22/01/2025
THE PREMIER SOCCER LEAGUE DEBUTANTS - A SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AFFAIR
BY CR MAVASA INGWANI
Charles Ingwani
All eyes are set on newly promoted Clubs Scotland Fc, Triangle, ZPC Hwange and Kwekwe United Fc as to how they are going to handle the heat that is associated with the land's elite football this 2025 season. The teams are very much ecstatic for their great achievement, the dream to rub shoulders with the nation's soccer greats.
Perennial League campaigners Dynamos, Caps United and Highlanders will be there to welcome these debutants who have dozens of former Premier League players. They are newcomers in the topflight league but with most of the players who once played for either Dembare, Kepe Kepe, Bosso and the other giants of the league. They are the veterans of the game wearing a new tag in the competition. Let's have a glance at these newly promoted sides , rate them and have a prediction of their chances of survival in the Big Boys' League:
SCOTLAND FC
Bankrolled by business mogul and prominent miner Scot Sakupwanya. A Mabvuku based outfit that won a ticket from the Northern Region to play in the Premiership. The team has resources to lure quality players in their squad. So far they have made significant strides in signings before the start of the season. The technical department is also very tensile and raring to go as evidenced by the resurfacing of 2024 title winning gaffer Tonderai Ndiraya at their dressing room entrance. Plans are at an advanced stage for the team to cross Zambezi river for a pre- season tour in Zambia next month. The team is leaving no stone unturned in the hunt for supremacy in their maiden season in the Premier Soccer League. With the arsenal they have assembled so far, they are likely to mesmerize the entire domestic soccer fraternity and are assured of another dance in the league the following season.
TRIANGLE FC
The Sugar Boys who hail from the South East Lowveld. They have been in the Premier Soccer League some time and need no introduction of what is expected of them. They are the league Champions of the just ended Eastern Region competition usurping the title from the jaws of Wangu Mazodze in the dying moments of the competition. The two were neck on neck on points but Triangle claimed the title courtesy of a goal difference. It was a close contest that left the Mucheke based Wangu Mazodze shell shocked wondering what had struck them. The Sugar Boys are also ready for life in the top league and would want to see most of the teams dropping points at their no- go abattoir of Gibbo Stadium. The team has a senior mentor in Luke Masomere who has seen it all in domestic football affairs. The squad has plenty of nimble footed soccer generals who have been in the football trenches for a long time. They know exactly how to tame their opponents. Like Scotland, they are likely to remain afloat in the League at the end of 2025.
KWEKWE UNITED FC
This time around topflight football is back in the Steel town of Kwekwe after a long sabbatical of the days of Lancashire Steel Fc and Ziscosteel Fc respectively. The town used to harbour great stars in the likes of John Phiri, Ephraim Dzimbiri, Ronnie Jowa, Stephen Alimenda, Washington Arubi, Justice Majabvi to mention just but a few. Last season Premiership football in Midlands was in Gweru with relegated Sheasham but this time it seems the two cities have signed a pact for Kwekwe to have a trial in the elite competition. Like what happens with neighbouring hillocks, the Midlands cities have traded the mist that will obstruct the vision of all the teams going there. Team owner Phil Makekera has vowed to provide everything to ensure for a continued life in the league. Former Motor Action defence stalwart and Gamecocks coach Prince Matore is at the helm of the Torwood based side and basing on his experience the team is likely to play good football and refuse to bow out. Experienced players from other clubs will trickle down there to try luck and probably find refuge and use that experience to stabilize the team.
ZPC HWANGE FC
With the darling of the Colliery Community Hwange Fc out, the new kids on the block ZPC Hwange are likely to take over support and some of the experienced players from there. Hwange is distant from other cities and this is a blow to the player recruitment drive, hence only to work with the available resources. Some signings of the new players will be made but with the aforementioned factors they need to work very hard for their survival in the League. The Power Cable Connectors have a tried and tested manager in the mould of former Dynamos and Fc Lupopo defensive midfielder Carrington Gomba but with little known coach Mabelo Njekwa. If the two don't create a discord, they are going to post some meaningful victories especially at the Colliery Stadium. It's time to fight for Survival. The football fraternity is waiting for the glimpse of the highlights of the early games. League veterans Thilamoya, The Glamour Boys and the Green Machine will not be deterred by these ambitious debutants but just to use experience and the twelfth men to clip their wings and subdue them in the run for the title. Come 2025, the bomb is about to explode and the misfits of the competition will fizzle out. The small Boys will back peddle.
FOOTBALL DOSAGE
Johannes Mike Mupisa
Crirona SJ Chauke
Charles Ingwani
Nyasha Musingafi
