Innocent Kurira-Zimpapers Sports Hub
A YEAR ago, Try Ncube walked into Harare City with a job to do and very little time to do it.
There was no mystery about what his employers wanted.
The Sunshine Boys needed a coach who could end their stay in Division One and restore their place in the Premier Soccer League. Ncube was given a one-year contract. The expectation was to win the league.
On Saturday, he delivered.
Harare City’s 3-0 victory over Jumbo Giants at Callies on Saturday brought the curtain down on a campaign that has seen Ncube turn a demanding assignment into another promotion success.
Ncube has now guided three different teams into the Premier Soccer League, having previously achieved the feat with Bulawayo City in 2019 and Hwange in 2022.
Harare City are the latest beneficiaries of his ability to negotiate the pressures of a Division One championship race.
“As a coach these are situations you want to be in. I am happy that we managed to win and get promotion.
“It’s a big achievement for me to win in a different environment. Remember this is my first season here and I came here with one goal, which was to win promotion and I am happy to have met the target.
“Now I look forward to what the future holds, but I am happy and grateful to everyone at the club who made this possible,” said Ncube. Those words capture the significance of Saturday’s result.
For a coach joining a new club, the first season is often about understanding the players, establishing relationships and laying foundations. Ncube, however, had a more immediate responsibility.
He had to produce a championship-winning team. Harare City had spent the previous three seasons outside the elite league following their 2022 relegation. Their ambition was to return, but the Northern Region competition was never going to hand them the promotion ticket.
Ncube’s experience proved valuable in a competition where consistency is often more important than reputation.
His latest achievement also gives fresh perspective to his coaching journey.
In 2019, he helped Bulawayo City secure promotion. Three years later, he accomplished the same objective with Hwange. Now, in 2026, he has completed the assignment with Harare City.
The three successes have come at different clubs, in different circumstances and under different expectations, but the destination has remained the same.
The CAF A Licence holder is also no stranger to the demands of top-flight football. His time at Highlanders, where he served as assistant coach under Kelvin Kaindu, offered him an opportunity to work within one of Zimbabwe’s biggest football institutions.
When Kaindu left in June 2025, Ncube briefly took charge of the senior team as interim coach, assisted by Agent Sawu.
