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HIGHLANDERS Football Club are a big institution with a rich history dating back to 1926 when the team was formed by the sons of Lobengula in Bulawayo. It is an institution which prides itself in having one of the best set ups in the country with an administration second to none. 
Unlike other football clubs, the Bosso hierarchy has put in place proper structures with offices, a club house, a camping house and other amenities associated with running a successful team. Its books are audited periodically and the club holds annual general meetings and other such indabas as and when they are due — testimony to the transparent manner the powers that be run the club.

It has a chief executive officer who runs the day to day affairs of the club and reports to the executive committee which in turn reports to the board. In a nutshell, Highlanders is the epitome of how to run a football club no wonder sponsors have always wanted to be associated with it.

For the past few years since the club clinched a lucrative sponsorship deal with BancABC, the financial side of things have been healthy, with players and officials receiving salaries every month while the club takes care of bonuses. The coming in of the bank, which also bankrolls arch-rivals Dynamos, has ensured that Highlanders are freed of the burden of salaries which were always like the proverbial yoke around their necks.

The bank also provides the club with funds to buy players, ensuring harmony and presenting the technical team with a blank cheque to assemble a strong squad. Against this background, it is inconceivable to expect the Bulawayo giants to fail given the massive investment outlay and morale-boosting incentives at their disposal.

Highlanders last won the championship in 2006 under Methembe Ndlovu and before that the club had made history by being crowned kings of the domestic Premiership four times in a row between 1998 and 2002. In those days, the club had no recognisable sponsors with players content with receiving monthly allowances and winning bonuses.

It was an era in which players were proud to don the black and white jersey and would literally die on the pitch for the cause. Back then, duels between Bosso and their bitter foes Dynamos were the stuff of legends with matches evenly balanced and won on the tiniest of margins. Neither team could claim dominance over the other and the so-called Battle of Zimbabwe was a real titanic clash with players delivering mouth-watering displays.

Nowadays, even Dynamos fans are wondering what has happened to their arch-nemesis because their team has established a grip-like vice over Highlanders such that the outcome of games between the two are a given. Bosso are simply are pale shadow of their former self. Their fans are wondering what has happened to their team.

To go for eight long years without either beating Dynamos or winning the championship is unacceptable for an institution as big as Highlanders. To say fans of the Bulawayo giants have been overly patient with their team is an understatement. They have watched painfully as teams — big or small — have come to Barbourfields — their fortress — and humiliated them in their own back yard.

They have endured the torture of seeing their biggest rivals Dynamos lift the championship from right under their noses for the past two seasons that coach Kelvin Kaindu has been in charge. On Sunday, they watched in agony as surprise packages ZPC Kariba performed a smash and grab operation at Hartsfield — beating their more illustrious opponents 1-3 to virtually end Bosso’s championship aspirations for the umpteenth time.

It was too much for the Highlanders faithful who regrettably chose to vent their anger on the players and officials. While not condoning their behaviour, it is totally unacceptable for a big club like Highlanders to go on an eight-year run of failure without drastic action being taken.

The lackadaisical approach to games by the current crop of players is a betrayal of the faith shown in them by the multitudes of supporters who sacrifice their hard-earned money to watch them play. Reports of indiscipline, alcohol and drug abuse among players even on the eve of matches is a disgrace to this great institution.

We expect better from players who earn upwards of $1,000 per month exclusive of bonuses. We aver that their attitude to the game is totally unprofessional and they cost their coach Kaindu the job at Highlanders.

While we hold no brief with the Zambian mentor because he is a good guy and a highly qualified coach, unfortunately someone had to carry the cane and in this case, the buck stops with him. You fought a good fight mate but every journey has to come to an end. It was good while it lasted and IT SHALL BE WELL.