Moffat Mungazi
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
THE thrill of the hunt is, not in the kill, but in the challenge, preparation, and chase!
So has been the hunt for football glory that Marondera-based Eastern Region Division One side, FC Hunters since 2020, when the ambitious club was formed out of a social soccer outfit meant for tobacco farm workers.
The challenge that lies before them, their preparations and chase have been made easy by the passionate commitment to the club’s cause of their financier – Andrew Gore.
FC Hunters was formed on March 20, 2020, and was initially registered with the ZIFA Mashonaland East Division Two in the same year, and managed to pull through to the Eastern Region Division One in 2022.
In the Eastern Region Division One debut season, FC Hunters ended the season on a respectable seventh position, and last year, they finished on an impressive fourth position.
To their credit, last season, FC Hunters, were duly named the region’s most improved team of the year at the annual Eastern Region end of season awards.
As the Eastern Region Division One 2025 season kicks-off this weekend, FC Hunters are satisfied with their preparations ahead of the start of the season.
In their preseason friendlies, the Marondera-based outfit drew against Dynamos B side two-all at Rudhaka Stadium, before being beaten by a solitary goal by the DeMbare A side on the same day.
FC Hunters went on to settle for a goalless stalemate against former top-flight league outfit, Harare City, and suffered a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Northern Region Division One side, Black Rhinos.
They also played a one-all draw with Central Region’s Hard Rock.
Thus, the 2025 season will see FC Hunters, the Masvingo duo of Masvingo United and FC Wangu Mazodze, Mutare prison wardens, Tenax FC and Chimanimani-based Rusitu Tigers, as preseason favourites to clinch the title at the end of the season.
Their secretary general, Anna Mpofu, said: “Our vision as a club is that this team should be a business venture in itself in future, running its own affairs.
“We have been playing our part in, not only providing sporting entertainment to the people of Marondera, but also proving a platform for our youths here to showcase their talents and possibly play our part in shunning drug and substance abuse.”
Mpofu said the hallmark of their approach to football matters is discipline and dedication.
“As a club, we take it from our director, Andrew Gore, that to be successful, and achieve one’s ambitions, there is need for discipline and dedication. This is the reason why we strongly discourage alcohol and drug abuse among our players.
“We promote openness about personal life, education, marital status, family and career history, health issues and more importantly we value integrity,” she said.
After two season in the Eastern Region Division One, FC Hunters — a club wholly funded by Gore’s commercial tobacco farming activities — have shown the pedigree and dully set sights on earning Premiership promotion.
Online Reporter