Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
DOMINANT Mutare social soccer outfit, Socco Golden Stars, will be in the thick of things when fellow clubs from Harare, Gweru, Nyanga, and Mutare converge in the eastern border city to mark two years of Socco Golden Stars’ existence.
To put their dominance into context, in the two years that the Mutare social soccer outfit has been in existence, the Ruramai Nyakonga-bankrolled team has won the Mutare Social Football Association (MUSFA) League title consecutively.
Dubbed the Socco Golden Stars Second Anniversary Tournament, Harare’s PanJap, celebrated musician, Winky D’s Vigilance, Gweru Legends, another Gweru outfit NATO, Nyanga Legends, one of Mutare’s oldest social soccer teams, Igwe Stars, and prominent Mutare legal practitioner, Victor Chinzamba-owned Sisal will battle it out in the contest.
Group stage matches will be played at Chisamba Grounds before the competition moves to the Show Grounds for the semi-finals and the final encounter.
As they rekindle memories of the good old days of vibrant social soccer clubs such as Choc City, Socco Golden Stars won the 2025 championship, outmaneuvering fellow title aspirants ZRP Mutare and Border Pirates, who settled for second and third position respectively. The club’s administrator, Tatenda ‘Gede’ Matiringe, said: “We have done well to prepare for our second anniversary tournament to be held on December 6. We want to urge all football-loving people to throng the two venues – Chisamba Grounds and Show Grounds – for the event.
“We are also urging corporates to be part of this initiative, as it also gives them mileage and business. This is part of the ongoing efforts that started when we established this club, so that we set the right standards and ensure we place ourselves as a serious social soccer team.”
Matiringe, himself a talismanic midfielder during his competitive football-playing days, maintains that one of the key aims is to be role models to youngsters and encourage abstinence from drug and substance abuse.
“We are a serious social football club that seeks to be role models to young stars, to stay away from drug and substance abuse. Apart from youngsters, we also encourage the same among former football stars, and this is the reason we have many of them within our ranks,” he said.
During 2025, Socco Golden Stars have travelled far and wide across the country and also hosted some flamboyant, nationally acclaimed social football clubs, including popular musician Freeman’s Gallis outfit, among others.
