Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo, Zimpapers Sports Hub
LLOYD MUTASA kept pointing his MWOS youngsters to living proof. Players he once guided from obscurity to the biggest stages. It became his simplest and most powerful tool as he talked a group of greenhorns into believing they belonged in the Premier Soccer League.
The former Dynamos and Tanganda midfielder has drawn widespread praise after steering the Norton side to a stunning second-place finish in a season they were never meant to play at this level. MWOS were preparing for Division One football. Instead, they ended the campaign as runners-up in the top flight.
Despite winning three titles across two First Division regions, the Premier Soccer League crown still eludes Mutasa. That absence does little to dilute his reputation as one of the sharpest talent developers in local football.
His fingerprints are on the rise of Denver Mukamba, polished during Mutasa’s time at Kiglon and later Dynamos. Former Warriors captain and Kaizer Chiefs midfield anchor Willard Katsande also came through Mutasa’s demanding system at Highway.
Now at ambitious MWOS, that same eye for potential is again on display. Nigel Matinha and Matthew Murambiwa look like players heading for bigger stages, shaped by a coach who knows what raw talent looks like before it blooms.
A clever midfielder in his playing days at Tanganda and DeMbare, Mutasa says motivating unheralded players comes easily now. He simply points to his own CV.
He led MWOS to second place in the 2025 league season, stunning many who expected the side to struggle. After failing to secure promotion from the Northern Region Soccer League in 2024, the Punters were bracing for a third campaign in the second tier while plotting another push for a top-flight ticket.
Mutasa had already guided the Norton outfit to second place in the NRSL in 2024, finishing behind Scottland, and was preparing for another first division assault. Then everything shifted.
ZPC Hwange’s decision to sell their franchise opened an unexpected door into the Premiership. The timing was far from ideal. Most established top-flight players had already been snapped up by Scottland, Manica Diamonds and TelOne.
“I just had to work around with the mentality of those I already had in the team,” Mutasa said during ZTN Prime’s premium football show, The Couch, recently.
“The players I had were meant to help us get promotion from the NRSL.
“We never thought of playing in the Premiership, so we were preparing ourselves for the Division One battles.
“When I was told to change plan and tactics for the Premiership, I just thought, well, this is the situation I now have to deal with.
“The market had already been raided and we couldn’t do anything.
“Luckily, we managed to sign Valentine Katsande and Innocent Zambezi.”
MWOS management resisted the urge to pile on pressure. They asked only one thing: survival. That restraint freed the coach and his players, and the effect was immediate.
Using largely the same squad assembled for Division One, MWOS nearly pulled off a fairytale title win. The late switch to the top flight became fuel rather than fear.
“It wasn’t that difficult to motivate the players. I sat them down and said, look guys, this is the opportunity for you to shine on a grand scale,” Mutasa said.
“Instead of toiling in the first division, just shine in the Premiership. I kept on referencing the likes of Denver Mukamba, Thomas Magorimbo and Willard Katsande, among others, as players who were unknown but ended up captaining the national team and shining at the highest level.
“That message was well received, I suppose, and at the end of the day, I saw everyone at MWOS displaying so much hunger despite their obvious lack of experience.
“I think it’s that message that drove us to being runners-up at the end of the marathon more than anything else.”
The Punters announced themselves early, going unbeaten in their first 17 matches and briefly sitting atop the standings.
“As I have said, we didn’t have experience in our team. Also, we were very thin in terms of depth,” Mutasa added.
“Look, we had only the First 11. So after Match Day 17, we lost Tinotenda Mutyambizi to suspension and Murambiwa to injury.
“That changed everything and we lost to Ngezi Platinum. Our lack of depth really told the whole story, but I would like to salute all the youngsters we had for their heart.”
Beyond Katsande and Zambezi, both free agents with Zambezi turning down a return to CAPS United, MWOS secured Billy Veremu and Wilson Mensah on loan from Simba Bhora. The quartet delivered 21 goals between them.
Mutasa also brought in Aboubakar Moffat during the mid-season break. The ACES Youth Academy graduate added balance and composure to the side.
MWOS ended the season with two players on the 2025 Soccer Stars calendar, Veremu and Moffat, matching the champions Scottland.
Faith, Mutasa said, underpinned the entire journey.
“I believe in the Almighty God and the more my players saw me expressing that faith, the more they started to also tap into it. At the end of the day, everyone was prayerful and it really helped; and it helps actually,” he said.
Defender Zambezi, enjoying one of his strongest seasons since breaking into the Premiership with Harare City eight years ago, echoed that view.
“The coach (Mutasa) is a prayerful man. He actually converted some of us and I think that collective faith helped us move mountains that saw us coming second in the league,” Zambezi said.
“We had a team full of greenhorns. But the coach kept on telling us about the potential which the players had, which could be converted into remarkable things.
“Belief crept in and we started to play for each other. With a bit of luck, we could have won the league.”
Unlike last year, Mutasa now begins the new campaign on equal footing with the rest. How MWOS respond in 2026 will be the next test.
