One man’s vision to transform Plumtree’s football landscape

AN idea birthed some years ago out of the love for the development of Plumtree football has finally come to fruition with the establishment of Plumtree Wanderers Football Club.

Plumtree Wanderers FC is only a year-old, from just a vision on paper to being registered with the relevant football authorities and is set to play in the Zifa Bulawayo Province Division Two this year.

The club is owned by Menzies Nanka, the man whose vision to change the Plumtree football landscape, is finally taking shape.

The border town already has another professional team — Mainline FC which plays in the Zifa Southern Region, a second tier league before the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

The presence of another team, although playing in a different league, should not be taken as bringing another competitor in the border town football fraternity but should rather be seen as complementing one another, says club owner Nanka.

“Football should be the winner at the end of the day, Mainline FC is our big brother and as the newboys in town, we have a lot to learn from them. Our aim as Plumtree Wanderers FC is to play in Division Two for only one season and gain promotion into Division One.

“Plumtree Town needs more Division One players and ultimately a team in the Premier Soccer League so that our football develops to the highest level,” Nanka said.

What was the motivation behind the birth of Plumtree Wanderers FC?

“I grew up in Plumtree and being a football loving person, I always used to ask myself how I can contribute to the development of soccer in the region so I’ve toyed around with the idea of establishing a football club for years.

“At the beginning of the year I finally decided that it was time to put the idea into motion and we started the preliminary preparations of setting up a football club, laid out the administrative processes, registered the club and came up with a technical team to scout for players.

“It’s been a challenging journey but we are here today standing as Plumtree Wanderers FC with players, a home ground, coaches and an administration team that is ready for 2024 to start competing in Division Two,” he added.

The Zifa Bulawayo Province Division Two league primarily consists of teams based in the City of Kings and Plumtree Wanderers FC will be the only team from the border town to join the league.

To ensure fairness in balancing travel costs for Bulawayo teams playing Plumtree Wanderers FC at home, the visiting teams will travel to Redwood.

But for the Bulawayo teams that don’t have a problem travelling all the way to the border town, a 100 kilometre journey, then they will play the newboys at Dingumuzi Stadium in Plumtree Town.

The team is coached by former Highlanders player Johannes Tshuma.

“Our aim is to tap talent in the rural areas, give those boys from the villages a chance to shine and make careers in football. On Christmas Day I was in Nyabane Village for the annual Jonathan Ndlovu Tournament and I saw three boys I want to call for training sessions with us in January.

“We have also partnered with Plumtree High School and other surrounding schools such as Thekwane High to work together so that their boys can be integrated into the club. We have an Under-15 juniors team that will be a feeder to the senior team as development is key to building a successful club,” said Tshuma.

The team colours are gold and black, identical colours to the defunct Amazulu FC, a yesteryear giant that won the Premier Soccer League title in 2003 and had the likes of Herbert Dick, Ronald Sibanda, Esrom Nyandoro, Muzondiwa Mugadza, Voster Chitema and others in its ranks.

“We are in the process of acquiring a minibus because it will be expensive hiring transport every week when travelling to Bulawayo for away games or to Redwood for our home matches.

“We can’t survive alone thus we need support from the corporate world or individuals that believe in our vision.

“We want to look at ourselves in five years and be proud of the journey we would have taken,” said Nanka.

The sky is the limit for the newboys of Plumtree football as they hope to change the soccer landscape in the border town.