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Lovemore Dube Senior Sports Editor
TWO soccer greats Gibson Homela and Ndumiso Gumede have welcomed the return of the Chibuku Cup to the elite league. Both said the tournament won by Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints between 1973 and 1988, six times between them, had a lot of historical relevance. It was after their first wins that the country really got to take note of the two sides as giants of the local game.

Highlanders won the Chibuku Trophy for the first time in 1973 beating a star-studded Mhangura 3-0 at Rufaro Stadium before adding other wins in 1980, 1984 and 1986.

Chikwata won it in 1976 and 1988.

Gumede said Highlanders had up to 1973 been an unknown quantity in national football. Things changed after that triumph by a team that earned the name “Hit Machine” featuring the likes of Lawrence Phiri, Billy Sibanda, Cavin Duberly, Boet Van Ays, Peter Bhebhe, Tymon Mabaleka and Ananias Dube.

In 1973 Bosso had just been promoted to the top league after being relegated in 1971. They had gone into the cup final as underdogs because Mhangura who had five Chieza brothers, Alex Masanjala and Lovemore Nyabeze among their stars, were a formidable side.

Because of incentives by the mine they had assembled a very strong team that had been together for sometime with national team player Tendai Chieza, providing the stability.

In 1976 Zimbabwe Saints whose only triumph had been the BAT Rosebowl were never given a chance to beat Highlanders. Bosso had dominated the regional league since 1973 winning it three times in a row and had some of the best talent in the country in players like Barry Daka, Isaac Mafaro and Stanley Nyika.

One of their star players Gibson Homela was in the UK studying and playing for Oldham Athletic. Ebson Muguyo had joined Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa.

Homela said he had received a call from Saints chairman Herbert Ushewokunze inquiring if he could be available for the tie.

“The college was about to close and when I got the telephone call, I said why not. I flew straight to Harare and we worked together for about two to three days with the team.

“We stood no chance against Highlanders on paper as everyone was tipping them to win the match.

“Come the day of the game, we played like men possessed, we were all over Highlanders and we soundly beat them 4-0,” said Homela.

He said the win was very important for the club as it marked a turnaround of fortunes.

“Yes we had won some silverware before like the BAT Rosebowl which was more like an invitation tournament but was not as important as the Chibuku Trophy. From there on we never looked back as we grew from strength to strength and became the team to beat. One thing I remember about that 4-0 win against Highlanders is that days after the match, one Bosso supporter told me that he spent five hours looking for his car after the game. There was so much rivalry between the two teams then,” said Homela.

While a few cars accompany teams to away matches nowadays, he said dozens of buses had made their way to Harare from Bulawayo. Homela said the stadium was full to the rafters with other fans making their way to the capital by train.

Homela said; “It was reported that about 52 buses had been hired to ferry fans from Bulawayo. Such was the passion and love for the two clubs then. Many more travelled by train while others drove to the capital to watch the big match.”

Homela was part of the Zimbabwe Saints team that won the Castle Cup and league title in 1977.

He was still with the club when they won their last Chibuku Trophy final, 1-0 against Highlanders in 1988 in a match that is still talked about even to this day.

Chikwata won the league title as well but that season’s excitement appeared to have sparked problems at the club.

Saints thereafter went on a freefall with infighting, dwindling support base and sponsorship hitting the institution until this year when they were kicked out of Zifa structures.

It was a sad closing chapter of a landmark feature of Zimbabwean football in a year one of their best players Max Shaluza Tshuma passed on.

Gumede says he will never forget the 1980 Chibuku Trophy final. He was Highlanders chairman then and Bosso qualified for the final in which they faced Rio Tinto.

“Nobody gave us a chance. We had just come out of the South Zone League, meaning we were underdogs and Rio Tinto then had a charming Scottish coach John Rugg who was the national team coach. No one really gave us a chance in that game,” said the Bosso chief executive officer.

One thing that makes it a moment not to forget is that the last cup final at that level had ended a 4-0 whacking at the hands of Zimbabwe Saints four years earlier.

Gumede said the second was that he got his first helicopter ride which was very scary considering all the talk about the flying objects from the just-ended war.

“I was called earlier on the morning of the cup final and asked to present myself at Prince Charles Airport. Once there we were led to a helicopter with a Rio Tinto representative who came clad in mining regalia.

“We were to accompany the trophy to the stadium. The curtain raiser which was an Under-14 cup final did not finish on time so it was another scary 15-20 minutes in the air. I was so terrified yet the guy from Rio who did not seem to be at my level appeared to be taking it easy with the jovial young pilot,” said Gumede of the historic first Chibuku Trophy Cup final in independent Zimbabwe.

He said the noise that came from the stadium as people greeted the arriving helicopter was felt in the cockpit despite the noise from the craft.

“One would have wished that the match was at its end at that moment rather than after the flight to endure another 90 minutes of the tension of the game. There are two players who stand out from that match Majuta Mpofu who appeared to have some magnet around him.

“Every time the ball was pumped to him, it appeared to stick to his feet and then there would be two or three people attending to him before he could thread a pass to Mark Watson who scored a hattrick on that day. We demolished Rio Tinto 4-0,” said Gumede.

Bosso went on to win the Chibuku Trophy in 1984 beating Dynamos 2-1 at Rufaro with Madinda Ndlovu, a club legend among the scorers and stand out players.

In 1985 Bosso were beaten 1-0 by Arcadia Karls courtesy of a Richard Manda header.

Bosso were to redeem themselves in 1986 beating Caps United 2-1 to win their fourth Chibuku Trophy Cup final in a year they were crowned Cup Kings after sweeping virtually all the silverware on offer.

Saints’ year of redemption was 1988 when they won the tournament for the last time and crowned a superb season by reaching the Rothmans Shield Cup final and winning the league title.

That was the last time the tournament was held and its return has generated a lot of excitement though it is now the Chibuku Cup and not Chibuku Trophy.

Many players rose to prominence as a result of the Chibuku tournament and among some of the stars are Robert Godoka, the late David Phiri, Joseph Zulu, Jimmy Phiri, Willard Kumalo, Tobias Mudyambanje, Andrew Kadengu, the late Shaky Tauro, Stanley Ndunduma and Joel Shambo.