Online Reporter
Robson Sharuko
Metros Editor
HISTORY will be made this season whether Scottland retain their PSL title crown or Hardrock spoil their party and win the championship.
The two clubs emerged from Week 27 of the championship race as the remaining contenders for the title after big wins on the road.
Dynamos still have a mathematical chance to win their first league title, in a dozen years, but the Glamour Boys will need a Miracle for that to happen.
They will need to win all their remaining seven games and then hope that Scottland will lose four of their remaining seven matches.
But, that too, will not be enough as they will also need Hardrock and Ngezi Platinum Stars to lose the bulk of their remaining matches.
With DeMbare virtually out of the championship race, it means that the Big Three – Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United – will have failed to win the title in a decade.
The Green Machine were the last members of the Big Three to be crowned champions in 2016.
Bosso have not won the league championship in TWENTY years.
The good money is on either Hardrock or Scottland being crowned champions.
If that happenes, it will mean that, for the THIRD straight season, the league championship would be won by a club whose principal backers are involved in the gold mining business.
Simba Bhora, who won the league title in 2024, are owned by a company with interests in gold mining.
It will also mean that, for the EIGHTH straight season, the league would be won by a club backed by a company with interests in the mining sector.
It will ensure that a trend, which started in 2017 when FC Platinum won their maiden championship, will continue for the NINTH season in a row.
The Zvishavane miners have won four of those league titles, Ngezi Platinum Stars, Simba Bhora and Scottland have each won a league title.
Whether it’s Scottland, winning their second league title, or it’s Hardrock, winning their maiden crown, history will still be made this season.
IN THE EVENT SCOTTLAND WIN
λ Scottland will become the first club to win two consecutive championships, in their first two seasons in the top-flight league, in the 64-year history of the championship.
λ Norman Mapeza will become the first coach, in the 64-year history of the domestic top-flight league championship, to win four league titles with different clubs.
λ Scottland will become the first club to be crowned champions in all the three seasons they have been either in Division One or the PSL, in the event they defend their crown this year.
IN THE EVENT HARDROCK WIN
λ Hardrock will make history as the first club from Kwekwe to be crowned champions, in the 64-year history of the domestic top-flight league, should they win the league.
λ Kelvin Kaindu will make history as the first foreign coach, from within the African continent, to win the league championship in the era of the PSL, should Hardrock win.
λ Kaindu will also become the first foreign coach to complete three seasons, with his team ending with the highest number of points, in the event Hardrock win the title.
While Kalisto Pasuwa won four straight league titles between 2011 and 2014, he did so with the same team as he was in charge of Dynamos on all these occasions.
Mapeza will join him on that honours list, if he wins the title this season, but he will have become the first one to win four titles with different clubs.
Three of his titles came during his time at FC Platinum.
Kaindu’s Highlanders ended with the highest number of points in the league in 2012 and 2013, matching the tally of eventual champions Dynamos, but the Glamour Boys triumphed on both occasions courtesy of a superior goal difference.
Now, he could be a bridesmaid, for the third time in the domestic Premiership, or he could finally go on and be crowned champion, for the first time in this country, at the end of this campaign.
In the event that Scottland and Hardrock end the season with the same number of points, and the Mabvuku side win the title, Kaindu will probably make a unique piece of history in top-flight leagues in the world.
He will probably become the first coach to lose three championship races, courtesy of an inferior goal difference, while in charge of two different sides.
