SIXTY NOT OUT!. . . The beast which Mbare gave to the rest of Zim

Robson Sharuko

Editor

SIXTY years ago, Dynamos won their FIRST league championship and, amid the celebrations which followed, not many realised that a domestic football beast had just been born.

The Glamour Boys were not the giant that they have become today, whose appeal is spread across the country, and whose profile is known across the entire continent.

Their 60th anniversary celebrations might have been bogged down in the usual red tape, which has become synonymous with the chaos that has become the club’s DNA, and they missed a BIG opportunity of DOUBLE CELEBRATIONS.

Had they held their 60th birthday anniversary this year, it would have coincided with the club celebrating the Silver Jubilee of the year they came within 90 minutes of becoming champions of Africa.

The year 1998 remains the high water mark of the Glamour Boys’ quest for success when they went toe-to-toe with ASEC Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire for the right to be called champions of Africa.

For a perennially broke Zimbabwean football club, whose asset base will be deemed to have risen significantly in value if they acquire a bicycle for their messenger to deliver mail, this was a significant achievement.

Ultimately, the Glamour Boys fell short, largely because of a toxic African football landscape whose dark arts favoured ASEC Mimosas, but it remains a success story that should be celebrated.

In the 60 years since they won their maiden league championship, Dynamos have become the flag bearers of domestic football.

They have produced some of the biggest stars of the game, led by George Shaya and Moses Chunga, and legends like Sunday Chidzambwa.

They have won the league championship a record 21 times and their closest rivals, Highlanders, with seven titles, have to win the title for the next 14 years, without DeMbare winning the title, for Bosso to catch up with them.

If Highlanders (7), CAPS United (5), FC Platinum (4), Black Aces (2), Black Rhinos (2) and Zimbabwe Saints (2) add all their titles, they will still fall one short of the Glamour Boys.

DeMbare won just two titles in the first decade of their existence, three titles in the ‘70s, seven titles in the ‘80s, four titles in the ‘90s, one title in the first decade of the new millennium and four titles in the second decade.

The worst decade came just after the turn of the millennium when they won just one league title.

The best decade was in the ‘80s when they won SEVEN titles.