Vusumuzi Dube
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
AMBITIOUS Southern Region Division One side, Talen Vision, have accepted an invitation by the country’s football motherbody Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) to be part of the National Division One League.
Zifa is pushing ahead with establishing a National Division One League that will be made up of teams from the four regions, Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern to make the second wrung which will feed to the Castle Lager Premiership Soccer League while the existing regional leagues would then continue as third-tier leagues, feeding the national league in a promotion-relegation system. This league has reportedly been hanging since 2013.
In a statement dated 11 January, 2023, Zifa said: “The executive committee resolved to embark on the national Division League in line with Section 10 of the Zifa Constitution. We are therefore inviting your top four clubs to join the inaugural league. The inaugural national division one league, which is set to start this season will reportedly be made up of 16 teams.”
In that regard, speaking on the sidelines of their newly appointed induction seminar which was conducted by club president Khumbulani Nkomo and consultant Cosmas “Tsano” Zulu at Milton High School yesterday, Talen Vision chairperson Elton Sinyosi said they have made an agreement to be part of the proposed National First Division.
“We got the invitation to compete in the National First Division, we have filled in the forms in agreement to join the proposed National First Division. We have accepted the invite and we are in the process of contemplating on which home ground to use if the league comes into fruition as our Filabusi home ground is not yet in a state of hosting matches of National First Division magnitude. As such we are still consulting and weighing options of either playing our home matches in Bulawayo or at Gwanda’s Phelandaba Stadium,” said Sinyosi.
Then under the guidance of Lizwe Sweswe, Talen Vision finished the 2022 Southern Region Division One league on position three after playing second fiddle to eventual winners Hwange and ZPC Hwange who concluded as the league’s first runners up. Ahead of the start of the 2023 local football season and the departure of Sweswe and his assistant Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda, to join rebuilding Bulawayo Chiefs and FC Platinum Royals as head coaches respectively, Talen Vision have since appointed a new technical team.
“We are certainly targeting a promotion into the Premier Soccer League hence the appointment of our new technical department for our senior team. Slovak coach Miroslav Nemec makes a return to assume the position of head coach. He will be assisted by Golding Dube and Saul Ndlovu,” said Sinyosi.
Nemec, Dube and Ndlovu beat ex-Premier Soccer League coach Philani Mabhena, former Manica Diamonds coach Johannes Nhumwa and ex Bantu Rovers and Black Mambas player Fortune “Fokoza” Ncube to assume their new roles at the Trukumb Mining sponsored side.
Sinyosi also revealed that with Nemec still awaiting his paperwork to be sorted, Dube will be the interim head coach.
The club also named Andrew Sidambe and Wonder Mpofu as their goalkeepers mentor and team manager respectively.
Mpofu previously worked in the same capacity with the now defunct Bantu Rovers. Highlanders Football Club Legend Gift Lunga (Jnr) has since assumed the role of head coach at Talen Vision Academy where he will be assisted by Owen Butete.
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