DESPITE a cloud of the endless in-house fighting and the slump of fortunes in recent times, Harare giants Dynamos are hoping to light up things next year when they celebrate their 60th milestone.
The Glamour Boys are next week set to unveil the [email protected] Anniversary Celebrations Committee that will be tasked with organising the commemorations.
They cannot afford to let the milestone pass in silence after they failed to organise the Golden Jubilee celebrations when the club turned 50 years in 2013.
The [email protected] Anniversary Celebrations Committee is already in place and will be unveiled on December 8.
The Glamour Boys, the country’s most popular and successful club, paid dearly for their lack of planning in 2013 when their Golden Jubilee passed without the glitz which should be associated with such a milestone.
But, the Harare giants appear determined to make amends, with the support from their principal sponsors Sakunda Holdings.
An official told The Herald in a previous interview that the plans for the commemorations were already in motion.
“The club should make progress towards the milestone so that by 2023 everything will be in place,” said a club official.
“There is work in progress on the website and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
“These platforms should be up in the coming weeks and then we begin our fan registration exercise.
“As a club, we are looking to celebrate the 60th anniversary in style so we have to build the momentum by chronicling and profiling the club’s history, statistics and records.
“You will also see that the idea behind the website, and the social media platforms, is about enhancing our brand as the country’s biggest and most successful club.
“We aim to have a channel providing the club, and its supporters, 24/7 coverage of what is happening at the club.
“It is also about giving our partners an opportunity to advertise their products and to be visible on the market so that they get value for their association with the club.
“We believe we can use the platforms to grow our fan base, which has been shrinking, as evidenced by the number of people coming to our games.
“There are many factors that may hinder match attendance, but we believe we have to continuously engage our fans so that loyalty is cultivated.”
Dynamos were formed in 1963, after a group of black players from erstwhile topflight teams Salisbury United and Salisbury City came together to challenge the racial discrimination they had experienced during the colonial era.
The club owe a lot to their founding fathers who included the late Obadiah “Wasu” Sarupinda, Patrick “Amato” Dzvene, Ephraim Mpariwa, Richard Chiminya, Nathan Maziti, Josiah Akende, Jairos Banda, Danny Bricks, Alois Mesikano, Sam Dauya and Bernard Marriot.
Marriot is the current board chairman while most of the founders are now late.
Over the years, DeMbare have won a record 21 league titles, and several other local trophies.
They have also been the country’s flag bearers on the continent. The Glamour Boys have a CAF Champions League silver medal, from the 1998 final, which they lost in controversial circumstances to Cote d’Ivoire side, Asec Mimosas.
Dynamos also produced arguably the greatest ever player to have graced Zimbabwean football stadiums in the form of George Shaya, a five-time Soccer Star of the Year award winner.
The late Freddy Mkwesha, who played in Portugal for 13 years, was the first Zimbabwean export to Europe while the first player to ply his trade out of Zimbabwe also came from Dynamos in the form of Patrick Dzvene, who in 1964 played for Ndola United in Zambia.
DeMbare have groomed and produced legends, including the country’s most successful football coaches Sunday Chidzambwa, Callisto Pasuwa and the late David Mandigora, and have moulded their institution into a typical beacon of success in Zimbabwean football.
However, success appears to have evaded them in the last few years. Their last major title came in 2014 under Pasuwa, who is now doing wonders in Malawi.
Dynamos won four league titles in succession between 2011 and 2014 under Pasuwa. The former midfielder has continued with the magic touch in Malawi where he has also won four titles on the bounce and several other titles with Nyasa Big Bullets.
Back home, DeMbare have played in the shadows of FC Platinum, who completed their own four-peat this season, to become only the third team after Dynamos and Highlanders to achieve the feat. Most DeMbare’s supporters had stopped coming to the stadium in the just-ended season claiming their team was playing “boring football”.
The 60th anniversary also comes as off-field drama had also taken the centre-stage after the fight for control of the club resurfaced this year when a group of former players ganged up against Marriot and elected a new board of trustees.
The board was initially led by Ernest Kamba before he paved the way for Stanley Chirambadare.
The former players also approached the courts to challenge the share-ownership structure and the legitimacy of incumbent chairman, Marriot.
To add to the chaos, Chirambadare’s board of trustees has also appointed a parallel executive fronted by Leslie Gwindi. The other members of the executive include Fabion Mahembe, Oliver Manyau, Erick Mvududu and ex-players Alan Mapila and Eddie Mashiri.
But in 59 years of existence, Dynamos have no club house or office and no training facilities of their own. They are nowhere near their contemporaries in the region like Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates of South Africa in terms of organisation. – The Herald
