Online Reporter
Sharuko on Saturday
WHEN Barbourfields is rocking, the Bosso fans are dancing and the sun is shining, it all combines to produce probably the best sights and sounds in African football.
It’s so beautiful!
It seduces your senses of romance, it lures you into its magical web, it sucks you into its warmth and it embraces you and lets you melt into its beauty.
It’s a vintage exhibition of an amazing love affair, a football romance like no other in this country, a magical bond like no other in our national game.
It’s the ultimate definition, and demonstration of football’s true love story.
And, every fortnight, Barbourfields is the grand old theatre, where its exhibition takes place.
It’s a wild journey into some sort of fantasyland, a football paradise, a beach of gold, where fantasy embraces reality in the kingdom of these black-and-white royal warriors.
On Sunday, Barbourfields was rocking.
It was a grand outdoor party as Highlanders fans celebrated their biggest win this season after their stunning 1-0 victory over champions Scottland.
One can understand the euphoria which greeted this massive result.
Bosso became the first club to beat Scottland, at a match played outside a radius of 40km from Harare, since the Mabvuku side were promoted into the Premiership.
Until Sunday, Scottland had played TWENTY away games, outside a radius of 40km, in the PSL, and had not lost a game in 16 months of action.
Their only loss outside the capital had come next door in Norton when they were beaten 0-1 by MWOS at Ngoni last year.
They had played these teams – Ngezi Platinum, FC Platinum, TelOne, Manica Diamonds and Chicken Inn – twice in their backyards, and avoided defeat on both occasions.
They had played these teams – Highlanders, Triangle, GreenFuel, Bikita Minerals, Kwekwe United, Hardrock, Bulawayo Chiefs, Agama, ZPC Kariba and Simba Bhora – once in their backyards, and avoided defeat in those matches.
Finally, it took Bosso to end that marathon unbeaten run and that was massive and worth the wild celebrations that followed.
Of course, there was some controversy over the goal which won the match amid Scottland protests that it was scored from an offside position and, looking at some of the TV replays, I think they have a point.
But, what Scottland probably missed here was that this defeat, with its touch of controversy about whether the goal was offside or not, was actually good for them and their quest to defend their title.
It showed that when a contentious goal is given, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the referees have been paid to turn a blind eye on either an offside or a foul, something which the Scottland critics have accused the club of doing.
It also showed that the Scotts can be beaten, even by a group of players whose club has been battling financial challenges all season, and that was a massive moral victory for the PSL and the integrity of the championship race.
What the Scotts missed is that they lost the points, which of course hurt them, but this loss was actually a victory in their quest to show the world that their title bid was not powered by some dark arts.
JUST LIKE THAT, THEY’RE ALL GONE
But, all that doesn’t matter now, does it?
Not after the black cloud which now hangs over the Highlanders family in the wake of the tragedy which hit them on Thursday night.
In just four days, their world has been turned from having the Mother Of All Parties at Barbourfields to dealing with the crushing pain that comes with the Mother Of All Tragedies.
Umdala Mhlope is gone, Fiso is gone and Khoza is gone.
Sister Mbali is gone, too.
All four Highlanders sons and a daughter, dead on the same spot, crushed by the same accident, died in the same car, while on a road trip coming from their club’s latest game.
In a way, it’s a throwback to the road accident which took the lives of three CAPS United stars – Blessing Makunike, Gary Mashoko and Shingi Arlon – and two fans in 2004.
Then, just like now, they were so close to home when tragedy struck.
Mhlope was having his second spell as Bosso chairman, Fiso Siziba was a giant of a man who loved football and while I did not know Nkani Khoza very well, my friends tell me that he was a good guy.
What inspired these men to end up as Bosso leaders was their love for their football club and, as fate would have it, their death came during another trip when they were serving their team.
They died doing what they loved the most – to serve something which was more than just a football club to them, an iconic institution which was more important, and more powerful, than sport.
Of course, that shouldn’t be a consolation to us, the ones who have been left to deal with the pain that has been inflicted by this tragedy, the ones whose tears have been flowing since news of the accident, and their deaths, broke out.
It should actually amplify the pain because what we have lost is not easy, it’s not possible to replace because finding leaders with the same dedication, who are prepared to give similar sacrifices to the club, will not be easy.
Other leaders, in similar positions, would have chosen to remain in Bulawayo, rather than embark on a risky very long road trip to Kariba, using the comfort of home to continue celebrating that great win over Scottland.
But, these guys were true leaders and they just couldn’t imagine a scenario where the players, and coaching staff, would undertake the lengthy road trip to play this match without them providing both company and leadership.
They were there in the trenches, with their boys, on the northern edges of the country, in yet another battle in this endless war for superiority, which their beloved club has been fighting since its establishment a hundred years ago.
Together, they lost the latest battle, which is quite common in these wars, but all that doesn’t matter now because the three leaders we have lost are bigger than the three points Bosso lost in Kariba.
FISO WAS MY FRIEND
It’s not easy to run Highlanders, just like it is not easy to run Dynamos.
These are projects owned by the people, the constituencies are huge and so are the interests of those who claim to belong to these iconic football institutions.
And, every weekend, as a leader, you are tested on the field of play.
To rise to become the Highlanders chairman is not easy, too, there are some people who spend all their lives trying to get there, but without success.
For Mhlope to be given that honour, not once but twice, with his re-election coming in February, 2024, after having spent three years in the wilderness, is testimony of his leadership qualities.
It’s testimony of the confidence which the Bosso family had in Mhlope that, TWICE, they gave them the mandate to be the man who runs this huge institution which is more than a football club to them.
Highlanders, to them, isn’t a football club – it’s a way of life, it’s their inheritance, it’s their property, handed over from one generation to another, for preservation, in the past hundred years.
In the City of Kings and Queens, nothing else matters more than Highlanders, more than Bosso, this giant football institution which is marking a century of existence this year.
Now, how do we tell our children that in the year Bosso were celebrating their century of existence, fate dealt them this cruel blow?
Mhlope his part and I get a feeling that there was more, under his sleeve, which he wanted to give to his club.
While I knew Mhlope from a distance, and from the many meetings we had and the many occasions we exchanged ideas, Fiso was very close to me.
He was my friend.
A giant of a man, with striking dark features, he was a reminder, in more ways than one, of who I am – the old-fashioned Ngoni warrior.
It’s the genes we take from our fathers, which they also took from our grandfathers, which they also took from our great grandfathers.
On the occasions we usually met for a drink, back in the days, we would go down memory lane and talk about our family trees – the two of us being the latest generation of warriors who fought in the Zulu wars, King Shaka and all.
I used to tell him of my pride in being a descendant of a Ngoni warrior who used to be the security chief of Zwangendaba, of my pride in being a descendant of the inner circle of Paramount Chief Mpezeni, Nkosi yama Nkosi.
And, he would tell me his stories, many of them, and along the way our fantasies would meet – two giant men, brothers, you can call it dark and lovely if you want, but that is us.
Or, that was us, until tragedy struck on Thursday night.
I wasn’t there at Barbourfields last Sunday.
But, I can only imagine how Fiso celebrated that day after that monumental victory over the league champions, over Peter Muduhwa, over Peter Ndlovu.
That was his Last Dance at Barbourfields and, in a way, it was the perfect ending of his love story with his beloved Bosso.
To God Be The Glory
Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys still in the struggle.
Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!
Antoniooooooooooooo!
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