PSL BRACE FOR ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ 2026 SEASON

Tadious Manyepo-Zimpapers Sports Hub

DYNAMOS, who survived relegation on the last day of the 2025 season, have been training at the Christ Ministries ground, tucked away in Belvedere, sandwiched between Belvedere Teachers’ College, Christ Ministries High School and a quiet row of houses.

It has been kept in decent shape, but it is not the first place you would expect to find a club of Dynamos’ size preparing for a season that comes with league pressure and CAF football.

Around the pitch, boulders sit half-swallowed by overgrown grass, pushed up by weeks of relentless rain that has pounded Harare.

The thick edges suit DeMbare just fine. In a pre-season where every move becomes gossip, secrecy has become part of the training plan.

On some mornings, the place feels too small for the size of the club that has arrived there.

A whistle cuts through the damp air. Boots thud on wet turf. A handful of young men hover at the edge of the session, waiting for a nod, a call, anything that tells them they have been seen. Dynamos are trimming numbers, shaping a squad, and in the shadows of that work there are careers quietly being decided.

Even in hiding, you can feel it. The league is changing shape.

The transfer window has moved like a storm front. Players have switched shirts with a boldness that used to be rare. Coaches have crossed town, crossed regions, crossed rival lines.

Clubs that once accepted their place in the pecking order are now shopping like they belong at the top table. The old comfort of predicting the title race before a ball is kicked has been replaced by something sharper, more uncertain and a lot more expensive.

Simba Bhora coach Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu did not try to soften it when he looked ahead to 2026. He sounded impressed, almost amused, but there was a warning inside the laughter, the kind you only hear from someone who has been around enough seasons to know when the ground is shifting.

“Phew, what a season we gonna have! All clubs have stuffed up remarkably,” he exclaimed. “I don’t remember any other pre-season as busy as the one we are having.”

Mpofu is back in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) trenches after a three-year flirtation with the Botswana top flight. He returns to a competition that feels louder than the one he left behind, not only because clubs are spending, but because they are spending with intent.

This is no longer just about survival. It is about identity. It is about being seen. It is about sending a message before the first whistle.

Simba Bhora did not bring Mpofu to Shamva for romance or nostalgia. They brought him to protect what they believe they have built in just three seasons, a reputation that has grown too quickly to be treated as a lucky run. The club hierarchy rates him highly. He is a coach who has worked at Highlanders and also served on the Warriors technical bench, travelling to Cameroon for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations as one of the assistants to Norman Mapeza. He knows what pressure feels like when it has a nation’s eyes on it. He also knows what it means when a club expects you to win and do so without excuses.

Mpofu arrived to replace Joel Luphahla, who has crossed to Zvishavane to take charge of FC Platinum. That move itself tells you a lot about the market this season.

FC Platinum were left with a void after long-serving Mapeza walked away and took on a new challenge with reigning champions Scottland, a switch that would have sounded like fiction not too long ago.

Mpofu speaks like a man who understands exactly where he is, and exactly what can go wrong if standards slip. “Simba Bhora may be a young team given they have been in the Premiership for just three seasons but what they have done in those three years makes them a formidable team with a strong reputation,” he said.

Genesis Mangome, Benjani Mwaruwaru, Tonderai Ndiraya and Takesure Chiragwi

“They struggled a bit in their first season in 2023 but they were the champions the following year with five players on the Soccer Stars calendar.

“Last year, they were third with three players on the Soccer Stars calendar, and that’s unprecedented. So, I can’t say I am at a small team.”

Even their recruitment has carried that message. Simba Bhora have lost several players, but they have not left the gaps unfilled. The Shamva side has signed five foreign players, two Namibians and three Malawians, all of them internationals. It is not a scattergun approach.

Across the league, the transfers, not only of players but also of coaches and technical personnel, have been telling. Mpofu’s own move required significant monetary commitment, so did the transfer of  Takesure Chiragwi from Ngezi Platinum Stars to CAPS United.

Mapeza’s shift from FC Platinum to Scottland was another headline move. Chicken Inn turned to Tonderai Ndiraya after his stint at Scottland.

Hardrock pulled Kelvin Kaindu from Dynamos. Dynamos themselves have handed the keys to Genesis Mangombe, who comes in from Triangle. It is the kind of movement that changes more than line-ups. It changes mood.

The market has also been loud on the pitch.

Dynamos have swooped in Moses Demera, one of the most consistent goalscorers over the years, and they have been closing in on highly rated midfielder Trevor Mavhunga, who is on the verge of rejoining the Glamour Boys.

It is recruitment that speaks to a club trying to rebuild with urgency, aware that the terraces at Rufaro do not reward patience for long.

Newcomers Hardrock have been among the boldest operators. The Kwekwe side shook the transfer market with the acquisition of Soccer Star of the Year Washington Navaya from TelOne, a statement signing for a team that has not even kicked a ball in the top flight yet.

They have also signed Donald Mudadi and Boid Mutukure from Simba Bhora, adding names that carry weight and experience.

CAPS United president Farai Jere believes the market activity has restored dignity to the domestic game, and he expects the competitiveness to show when the season begins.

“As CAPS United, we have put together a formidable team that should be able to compete,” said Jere.

“I would also want to applaud all the other clubs for being active on the market, bringing in several top stars to their teams. I am sure we will witness a very good season, one of the best in years.

“But I think this is the year when CAPS United will revert to its old status as winners.”

Makepekepe have signed several stars, including Obriel Chirinda and Davison Marowa, and the noise around their camp has carried the confidence of a club that believes it is ready to reclaim its place.

In a season like this, those declarations will not be forgotten.

They will be dragged out in April, in June, in August, when pressure begins to separate talk from steel.

Even Dynamos coach Mangombe has admitted the terrain is different. His words sounded like those of a man already measuring the weight of what is coming, and what it will take to survive it.

“Yea, the 2026 season is going to be very tough. Every team has stuffed up. We are trying to build our squad. I believe we will be able to compete but obviously the level will be up,” said Mangombe.

That is the truth beneath all the noise. The level will be up.

In Belvedere, behind the overgrown grass and the boulders half hidden by rain-fed edges, Dynamos are working in private, trying to build something that can survive the heat that always comes with their badge.

In Shamva, Simba Bhora are trying to protect a reputation that has grown too quickly to be treated as a fluke.

Across the league, clubs are spending, persuading, recruiting and reshaping themselves like they believe this season will define them.

Mpofu called it early, and he said it with a laugh, but he was not joking. This is not a season you can sleepwalk into. Not as a coach. Not as a player. Not as a club.

The PSL is walking into 2026 with its chest out. It is daring everyone to keep up.