Online Reporter
Langton Nyakwenda
Zimpapers Sports Hub
AT 21, Tawanda Chirewa is walking into pre-season with English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, fresh off a loan spell at Huddersfield. He’s already a Zimbabwe senior international. He plays in front of packed stadiums and signs autographs in two countries.
But here’s a thought that slices right to the bone of local football: if Chirewa had grown up in Zimbabwe, would he even be playing in the PSL right now, or still waiting for a 39-year-old to retire?
That’s not just a rhetorical jab. It’s the painful, systemic reality of Zimbabwean football, a country that registers its future but rarely plays it.
At 14, Awakhiwe Tshalibe dazzled at the CAF Under 15 Schools Tournament in Harare in December 2023. Zimbabwe only claimed bronze, but Tshalibe, El Shaddai Sadomba and Tadiwa Chakuchichi stole hearts with their raw, fearless brilliance.
Today, they’re vanishing into football’s forgotten pages.
Chakuchichi, now 16, is at Scottland FC, one of just two U19 players registered by the club. He’s played only 116 minutes this season. Tshalibe is on Chicken Inn’s books but hasn’t featured once.
They’re among the 52 players aged 19 or younger registered in the PSL, part of a policy that mandates each club include five juniors in its 30-man squad. But that’s where the commitment ends.
“All Premier Soccer League clubs are mandated to register a maximum of 30 players per season, of which five of those slots are reserved for developmental players under the age of 20 years,” said PSL acting chief executive Rodwell Thabe.
“This policy is aimed at promoting junior development and establishing a solid foundation for the future of the game.”
But in practice, the numbers tell a different story. Only 26 of those 52 juniors have played at all. Many featured for mere minutes. Herentals’ Panashe Kanavheti (18) clocked just 2 minutes. Bikita Minerals’ Royn Nyamono (18) had 7. ZPC Kariba’s Edmond Ruwo (19) is a rare exception, with 1,071 minutes under his belt.
Some clubs haven’t fielded a single U20. CAPS United, despite registering five juniors, have given them no game time. Instead, they recently signed 34 year old Congolese striker Chris Mugalu.
“As the PSL, we encourage clubs to go beyond registration and actively develop and integrate these young players into PSL competitive matches,” Thabe added. “Doing so ensures continuity and secures the future of the game at both league and national level.”
That’s the policy. But coaches, under pressure for results, often default to what they know.
“The nature of our job is we are measured with results, sometimes regardless of whom you play,” admitted one PSL coach. “So sometimes you go for experienced players who give you instant results.”
The league has become a graveyard of second chances for ageing veterans, not a proving ground for emerging stars.
When Saul Chaminuka coached Kwekwe United, he built his team around a quartet of over 30s: Allan Gahadzikwa, Masimba Mambare, Evans Katema and Carlton Munzabwa. They were dubbed the “four-plate stove” and followed him from Bikita Minerals to Kwekwe. One or two may even follow him again to Dynamos, where the recycling continues.
“You look at CAPS United’s recruitment under Lloyd Chitembwe, at some point, he brought in three players with a combined age of just over 100 years,” a local analyst observed. “Would Chirewa have made it into the local Premiership at such a young age? I doubt it. Coaches here believe too much in experience.”
That culture of caution is feeding stagnation. Risk averse coaching isn’t just sidelining youth, it’s smothering potential.
In Europe, top clubs are betting on youth and winning. Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal (17) is tipped for the Ballon d’Or. Pau Curbasi (17) is a regular in their defence. Warren Zaire-Emery (19) helped PSG lift their first UEFA Champions League. Dean Huijsen (20) moved from Bournemouth to Real Madrid after a breakout season.
These players didn’t just arrive, they were nurtured, trusted, and thrown into the fire early.
“The most exciting players from all the big European clubs are often the youngest,” said Friendly Academy coach Farai Dhliwayo. “Youths get fans excited. Seeing potential develop into a world class player is something supporters gravitate to. But here? They disappear.”
“They don’t get consistent game time to improve. Right now, sending a young player from an academy into the PSL is detrimental to their development.”
Next month, Zimbabwe will compete in the COSAFA Under-20 tournament in Namibia, aiming to win their first title since 2007. Drawn alongside Namibia, Malawi and Angola, the Young Warriors carry national pride and the gaze of South African scouts.
But where are these players coming from?
The pipeline is unreliable. U20 squads are often hastily assembled from whoever’s available. Juniors are registered to tick boxes, not to play. And the consequences are darker than fans realise.
In 2018, Zimbabwe was rocked by age cheating allegations at the COSAFA U20 tournament in Zambia. Two years later, the national U17 side was booted from the COSAFA tournament in South Africa after failing MRI age tests.
