Online Reporter
Tongai Mashonga, Zimpapers Sports Hub
HARDROCK Football Club have not arrived in the Premier Soccer League to make up the numbers. Weeks before their first top-flight match, the Kwekwe debutants have torn through the transfer market, signing proven league winners, national team regulars and local standouts, and turning quiet pre-season afternoons in the city into loud arguments about whether this side can actually chase the title.
For a town that has waited 17 years to see PSL football again, the scale of Hardrock’s spending has shifted expectations fast. This is no slow-burning project. This is a club betting that momentum from promotion, money in the right places and an experienced bench can shorten the learning curve that usually swallows new teams.
Supporters chairperson Tadious Marima says the message from the board is clear and unapologetic.
“Great work is being done in recruiting new players, parikubikwa team baba icream iyo. To be honest, it’s cream de la cream,” said Marima. “The stadium will be full. We want hungry strikers, predators in front of the goal, but every department has been strengthened. Kelvin Kaindu is one of the best coaches in the country. We waited too long for Premier League football to just survive. We want the trophy.”
That confidence is rooted in names, not slogans. Hardrock have raided champions Simba Bhora for midfield general Junior Makunike, utility man Donald Mudadi and defender Boid Mutukure, a trio with league titles and Caf .Champions League mileage. It is a statement few debutants dare make, signing players who know the pressure of being chased every weekend.
Mudadi’s calm on the ball, Makunike’s control between the lines and Mutukure’s edge at the back are expected to give Hardrock a spine that does not panic when results wobble. Around them, Kaindu has added pace and energy from Chicken Inn in Xolani Ndlovu, Edward Musena and Tinashe Mashaireni, while shoring up depth with Marshall Gavaza and Samuel Makaya from ZPC Kariba.
The club have also moved decisively in goal and midfield, landing Warriors and MWOS keeper Martin Mapisa and MWOS engine Nigel Matinha. Both bring leadership to a squad that will be tested early, starting with a high-pressure opening fixture against Scottland.
Long-serving supporter Patience Chitanda, better known in the terraces as Mai Bhonzo, has followed the club since its formation in 2019 and was voted 2025 Female Supporter of the Year. She believes this squad is built to impose itself, not react.
“The team looks lethal upfront and solid at the back with the new signings,” said Chitanda. “These changes matter if you want success. No team will outshine us and no team will come out of Chahwanda untamed. With these players, we expect to win the league.”
Her excitement centres on Mashaireni and striker Wilfred Manzungu, a CRSL Golden Boot winner signed from Sheasham, whose goals powered his former side’s promotion push.
“I was humbled to be voted best female supporter,” she said. “Hardrock honoured me and that stays with you. Now we want results. It starts with beating Scottland in the first match.”
Manzungu will not walk straight into the shirt. He faces competition from Washington Navaya, the reigning PSL top goal scorer and Soccer Star of the Year, who has also signed for Hardrock. The duel between the two is already a talking point around town and inside the dressing room, exactly the pressure Kaindu wants.
The recruitment drive stretches beyond headline names. Hardrock have picked up Misheck Ngwenya from FC Platinum, Prince Gwetu from Gwanda Pirates, Oncemore Uriri from Grain Tigers and Shelton Sibanda from Kwekwe United, alongside goalkeeper Elton Sibanda from Sheasham. The mix suggests a squad built for immediate impact, but with enough legs to survive a long season.
Around Kwekwe, football talk has spilt into unlikely places. At a hair salon in the city centre, supporter Vimbai Gacheni points to balance, not just star power.
“They signed young players and players in their prime like Makunike, Mutukure, Mudadi and Ndlovu,” she said. “That shows planning. The whole town can’t sleep waiting for the first PSL game.”
Others are watching for continuity. Zvenyika Mutunha welcomes the new faces but says the promotion core must not be lost in the noise.
“The signings are good, but keeping players like Blessing Sahondo and Ishmael Meki matters,” said Mutunha. “Those guys earned this league place. Fans are already budgeting for the first match. We’re ready.”
For Kaindu, the challenge now shifts from recruitment to control. A deep squad raises standards but also sharpens egos. New clubs often struggle with the grind, the refereeing, the travel and the weekly adjustments the PSL demands. Hardrock have tried to buy experience to blunt those shocks.
Whether that translates into a title push will be answered in points, not promises. What is already clear is that Hardrock have changed the mood in Kwekwe. Survival talk has been replaced by ambition, and the first whistle of their PSL life will arrive with expectation hanging heavy over the stadium.
