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“MY team has failed to grow in the 60 years it has been in existence. We do not have anything to show for all these years and successes,” these are painful words from Dynamos and Black Aces legend Clever Hunda.
He is also a former national team player. Hunda was among the first former players to move to Botswana in the 1980s and has been resident there since then having coached a number of clubs.
Dynamos, the country’s biggest club that has the distinction of being the most successful, is celebrating its 60th anniversary. All the silverware won over the decades is displayed at rented offices, not at the club’s owned premises. Hunda said it hurts to look back and realise that the club is not where it is supposed to be institutionally.
“We do not even have a Hall of Fame for the club’s most successful players. How are they celebrated,” said Hunda.
He blamed former players for the chaos that crept into Dynamos.
“We are the ones who fired the Morrison Sifelani-led committee. Why we did that and to this day we do not know,” said Hunda.
At Sifelani’s funeral 10 years ago, Bernard Marriot also confirmed that Dynamos player power in 1975 invited never ending chaos.
“Taking out Danny Bricks, Josiah Akende and Sarupinda was a big mistake on unproven allegations of stealing money. Dynamos has never recovered. These problems you have seen started when we removed those from the committee including Lameck Mlambo. It was peer pressure and after that I decided to leave Dynamos. When I talk about the club, there is joy and pain,” said Hunda.
It is one of the biggest in Southern Africa and left a mark in the continent when it reached the 1998 Africa Champions League final. A number of times the team has played in the group stages which separates it from the rest in the land.
Last month club chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze told Zimpapers Sports Hub that they were engaging Harare City Council and the Ministry of Local Government over a piece of land that will be the club’s property.
“We want to have the Dynamos Village where everything about the club will be including the Hall of Fame. We have had the highest number of Soccer Star of the Year winners and national team stars. All our big name players and coaches will be on our
Hall of Fame when the Dynamos Village is complete. The club academy players will also live there and infrastructure which is line with modern day investments will be erected, such as offices, hostels, club regalia shop, café, football pitches and a small stadium. We have to take our place in Zimbabwe football as the biggest and most successful team.”
Hunda said turbulence at the club had affected its growth over the years.
“We should be having a clubhouse where we meet as former players. It will be good to see all those that played for Dynamos meeting there regularly,” said Hunda.
Hunda said in the past Dynamos was very united.
“There was love at Dynamos. Money was a secondary thing, we played for the love of the game and the club. Our chairman was Simon Dauya who was very soft, but a good leader,” said Hunda.
Hunda joined Dynamos as a junior between 1964-1965. As juniors they were developed within the supporters curtain-raising for the next age group up to the senior team.
“When we were growing up there was unity among the players. If one was injured all the players went to visit him at the hospital because there was love and family values within the club. The club has not grown because of squabbles,” said Hunda who played with the likes of Isdore Sagwete, George Shaya, David Madondo, Daniel Chikanda, Charles Gwatidzo,Chita Antonio and Stanley Nyika in the Dynamos juniors.
He praised Josiah Akende their coach who worked with Eric Magwenzi and junior coaches who emphasised that the juniors be friends on and off the pitch.
For a club to succeed Hunda said home grown talent was important in that it grew up within the expected institutional culture.
He praised the Dynamos junior policy that existed and mentioned Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints too whom he said had strong developmental structures.
Hunda said Dynamos had a system where junior players shadowed seniors who embraced them and he was assigned to Bernard Marriot Lusengo who emphasised to Hunda never to drink alcohol.
He said the team had lost traction by buying players instead of recruiting from its reserves. Hunda who left Dynamos in 1976 said growing up at Dynamos they had so many good players whom they wanted to emulate. He praised Shaw Handriade,
Edward Katsvere and Kuda Muchemeyi who were the juniors coming through when he left for Black Aces.
Hunda said the players during his times who were bought had to be very good and gave examples of the likes of Daniel Bingadadi Ncube and Chris Mhlanga.
“These two were bought from Bulawayo and were a perfect fit because they were polished players,” said Hunda who considers himself a Dynamos son having spent three quarters of his football career there.
Hunda started as a striker and when there was a crisis while in Malawi, many senior players were drunk, he was thrust into midfield and fit well for coach Sarupinda in 1968.
Hunda said the golden years of Zimbabwe football had teams like Zimbabwe Saints and Mhangura. He castigated previous executives for selling Dynamos land. Hunda is hopeful that the DeMbare family will look at the bigger picture going forward and create a legacy by investing in real estate.
Online Reporter