Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
EACH passing weekend in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League brings fresh dread for Dynamos fans, whispers have now grown into full-throated murmurs: could the country’s most decorated club actually face relegation?
It was once unthinkable to imagine Dynamos anywhere but in the title race. But today, the club that dominated Zimbabwean football for decades sits uncomfortably at the bottom of the table, a shadow of its former self.
Where fans once rattled off the names of not just the starting XI but the full bench, now it’s hard to name five players. A once revered institution has become a punchline. And the fall hasn’t just happened on the pitch.
Just like their old rivals Highlanders, boardroom squabbles and clashing egos have derailed Dynamos. Internal power plays have taken centre stage while the team continues to suffer on the field. Some loyalists even appear to be celebrating the crisis, hoping to wrest control from the leadership.
With Bernard Marriot’s status as the majority shareholder under scrutiny, and questions swirling around the rest of the ownership, Dynamos looks like a club adrift.
This isn’t just any team. Dynamos have won more league titles than anyone, they were the first local side to lift the Southern African Club Championship in 1976, and remain the only Zimbabwean team to play in a Caf Champions League final.
So, as they now sit second from bottom, questions flood in. Could Dynamos actually be relegated? And if so, would the PSL and Zifa even allow it?
Sport is supposed to be fair. Relegation and promotion are part of that. But the thought of a Premier Soccer League without Dynamos has split opinion.
In Bulawayo, Dynamos fans are already bracing for the worst. Not only could their club tumble out of the topflight, but regional alignment means they may also drop into the Northern Region Division One.
Many believe the club’s survival depends on resolving internal battles before it’s too late.
Dynamos are the longest surviving side in the league. Alongside Caps United, they’ve never been relegated, before or after Independence. Only Highlanders can say the same.
But even supporters of rival clubs are uneasy.
Bruce Munyoro, from the Dynamos Bulawayo Chapter, admitted, “I’m very worried about Dynamos not being in the Premiership for the 2026 season. It’s worrisome. I urge the executive to come together and save Dynamos. We’re deeply concerned as fans.”
Even Highlanders fans are watching with alarm. “We don’t want a league without teams like Dynamos and Highlanders,” said Nicholas Sibanda. “These other teams come and go. The real problem is lack of sustainable funding.”
City based fan Orderly Zimeni agreed. “Without Dynamos, it’s like the soul of the game is gone. Our appetite for football will suffer.”
Popular fitness trainer Simon Gama said the solution is simple, Marriot must step aside.
“It’ll be chaos,” he said. “We can’t go to matches just to watch Highlanders and maybe Caps. We need Dynamos. When we were growing up, Dynamos were always there. Without them, there’s no Battle of Zimbabwe. Highlanders against small teams like MWOS and Simba Bhora doesn’t cut it. We want Dynamos back.”
Most fans blamed the decline of clubs like Zimbabwe Saints, and the woes at Dynamos and Highlanders, on selfish leadership and infighting. Ambition has replaced loyalty, and egos have overtaken strategy.
Unless Dynamos urgently fix their structure and rekindle the values that once made them giants, the 2026 season may roll on without them, and the league will feel it.
Team management does not play football. As long as a team can field 11 players in a match what happens in the offices doesn’t matter if those on the field are football players. Real teams play to win regardless of who sits in their administration offices. Dynamos has good players, better than MWOS or Simba Bhora which Scottland FC tried to destroy by taking most of its good players. But if coaching is poor, results will also be poor. That is the case with Dynamos. Coaching is key.
The error was made when the new ZIFA Executive came in. It had already been foreseen. The solution was to be firm with Marriot, or expand the teams to twenty two, hoping that it would cushion DeMbare, Highlanders and Caps United. There was also talk of promoting two teams from each region for 2025. Meaning all those who finished second would have been automatically promoted. I preferred the second option. Since Nqobile has already hinted at expanding the league in his last interview naCNN. I suggest they expand the league to twenty two to release pressure in the regions. But this time invite the third placed teams in the regions to play the bottom four in the Premier. The winners will then go on to face the second best teams from the regions. That would give ana DheMbare a fighting chance I suppose. Kana yatadza ngayiyende. However, if ZIFA and PSL had been firm with DheMbare, we would not have been in this situation. But we cannot blame the new administrators, vachiri vadiki they do not know how to go about it, without attracting unnecessary attention? Dayi vakatibvunza isu madhara dayi takavaudza. Besides, there are many ways of killing a cat, so they may still have something up their sleeves.
I left that onwards, four would be automatically demoted and first four promoted. But those occupying 5th and 6th from the bottom would have to face the music. They would have to join two teams that emerge from the third placed ones against four second placed until two teams are left.
Zimbabwean government,through the ministry of Sports should not fold hands as if there is nothing happening. It’s their duty to make sure people are enjoying their time and money value in local sporting. Parents cannot ignore when their children decide to engage in a fight as a way of trying to solve a misunderstanding, they should stop the fight and find a better way of resolving the problem. Unfortunately in our situation, it’s most likely some of these respeted officials could be the causers of such distructive unrest with their dirty fingers and endless appetite for both power and money.