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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
TO those that knew David “Broom Boy” George, this Christmas day could have meant a lot with him around.
More of a reserved man, though he was, his wit and the knack to throw one or two jokes around would make any moment brighter and merrier.
One of the greatest servants of the domestic game, George was always ready to share the story of Zimbabwean football with the present generation.
Sadly, the former Dynamos and Zimbabwe national team player succumbed to illness on Saturday afternoon at the age of 71 years.
It was a tragic turn of events for domestic football, considering only last month the nation was also in mourning following the demise of two football icons – Rahman Gumbo and George Chigova.
Condolence messages continued pouring in yesterday for Broom Boy.
Mourners are gathered at Glen Norah A flats, where George owned an apartment.
The family was still working out the burial arrangements by afternoon yesterday.
George, who won several accolades with Dynamos in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before venturing into coaching, has been off the spotlight in the last 12 months.
THROWBACK . . . Dynamos’ departed legends George Shaya, David George and David Mandigora.
But he left us memories, lots of them!
George was born in Mbare in 1952 and began his football career playing for teams such as Nimfa Rovers, and Mutanga Rovers before he joined Dynamos around 1975, and winning six league titles during his eight-year stint with the Harare giants.
A fine winger of his generation, George is best remembered as a dribbling master, who terrorised defenders in the 1970s, hence the nickname “Broom Boy”.
Probably his most memorable year was in 1976, a year after he had joined the trailblazing Glamour Boys. That season, George was part of the DeMbare team that won five of six cup tournaments namely the league title, Nyore Nyore Charity Shield, BAT Rosebowl, Castle Cup and Southern African Champions of Champions Cup in 1976.
And more fittingly, he was among the 11 Soccer Stars of the Year finalists.
In one of the interviews tucked in The Herald archives, George said the year 1976 was the best ever in his football career.
“We won the league title, Nyore Nyore Charity Shield, BAT Rosebowl, Castle Cup and Southern African Champions of Champions except the Chibuku Trophy where we were edged 2-1 by Zimbabwe Saints in the semi-finals.
“We did exact revenge upon Saints when we met in that same season’s Castle Cup final and we hammered them 8-1,” he told The Herald.
In that interview, aptly titled “For Broom Boy, the vintage DeMbare Class of ’76 remain the finest”, the former DeMbare and national team forward picked the two-legged Southern African Champions of Champions final against South Africa’s Orlando Pirates, as the most memorable match in his illustrious career.
George and Shaya during their playing days: Pictures: Metsbarmby (X)
No wonder he held the memories close to his heart, until his death.
“It was a four-team tournament that had been jointly organised by the Football Association of Rhodesia and South African Football Association,” he said then.
“We were drawn against Moroka Swallows in the semis and our fellow countrymen, Black Aces, met Orlando Pirates in the other semi-final. “Aces lost to Pirates in their semi-final tie while we knocked out Swallows to set up a mouth-watering clash with the Buccaneers in the final.
“If one looks back at our star-studded side, he or she could easily see why I rate it as the best Dynamos line-up ever.
“Our ‘keeper was national team goalminder Matthew Mwale and the defence was made up of Shadreck Ngwenya, Shepherd Murape (and later Sunday Chidzambwa who joined Dynamos at the start of the 1977 season from Chibuku Shumba), Isaac Nhema and Simon Sachiti. “We had arguably the best midfield duo in the country — Shaw ‘Kojak’ Handriade and Kuda Muchemeyi — whilst our strike-force was an awesome combination that was undoubtedly the best in the land with George ‘Mastermind’ Shaya, Ernest ‘Nyamuzihwa’ Kamba, Oliver ‘Monitoring Force’ Kateya, Daniel ‘Dhidhidhi’ Ncube and myself.
“In Shaya – whom I rate as the finest-ever player produced in this country – we had a terrific talisman who was an intelligent game reader and could win a match almost single-handedly.”
Almost five decades later, he still recalled the finer details of the match.
“In the first leg in Soweto’s Orlando Stadium, the stadium was packed to the rafters by 10am, with an intimidatingly massive crowd singing themselves hoarse,” he said.
“And they (Orlando Pirates) also had their own talisman — Jomo Sono — who was nicknamed ‘The Crown Prince of Soweto’.
”And it was no surprise when we went down to a Sono-inspired Buccaneers by three goals to nil at half-time.
“Early in the second half, we were further rocked by two more goals; it seemed we were down and out at 5-0.
“Then ‘The Mastermind’ took control of the show and he set up two goals for Ncube and Kamba. I was on the bench that day and really wanted to be part of the action.
“Shaya then dribbled past the entire Pirates defence to score a third and the whole stadium was stunned into silence by this amazing comeback.
”Tragedy struck after ‘The Mastermind’ was crudely hacked down by one of their defenders and was stretchered off. The match ended 5-3 in their favour.”
There were changes ahead of the second leg.
“Kamba left for his new club Bata Bullets in Malawi a few days before that second leg and I was thrust into the starting line-up for that encounter,” said George.
”I repaid the faith shown in me by the technical team with a top-class show as I really ‘swept their backyard with my broom’.
“Just before kick-off, in front of a sellout crowd, there was a heavy downpour but it did nothing to dampen the carnival atmosphere in the huge stadium.
“Our player-coach Shadreck Ngwenya had spurred us on in the dressing room reminding us that we needed to thank the faithful thousands who had turned up, believing in us to overcome the deficit.
“The Mastermind was back in the side and, straight from kick-off, he set us on a recovery path when he scored, I then scored the second goal before Kateya made it 3-0.
”Sono, who was marked out of the game that day by our resolute defence, then scored to square the aggregate score at 6-6.
“As the whole stadium watched in bewilderment, anticipating extra-time with a few minutes remaining, we were awarded a free-kick just outside their penalty box.
“A short pass from Shaya to Ngwenya saw him expertly back-heel the ball to Muchemeyi who blasted home past their ‘keeper Partson Banda to make it 7-6.
“That goal was greeted with an uproar that must have been heard all over the high-density suburb of Mbare.
“After the final whistle, Sono cut a solemn figure and he openly wept for a long time as the overwhelming shock of the day’s outcome took its toll on him.
“The celebrations after the game lasted until the next morning all over the country as we were crowned the inaugural kings of Southern Africa.”
George would go on to play for five more seasons for his beloved Glamour Boys.
He was part of the great DeMbare team that won four titles in a row between 1980 and 1983 before a nagging knee injury ended his career in 1984 when he was in his early 30s.
With DeMbare dominating football soon after Independence, Broom Boy became an integral part of the Warriors set-up, when John Rugg was coach.
He later turned to coaching and had stints with Dynamos. He served as an assistant to Sunday Chidzambwa when Dynamos reached the finals of the 1998 CAF Champions League and also assisted David Mandigora in the same competition in 2007 when the team reached the semifinals.
He also coached Motor Action and was in 2014 roped in by Harare City FC as director of junior development because of his passion for development.
Today, it’s definitely going to be such a sad Christmas without Broom Boy!
Online Reporter