Online Reporter
THIS week we carried the story of the possibility that all members of the traditional Big Three of Zimbabwe football — Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United — could be RELEGATED at the end of the season.
That is the worst case scenario that we have to confront. The three giants have dominated our football for decades. Dynamos are the most successful football club in this country with 21 Premiership titles.
Highlanders are in second place with seven league championships.
CAPS United are in third place with five league championships.
Collectively, the three giants have won 33 of the 60 league championships which have been competed for in this country. However, they all face the brutal reality that they might all go down at the end of this season.
Dynamos have 22 points with just nine games remaining in the championship race. The Glamour Boys are second-from-the-bottom of the table.
CAPS United have 28 points while Highlanders have 29 points.
The challenge for both the Green Machine and Bosso is that they are both just a point and two points above relegation trouble.
The other challenge is that the giants also have outstanding battles against each other, where they will be cancelling themselves. Dynamos still have a date against CAPS United while Highlanders also have a date against the Glamour Boys.
There are 27 points still at stake.
DeMbare are in the in-form team among the Big Three after the arrival of coach Kelvin Kaindu.
But, they are also the team in real danger as they don’t have any margin of error. They might need to win six or seven of their final nine games for them to survive.
Their main challenge is that if they keep winning, and the clubs who are above them in the relegation fight also keep winning, as was the case on Sunday where Yadah and Triangle also won, then their mission will be doomed.
CAPS United are now just one point above relegation trouble after a poor run in recent games despite the promising start which coach Ian Bakala enjoyed.
A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for us to discuss the possibility of the Big Three facing the prospect of being relegated.
We used to talk about them as contenders for the championship.
But, times have changed and the domestic football landscape has also changed. The arrival of brash newboys, who have the money to give players contracts that make their lives comfortable, has changed the landscape.
In the past, the Big Three were the clubs of choice for most of our top players. But that has changed and in recent years we have seen top players like Knowledge Musona, Khama Billiat and Admire Dzvukamanja coming back home and choosing to play for the newboys.
We also saw Scottland sign Mafios Chiweta, who was the best player at Highlanders, during the mid-season transfer window.
The Big Three are in a real fix and it will be very sad for our Premiership if one, or all of them, are relegated.
