SPECIAL H-METRO DERBY EDITION A BIG HIT AT RUFARO

Robson Sharuko

Editor

THE H-Metro special edition, dedicated to the Harare Derby on the showdown’s return to Rufaro after five years, was a huge hit among fans, players and officials on Sunday.

The country’s leading tabloid printed the 16 pages of the special edition with the help from its partners — Delta Beverages, AfricaBet, Manica Diamonds FC, Min Travel and Tours and Shining Smiles College, the City of Harare, Pan Jap Motors, Simba Bhora and a business entity which was selling beer to the fans at the stadium.

CAPS United also came in as the principal partners who bought all the printed copies and distributed them for free to the fans.

Scores of fans, players and officials could be seen reading the special edition at Rufaro throughout the day.

“It was a great initiative,” said football commentator, Benji “Sancho Zamorano” Chimusoro.

“I got my copy as I entered the stadium and I saw fans being handed their copy just after coming into the stadium.

“This is what we want to see, giving the fans value for their money, and something which is different to what they usually expect at the stadium.

“The research into the articles was brilliant and it took us down memory lane when the Derby had stars like Joel Shambo, Moses Chunga, to name but a few.

“Hopefully, this is just the start and we will see many similar projects at our games.

“In terms of brand visibility, H-Metro scored big and gave many people a reason to read a physical newspaper again.”

Charles Makaza said he would still have bought the special edition for a dollar if it had been sold.

“It was a surprise gift and I would still have bought the paper for a dollar if it had been sold,” he said.

“It was quite informative and you could tell that a lot of effort was put into it.

“In England, you have the official club programme, which fans buy before the match, and this is a similar product.

“It’s sad that our national team is still playing away from home because such projects would have been good for their World Cup and AFCON games.

“Hopefully, my team Dynamos will also enter into such partnerships because there was more content on CAPS, as your partners, than on my team.”