Mashonaland West came to a standstill on November 25 last year when Chegutu Pirates hosted Herentals U-20 at Pfupajena Stadium.
Zaire, as Pirates are affectionately known by those who call Chegutu home, needed to collect maximum points against the Students to be confirmed winners of the 2023 Northern Region Soccer League.
7000 spectators, buzzing with excitement, were at Pfupajena to witness history as Zaire were 90 minutes away from securing promotion to the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
Eventually, Pirates secured promotion after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Herentals U-20, courtesy of goals from Learnmore Chibaya and Panashe Mushonga while Leato Antonio got the consolation for the visitors.
Zaire had reached the ‘Promised Land’ after decades of trying and Chegutu was filled with spirit of excitement.
What made the Chegutu triumph sweeter, was the fact that few saw it coming, as Black Mambas dominated the league for most of it, until the last three games of the season.
Everyone was in agreement that football was the winner when Chegutu Pirates attained promotion because Zaire fought hard and the town deserved top-flight football.
The passion Chegutu Pirates fans showed for their team on that historic day was unmatched and deserving of Premiership football.
For the second season in succession, a team from a small town had been promoted, as Simba Bhora achieved the same feet 12 months earlier, to the delight of football fans in the mining town of Shamva.
In the eyes of football stakeholders, the Northern Region Soccer League was a stepping stone on which dreams could become a reality. It was just about football being the winner at the end of the day.
Sadly, the 2024 campaign, despite the pre-season hype it had, has delivered more on controversy rather than football on the field of play.
A gripping title race involving Harare City, Black Rhinos, MWOS and Scottland has become so tense that it’s fair to say the region is now a war zone.
Allegations of bribery of match officials and even opponents, the offering of monetary rewards to players of opposition players for matches to be influenced, are on the rise in arguably the country’s most competitive Division One league.
“Matches are being bought, it’s something which happened in the past of course, but this season it’s now an everyday thing,” said a coach of a Northern Region Soccer side who asked not to be named.
When quizzed further about the issue, the coach said: “Look, one of the upcoming matches slated for this weekend has already been fixed. A coach was offered US$800 to share with his entire defence so that their team lose the game, against one of the title-chasing teams.
“Money is flowing around and matches are being decided well before they kick off on the field of play. It’s more about what you have to offer the opponent or the referee, not how tactical you are, for you to win a football match,” added the coach.
To add to the drama, two matches involving title rivals MWOS and Scottland, were abandoned within a space of eight days.
Shamva Mine hosted MWOS at Shamva Mine Stadium on September 7 and the match was abandoned in the 90th minute after Lloyd Mutasa’s side scored through Evidence Tendai, but Shamva players and fans insisted the ball didn’t cross the line.
A picture taken by one of the photographers covering the game showed otherwise but the match official was assaulted nonetheless.
A few days later, the Karoi United-Scottland match, which was key in the title race, was abandoned in the 88th minute with the two sides tied at 1-1.
Ronald Pfumbidzai had fired Scottland ahead and Peter Bhero leveled matters for Karoi before referee Martin Dingo declared himself unfit to officiate the last two minutes of the game.
Dingo, in his match report, claimed he was “attacked” by Karoi fans while the club insisted that was not the case, as the referee “was hit a ball thrown back into play and faked an injury to deliberately cause the abandonment of the match.”
The Northern Region Soccer League leadership, guided by the referee’s report, issued a statement and condemned the “violence” at Chikangwe Stadium.
“The Northern Region Soccer League is shocked and dismayed by the acts of violence that occurred on the 15th of September at Chikangwe Stadium during a league match between Karoi United FC and Scottland FC, as was witnessed by the multitude of fans who attended the match as well as reported by match officials,” read the statement.
While the Northern Region Soccer League leadership was very quick to condemn the “violence” at Chikangwe as well as what happened between MWOS and Black Rhinos at the Heart Stadium on August 7, where two sides’ coaches were involved in a scuffle on the touch-line, the Martin Kweza-led administration never said anything about Scottland owner Pedzai ‘Scott’ Sakupwanya storming the pitch and charging towards Mutasa.
Sakupwanya, who is also a registered player for title-chasing Scottland —a team he owns, was unhappy with what he claimed to be juju antics used by Mutasa leading to the MWOS equalizer and charged towards the former Warriors assistant coach.
The incident occurred in the presence of the entire Northern Region Soccer League leadership, which never reacted to it publicly.
The leadership’s silence and inaction in the matter, and a Facebook gaffe this week has fuelled perceptions that there is a favoured team in the NRSL title race. In a post that has now been deleted, the NRSL Facebook handler posted as if they were on a Scottland FC timeline.
The region’s action, or lack thereof, can be explained by revisiting Scottland’s short history and how the team joined the first division. It is believed that Socttland bought the franchise of now disbanded Simbisa Brands who had triumphed in promotional playoffs.
Sakupwanya did not have a football team at the time, he bought Mabvuku United and christened it Scottland.
Other teams that participated in the promotional playoffs were probably more deserving of the slot left behind by the dissolution of Simbisa Brands due to withdrawal of funding, but the slot was sold for silver and gold.