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He said in fact, fans of “How I Met Your Mother” (TV series) in the UK know that it has actually become a catch-phrase. “The fact that Barney Stinson uses the word “legendary” in every single episode illustrates just how trite the word has become.”
Nonetheless, designating someone as a legend or describing them as legendary should really be reserved to special situations, he argues. After all, the definition of “legend” is “a person or thing that inspires a story coming down from the past.” No one writes tales about the moderately mediocre, the above average, or even the very good. You want to save your stories for the very best of the best, and the same holds true in football.
In football, legends are not just good players or coaches. Legends are not even great players or coaches. Legends are in a class by themselves. They represent the very best of the sport. They are the ones that you hold up as examples of what kind of player or coach that you want kids to be. They are the ones that you tell your children about when they are growing up. They are the ones that you study and observe once you decide to become a player or coach yourself.
In many cases, they are the ones that fill you up with feelings of club or national pride and patriotism. Great players and coaches are a dime a dozen, but legends are few and far between.
Ever wondered why people keep raving on about the likes of Pele, Maradona or Zinedine Zidane? How does a player join this exclusive club?
Is it the ability to turn a match with a flash of brilliance or the determination to win at all costs?
However, it is generally agreed that legends take football to another level, producing moments of magic which people will never forget. Sometimes a footballer’s greatness extends to the person they are off the pitch too. Legends also become role models, people whose behaviour or success or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people.
It is really difficult (because the subject is debatable) to draw up a list of legends of Zimbabwean football but there are certainly some names that cannot be debatable like Peter Ndlovu, who at 17, was already leaving the country to play professional football in England, where he stayed for 13 years, becoming the longest serving African player in England.
There are so many names that crop up at club level and at national level too, and it’s actually a good thing we have come to realise that we also have legends in Zimbabwe and we are starting to appreciate them.
Of course, just like the writer I referred to complained that the term was getting over used in the UK, the same applies here but that is not a big issue, what we have to appreciate is that former football players are getting organised and they are also getting due recognition for the role they played in developing the beautiful game in the country.
What is important to note is that they still have a role to play in today’s football, because we need coaches, administrators, radio and television commentators and newspaper columnists who have vast knowledge and experience in the game.
As long as they are professional in the way they conduct themselves and their business, everyone will feel honoured to share notes with the yester-year footballers.
Former players in South Africa have been given roles as ambassadors of the game during the Fifa 2010 World Cup and some will also be involved in the running of the 2013 Afcon tournament in South Africa.
The yester-year players down South often play exhibition matches against former players from other countries and recently, they hosted their counterparts from Zambia and Germany.
In fact, the South Africa Federation of Soccer Legends was formed in Durban in 2007 and represents players, officials and supporters of non-racial football as played under the South African Soccer League and the Federation Professional League between 1960 and 1990.
To date the organisation has been involved in many social responsibility projects with the public in general and many of the players and officials who served professional football.
There seems to be a relationship with the football authorities in South Africa and their legends or former players which makes the running of their projects a lot easier, and things can happen like that here at home if some former players dump their confrontational approach to doing things.
They have to appreciate that there are people who have been mandated to run football at national level and club level and as such, they have to respect such office bearers if they want to be given their due recognition as well.
You have to give a pat on the back for the Former Highlanders Players Association because the legends and former players at Highlanders meet regularly and play social soccer together and they have not belittled the executive since their association was formed two years ago.
Former players from Harare have also been meeting regularly for social soccer matches at some point home and away matches were organised between the Southern Region and the Northern Region, which was a noble idea that connected the past with the present and excited football fans with pretty nostalgia.
Spectators had the opportunity of seeing some of the leading players and role models of yesteryear as they exchanged pleasantries and discussed rivalries of the past. Some of the “old crocks” of yesteryear enjoyed playing alongside their former rivals.
The former players also decided to field candidates to run for positions in the Zifa 2010 elections, but they had little success with only Methembe Ndlovu getting the ticket, even though he was not entirely backed by the former players.
Their biggest undoing at that time was that they got into the election turf a little too late, and many people were sceptical of giving them leading roles, but with time, that mind set has changed.
Indeed the history of Zimbabwean football is filled with great soccer players and with time comes change and the new breed of players takes over and each and every generation will always claim their own legends, and that makes the game exciting.
Nonetheless, the Former Highlanders Players Association, led by chairman Tito Paketh, has been a shining star and other clubs have said they will certainly copy the idea as it brings them together and helps them to share ideas about how to help their respective clubs and also assist each other in their personal lives.
The Highlanders association has an insurance policy where members are assured of a decent send off during times of bereavement and according to secretary general Netsai Moyo, the policy is modelled along the lines of the Kaizer Chiefs funeral policy in South Africa and is open to the public.
The committee also has Rahman Gumbo as vice- chairman, Collsen Mabeza as treasurer and Marko Dube as committee member.
The former players have toured various parts of the region since the end of the 2012 season. They have been to Victoria Falls, Tsholotsho, Plumtree and Nyamandlovu and interestingly, some of them are actually office bearers at Highlanders, with Jerry Sibanda acting treasurer and Amin Soma-Phiri the team manager.
Other former players who retired from playing in recent years, Bekithemba Ndlovu and Gift Lunga (Junior) are also part of the club’s coaching department.
The re-emergence of former players in our headlines is refreshing, but that should not be a breeding ground for factions and squabbles at various clubs.
Former players are like any other card carrying member of any club, but they are more special because they contributed something more by playing for the club. The history of a club is made by the players, who after their playing days should gentlemanly assist their club in one way or the other.
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