Bosso 90 years celebrations in motion

07 Feb, 2016 - 00:02 0 Views
Bosso 90 years celebrations in motion

The Sunday News

highlanders

Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
A PUBLIC meeting at Amakhosi Cultural Centre by Highlanders Football Club’s 90 years celebrations committee today sets in motion the club’s commemorations that would be punctuated with various events throughout the year.

The committee’s chairperson, Luke Mnkandla, said the focus today would be mainly on the forthcoming launch that will be held on 28 February and the heritage trip to the team founder, Prince Rhodes Khumalo’s grave in Grahamstown, South Africa scheduled for next week.

The meeting is expected to appraise people of the line-up of activities to be held and also to get a buy in from the club’s supporters and the Bulawayo community at large as the country’s oldest footballing institution celebrates its 90 years of existence.

“The main launch will be held on 28 February with an event to be held at Barbourfields Stadium throughout the whole day. We will start with two processions carnival style starting from 9am. One will start at Magwegwe Water Tower and Youth Centre while another begins at Highlanders Club house.

“At the stadium it will be a hive of activity with the Royal Cup set to take up the whole day providing soccer while there is also entertainment from various artistes. There are several high profile people who have accepted our invitation to attend the launch including the Minister of Sport (Makhosini Hlongwane). Club merchandise will also be on sale, not only on the day but throughout the year,” said Mnkandla.

The street marches will involve all Highlanders supporters and members, sporting teams, drum majorettes, dancers, brass band, artistes and the general populace of Bulawayo. According to the plans tributary marches will also be made but as supplementary to the two main processions.

At Barbourfields there will be entertainment galore including the Royal Cup whose participants include Premiership teams based in the region. Mnkandla said the trip to Grahamstown was very important and Highlanders faithfuls should jostle for the trip which will cost $440.

“For us it is a big event to visit the grave of our founder. It is part of African values, tradition and culture and in that light we would want many people to be part of the tour, it will be a valuable lesson about our founder and Bosso’s origins. Other people and companies are welcome to join us on this trip,” he said.

Mnkandla said the rest of the plans, that include performances at all shows throughout the year and a match against a foreign team, will be announced at today’s event.

Highlanders are one of Zimbabwe’s most popular and highly decorated soccer clubs and were founded in 1926 by the grandsons of the Ndebele King Lobengula, Rhodes and Albert, and their friends.

In an interview with the Chronicle in 1997, the late Nsele Hlabangani said the team was formed to starve off boredom.

Hlabangani, who was part of the founding team along with his brother Jeremiah and Charlton Ngcebetsha, said the royal grandsons, on arrival from South Africa, found it boring with no social amenities and decided to start the team in Makokoba with the popular venue being Efusini.

The only opposition around then was the army team but later the organisers encouraged Zambians to form their own team and in 1937 when the club changed its name from Red Lions to Matabeleland Highlanders, there were five other teams formed in the city which included Mutambara, Umtali, Gwelo and Petauke.

Matabeleland Highlanders initially wore a red uniform in line with their name at the time but changed to the now famous black and white strip in 1937. According to zimgiants.com the club has had its fair share of controversies that splintered it along the way.

In 1975 the team dropped Matabeleland from its name at the behest of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo who had always spoken out very strongly about the use of tribal names for sporting teams. In 1980 Bosso won the first post independence Chibuku Trophy and the Heroes Cup.

Highlanders FC were the first Zimbabwean club to visit a foreign country when they undertook an emotional tour of Zambia where they met some Zimbabweans who had stayed behind in that country. The team has over the years produced quality players that have gone on to hog the limelight in the international scene with Peter Ndlovu being among the greatest strikers to emerge from the club and remains one of the longest serving African players in English Premier League.

Highlanders’ name has over the years become associated with professionalism and quality administration and remains one of the few clubs to own club offices and a clubhouse.

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