Pirates’ lessons for DeMbare

into their inspirational song Iyeza Bhakaniya (I have told people that Buccaneer is coming), to mark 75 years of a movement, the whole room broke into dance with fists locked.
This was a big occasion and a special night.
And I couldn’t help myself swapping images replacing the boys in black suits with the DeMbare class of 2013 as they celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary.
Orlando Pirates celebrated their milestone 75 years with a dinner function at Sandton City last Saturday.
And, fortunately, I was one of the guests as I was invited together with Zifa Women’s Soccer boss, Mavis Gumbo, and Zifa board member, Benedict Moyo, by Safa international relations chief executive Pinky Lehoko.
After the Young Mighty Warriors had received a 4-0 drubbing from the Baby Banyana, we rushed to Sandton to witness the grand occasion.
When I entered the conference room, the proceedings were already underway and at the top table there was my club chairman Kaizer Motaung (for I am an avid Amakhosi fan), flanked by Jomo Sono and Stanley “Screamer” Tshabalala.
Motaung is a former Pirates player and they narrated the journey they walked with the Buccaneers and congratulated their counterpart, Irvin “Iron Duke” Khoza, the owner of Pirates.
Pirates achievements include being the only Cosafa team to lift the African Champions League title in 1995.
Pirates is the club at which most South African soccer legends began their careers.
Motaung and Sono – now successful businessmen and owners of Kaizer Chiefs and Jomo Cosmos respectively – played football for Pirates and left legacies there.
Sono’s speech was full of wit and humour as he narrated the hey days and, for a moment, it was one club one nation. Pirates have held nothing back in celebrating the milestone.
They have launched – in conjunction with their kit sponsor Adidas – a 75th anniversary kit similar to their original uniform.
And the superb gala dinner, with the cream of South African football past and present in attendance, is one of the events of the year.
Pirates have won many titles – and last season swept their way to a treble, winning the Absa Premier League, Nedbank Cup and MTN8.
They regularly dominate tournaments and are never far from the headlines.
It may be for the exploits of their strict chairman Khoza, a powerful businessman who is respected widely by friends and foes alike.
It may also be for their football, which may sometimes be pure fantasy, as they regularly attract the cream of Diski and beyond.
On their books today are Benni McCarthy, Luis Boa Morte and Zambian Nations Cup star Isaac Chansa.
The club has had drama with players arrested for weapons possession (Lucky Leqwhathi and Benson Mhlongo) and has endured tragedy with players dying in their prime (Lesley Mayathela).
In short, Pirates are a meeting place for the great and the weird.
“The Ghost” as their fans are known, make a black and white sea on terraces and they back their team to the hilt, sometimes with tragic results (Ellis Park 2001, 43 people dead).
In many respects, Pirates are a bit like Dynamos and Highlanders.
They all boast illustrious histories, laden with trophies.
They have had their share of controversy. They have had players die in their prime (Watson Muhoni at Dynamos, Titus Majola at Bosso).
They all have dedicated fans who support the team through thick and thin.
The similarities could go on, but it is the differences that are really striking.
Yes, it is a fact that the economies the clubs operate in are vastly different but, surely, that is no excuse for the shoddy way in which things are sometimes done, some would say usually done, at Zimbabwe’s giants.
Dynamos are the only Zimbabwean club which has reached the finals of the African Champions League losing 4-2 on aggregate to Ivorian giants Asec Mimosas.
The club has precious little to show for the journey they have travelled.
No team bus, no clubhouse, not even an office.
No training facilities.
Dynamos – regularly referred to as one of the biggest clubs on the continent, with a Caf ranking to prove it – will be celebrating 50 years next year.
For a club that has been ranked in Africa’s top 15 – rubbing shoulders with the likes of Esperance of Tunisia, Al Ahly of Egypt, TP Mazembe of DRC and Al Hilal of Sudan – Dynamos’ need to up their game.
The countdown has already started.
Shepherd Chiware Sports Consultancy started the countdown last year with activities to raise awareness.
The club, in partnership with Betta Ball Sports, tried to unveil an anniversary kit but the deal collapsed and left the big institution with egg on their face.
The club has launched a 50th anniversary logo and have launched a countdown promotion, though the level at which the preparations are progressing suggests this could suffer the fate many Dynamos projects have suffered. One goes back to the Waterfalls stands, the bus raffle, and last month’s kit launch debacle, to realise that the Glamour Boys have some way to go.
As I sat in the Sandton Convention Centre, at a table next to the Benni McCarthy and Moeneeb Josephs and their partners, while the mighty and famous of diski paid homage to a superb institution, my thoughts kept making the trip back to Rufaro.
To DeMbare, to another football institution that is certainly not where it should be.
As the 50th anniversary approaches, will it be a chance to see some famous Dynamos sons like Sunday Chidzambwa, Moses Chunga, Lincoln Mutasa, Tauya Mrewa, Vitalis Takawira, Memory Mucherahowa, Agent Sawu, Ronald Sibanda, Harlington Shereni, Stewart Murisa, Makwinji Soma-Phiri, Cephas Chimedza and Edward Sadomba.
Will we see DeMbare fans, who formed their own teams, like Douglas Tanyanyiwa, Stan Kudenga, Joel Salifu, Bernard Gwarada, Cuthbert Chitima, Sweeney Mushonga, Joel Sengeredo coming back to show support for the team that strengthened their love for the game?
Will former administrators like Lloyd Hove and Lesley Gwindi, of the 1998 Champions League finals fame, come out and play with their former team?
That night at the Sandton Convention Centre just made it clearer to me. That it is possible. With the right people, right attitude and proper planning.