spoilt for choice as there are two Division Two teams at Checheche.
Loud cries for a company-sponsored soccer team continue to grow louder with each passing day.
At one time, Anglo-American had Triangle and Hippo Valley Football Clubs in Division One. If the company could do it, surely Green Fuel can do it via its subsidiary Rating.
Kuda Mabaso, a local soccer fan and coach who played for Silo Power said: “It is no secret that the people of this area love football. If the company can resurrect Rating soccer team, it would be a wonderful day for the youngsters.”
The cry, “Please give us Division 2 football next year,” gets more and more deafening with each passing minute as 2015 beckons. “It can’t be a question of management. These two companies are Siamese twins. What happens at Macdom must obtain here. We have footballers who can bring the good times here if we play competitive football.
“Once we allow our boys to have exposure, who knows, one day, we may have a national team player who traces his origin from this area. Philip Marufu played in this stadium albeit on a losing cause when his school, Mayanga, played against Chipangayi in 1997,” one man who refused to be named, said as he shook his head in frustration.
2015 is around the corner. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the Rating management to take the pleas of people on board.
Everyone wins at the end of the day.
Online Reporter