adminRay Bande Senior Reporter
MUTARE City Rovers will have the test of character when they lock horns with fellow municipality owned outfit Harare City in their first pre-season friendly encounter at Vengere Stadium in Rusape.
Unlike Taurai Mangwiro’s Harare City, who were active on the market, snatching some of DeMbare’s best players, Magusha, as Mutare City Rovers are nicknamed, regrouped on January 4 ahead of the 2016 Premiership season and their pre-season preparations have not attracted much hype as the club appeared to be interested in raw talent, cheap labour and not big names.
Rovers will have to make do with most of the players they had in Division One and a few largely unknown additions from Mutoko Pirates, Tenax, Buffaloes and Dongo Sawmills.
There were also some changes in the technical department with the team executive giving Kenny ‘Bokande’ Kachara the green-light to carry on as head coach, while Kachara subsequently opted for former Buffaloes and Eastern Lions gaffer, Ephraim Masakure as his assistant.
Peter Masibera is the goalkeepers’ coach.
Mutare City Rovers spokesperson, Clayton Masekesa, said the decision to use Vengere Stadium for this encounter was meant to give Sakubva Stadium ample time to undergo renovations.
“First, I would like to put it on record that we have used Vengere Stadium because our home ground Sakubva Stadium is currently undergoing renovations in preparation for the Premier Soccer League season.
“We are not running away from our fans in Mutare, but we do not want to disturb the renovations that are currently underway.
“This is going to be an important match to us. This is where we expect the coach to make his assessments on various players that he wishes to have in the final line-up.
“The match will also see or guide the coaches on which combinations to use. This is the first of many friendly matches we have lined up before the start of the season.
“We hope that our coaches will be able to build a strong team that will be able to stand the competition in the top flight league,” said Masekesa.
Meanwhile, all roads will lead to Sakubva Stadium tomorrow as Mutare City Rovers FC supporters will gather to form a supporters’ club that is set to enhance the relationship between the club and its supporters.
The programme which starts at 1pm will see elections for the
association’s executive taking place.
Mutare City Rovers chief of protocol, Benjamin Chindima who is in charge of the supporters portfolio confirmed the
development and said the formation of the supporters club would help the team to solidify its sole objective of remaining in the Premier Soccer League.
“As you know supporters play a significant role in as far as the
success of a team is concerned. So we have encouraged our loyal
supporters to form a supporters’ executive which we significantly
hope will provide a valuable service,” Chindima said.
Positions for the executive will include chairman, vice-chairman
and secretary general.
The posts of treasurer and three committee members will also be filled.
Chindima said the major aims of the Mutare City Rovers Soccer
Supporters’ Club were to establish a forum for supporters to
communicate directly with the club in a structured manner.
“The supporters’ club will help the team better understand the
issues that most affect and concern our fans. This will also enable
fans to play a key role in helping the club achieve success on and off
the pitch. The association will also provide a greater degree of
transparency about key issues that affect supporters,” he explained.
He said this would also help ensure fans feel their loyalty was being valued by the club.
Chindima hoped that the elected executive members of the Mutare City Rovers Soccer Supporters Club would ensure that they best serve their interests in meetings with the club owners.
“The supporters club seeks to strengthen the influence of supporters
over the destiny of our club through democratic and unwavering
support. We hope that it will be a dream comes true for both our
supporters and the team,” he said.
He urged those interested in positions in the supporters association
to come forward and support the dream.
Online Reporter