White City to host Townshend and Butcher final

Innocent Kurira
DYNAMOS Bulawayo Supporters Chapter will lock horns with Makokoba Shooters in the final of this year’s Townshend and Butcher tournament scheduled for White City Stadium on Sunday.

This year’s tournament saw the involvement of teams affiliated with Bafa and the HIV Prevention League taking part in the competition. Each league provided eight teams and now only two remain.

On their way to the final, DeMbare Chapter won 3-0 against Palace FC with James Chitereki scoring a hat-trick in that game.

Makokoba Shooters on the other hand won 2-0 against Bosso Supporters Chapter in the semifinal for a date with DeMbare Chapter.

The losing teams in the semi finals are set to clash in the third place play off before the final on Sunday.

Zifa Area Zones chairman, Charles Chunda said all is in place ahead of the final.

“We are looking forward to the final. We expect a mouth watering encounter between the two teams. We call on all football loving people to come and enjoy the football. We are grateful to our sponsors for their continued support,” said Chunda.

Before the start of association football in the 1960s, Bafa ran football for Africans at a time Europeans had their own. Bafa had the Townshend and Butcher Trophy and qualifiers for the Osborne Trophy, which was a national amateur tournament.

There were also the inter-cities competitions made up of Select teams with Bulawayo’s Select known as Red Army.

Chunda said in the 1950s, legends like Mackenzie Sibanda, Edward Dzowa, Edward Dlamini, Matthew “303” Marume, Jambok, Scholar, Nichodemus Sibanda and the Makhanda brothers Chester and Gibson were some of the big names.

The likes of Lawrence Phiri, Billy Sibanda, Barry Daka, Ananias Dube, Mike Moyo, Melusi Sibanda, Mapleni Nyathi were among some of the emerging stars as the tournament completed its first decade and would follow up with a generation that had Albert Dube, Kainot Luphahla and Peter Nkomo, among those that rose to prominence.

Former Black Mambas and Blackpool steely defender, Joseph Dube played in the tournament for Mat High City in the 1980s among a host of other young players who would later rise to prominence in Division Two, Division One and the Premiership.