“We picked players from the PSL’s Under-20 lists,” lamented coach Bekithemba Ndlovu during the 2018 fallout. “If they were too old, why were they registered as juniors by their clubs?”
This isn’t just about cheating. It’s about a system failing its own.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, it worked. Moses Chunga won Soccer Star of the Year at 20. Stewart Murisa lifted the Castle Cup at 17. Memory Mucherahowa debuted for Dynamos at 16.
Now? The PSL has become a place where talent is registered, ignored and eventually forgotten.
Even respected coaches like Norman Mapeza have spoken out about the lack of structured development and the obsession with experience over promise.
“Currently, we’re not producing players who are ready to compete,” an analyst said bluntly. “We’re recycling, not developing.”
ZIFA’s Jethro Hunidzarira has floated ideas like forcing clubs to field two juniors per match, or forming a fully sponsored U20 league. But even he admits the odds are steep.
“In our environment, it could be difficult,” he said. “Most clubs don’t have the finances, and there’s no good sponsorship. Even forming a proper U20 league will need serious investment.”
While local gems rust, Zimbabwean heritage players raised abroad are thriving. Chirewa (Wolves), Sean Fusire (Sheffield Wednesday), Trey Nyoni and Isaac Mabaya (Liverpool), Tawanda Masvanhise (Motherwell), all are flourishing in systems that invested in them.
They had the same raw talent as boys in Kuwadzana, Dangamvura or Sizinda. But they had systems that believed in them.
“Would Chirewa have made it to the PSL if he had stayed here?” one analyst asked. “He’d probably be behind someone twice his age, still waiting for a debut.”
And that’s the tragedy of Zimbabwean football.
It’s not that the talent doesn’t exist.
It’s that it’s ignored.
We register it. We sideline it. We recycle around it.
And then we wonder why nothing changes.
Because what’s more tragic than a country bursting with potential, but no courage to believe in it?
In the 90s, the time of the Stanley Ndunduma, Joe Shambo, Stewart Murisa, Ben Konjera, Mercedes Sibanda and others in the Zimbabwe Under 20 team, verification of age was not necessary hence most of these guys played for the Under-20 team for close to 10 years, meaning they would have been 10 year olds when they were drafted into the Under 20 national team. Age cheating was just a hobby. Remember the Tinashe or was he Washington Nengomasha saga? Willard Khumalo(MHSRIP) had his age adjusted in order to continue playing in the under 20s. Youth development in our football has always been mired in controversy. It is showing now where players in the mid and late 30s are being seen as the best. Look at the Castle calender Best Eleven. The likes of Billiat, Katema, Chinyengetere, Mauchi, Pfumbudzayi Benza and others are seen as the best players on the scene yet they are old enough to be grandfathers.
The easiest way of solving such a problem is to revive the B team league. It is not necessarily a league that is sponsored but that the same players who play for the A Team do qualify for the B team and the other way round. It is up to the coaches to field a player in the B or A team. You could even find a top player like Khama Billiat or Musona playing or on the subs list for the B Team on any given match day. The secret is that the B Teams of the opposing A Teams play as the curtain raisers on every matchday. Our biggest problem right now is that we have too many business men in ZIFA and PSL administration so kufunga chaiko kushoma about football business will always come first. And that is killing our football. There are many areas of football that need new thinking but that is not happening. Unfortunately we are going to sit with the same administrators for four years. only for zvigananda to dangle freebies when elections come. What is happening in football right now is a tragedy. But for us Zimbabweans we are used to it. Because we face that every day, tinongozviona muhurumende, mumapurisa, muma city councils, nemuma parastatals. Its the same pattern everywhere. But at least we have uniformity everywhere and whichever way you look.
The easiest way of solving such a problem is to revive the B team league. It is not necessarily a league that is sponsored but that the same players who play for the A Team do qualify for the B team and the other way round. It is up to the coaches to field a player in the B or A team. You could even find a top player like Khama Billiat or Musona playing or on the subs list for the B Team on any given match day. The secret is that the B Teams of the opposing A Teams play as the curtain raisers on every matchday. Our biggest problem right now is that we have too many business men in ZIFA and PSL administration so kufunga chaiko kushoma about football, business will always come first. And that is killing our football. There are many areas of football that need new thinking but that is not happening. Unfortunately we are going to sit with the same administrators for four years. only for zvigananda to dangle freebies when elections come. What is happening in football right now is a tragedy. But for us Zimbabweans we are used to it. Because we face that every day, tinongozviona muhurumende, mumapurisa, muma city councils, nemuma parastatals. Its the same pattern everywhere. But at least we have uniformity everywhere and whichever way you look. There should be proportional representation, yemafans, mabusinessmen, council reps and maexperienced football administrators, and government. Just having experienced administrators and mabusinessmen does not help, hapana kwatinosvika.