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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
IT’S a Friday morning and Beauty Sibanda and colleague Missie Mabhena are outside Barbourfields Shops anticipating yet another fruitless weekend.

The two sit on their makeshift chairs as they ponder when football fans will return to the stadium.

Their names are not new to those who have frequented Barbourfields Stadium in the past two decades.

They have seen it all, but never a lengthy period of inactivity like this one.

For many fans, match day is not complete without getting a meal from these ladies, be it before or after a game.

Their meals, which are largely traditional, are nothing you will find anywhere else.

They may not be using the most attractive utensils, but they have a clientele on match day that ranges from the highly intoxicated to the suited gentlemen that appear to have dashed out of a church service to get to the match venue in time.

The weekends are no longer the same for these two ladies.

That is how it has been for them for the past six months.

The duo, like many businesspeople, was caught off guard by Covid-19 and they fear it might be difficult to restart their businesses.

With no hope of football fans returning to the stadium in the near future, the duo is mostly going to continue suffering from the financial effects of Covid-19.

“This has been the worst time of my career. As you can see I am just seated here with nothing to do. I stay in Makokoba, but I am here to just kill time with my friends. This is how it has been since this lockdown. I live with my four grandchildren who look up to me to get them food and cater for their needs. I haven’t cooked any meal since football was stopped so I have not been making any money. This situation has made life difficult, we are really struggling. We can’t work and our families are starving,” said Sibanda, turning to Mabhena, who immediately sits up straight and concurs with her friend.

“What she is saying is true; life has been tough ever since football was stopped. How do I look after my five grandchildren when I am not cooking? As it is paying rentals and schools fees is difficult. The authorities must see to it that we have football back because there are many of us that are struggling because there is no football,” said Mabhena.

There is no doubt football is a national economic driver that also plays an important role in empowers the community at large.

A number of people including those in the transport sector and accommodation business have all felt the effects of the Covid-19 squeeze. – @innocentskizoe