Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
IN bygone years, Premier Soccer League matches were a staple of Sunday afternoons.
While a few matches would occasionally be played on Saturdays, often to alleviate fixture congestion and avoid unnecessary counter-attraction, Sundays were effectively a weekly football holiday.
Interestingly, things have changed of late.
Most Premiership teams in Zimbabwe now prefer to host their opponents on Saturday afternoons.
Except for this coming weekend, where the domestic top-flight league will feature three matches on Saturday and six on Sunday, the recent trend has been the opposite.
In fact, Premiership teams were engaged in midweek fixtures this week, hence the need to reschedule their weekend fixtures to Sunday.
Otherwise, most teams now prefer playing on Saturdays.
This shift has left many fans wondering what prompted the change.
Masimba Chihowa, a leading contender for the PSL executive committee chairmanship, attributed the change to a deliberate decision by most clubs to allow their players sufficient rest time.
Chihowa explained: “Most clubs have come to realise that they need to give their players adequate time to rest, which can be challenging when matches are played on Sundays.
“When clubs play their matches on Saturdays, it enables the travelling team to return on Sunday, allowing their players to rest on Monday before resuming training on Tuesday.
“In contrast, when clubs play on Sundays, they often travel back on Mondays and resume training on Tuesdays. As a result, fatigue inevitably sets in as the season progresses. In essence, this change was implemented to facilitate player recovery by providing sufficient rest time.”
PSL Fixtures:
Saturday: Scottland v TelOne (Rufaro Stadium); Bikita Minerals v Manica Diamonds (Gibbo Stadium); ZPC Kariba v Herentals College (Nyamhunga Stadium):
Sunday: Triangle United FC v GreenFuel FC (Gibbo Stadium); CAPS United v Kwekwe United FC (Rufaro Stadium); Ngezi Platinum Stars FC v MWOS (Baobab Stadium); Highlanders v Chicken Inn (Barbourfields Stadium); Yadah FC v Simba Bhora (Heart Stadium); FC Platinum v Dynamos FC (Mandava Stadium).
