The Sunday News
Lovemore Dube
ONE of Zimbabwe’s most decorated football personalities Barry Daka has explained how senior players left Highlanders FC to form Olympics.
Daka, who now runs his own project called Tigers at Mzilikazi’s Greenspan Grounds but is available to help at a more competitive level, said money was at the centre of their departure.
Bosso lost almost a bulk of the first team players to a splinter club in 1976.
“Money is always the root of all evil in society. It is not true that we were reluctant to go and play in Division One after Highlanders said the club would quit the Rhodesia National Football League to form the South Zone Division One League.
“That was far from it. There were simmering tensions before the club made that decision to go to a lower league. These were all around remuneration and that problem had surfaced in 1974,” said Daka.
Highlanders made a decision to quit the first national league since 1972 in 1976 after the national association awarded Dynamos a walkover over them in Bulawayo.
It rained in Bulawayo the whole week rendering Barbourfields Stadium unplayable. There was communication with the RNFL to that effect but still Dynamos travelled and Bosso were in no-show. With Dynamos needing to win to pip Highlanders by a point they were awarded a walkover and hence won the championship, and Highlanders in protest left the national league to launch the South Zone League.
Dynamos, who in the off-season played Highlanders and also threatened to form another league in the Northern Region, changed their minds. They had come up with a set of grievances too.
Daka said they were not happy with the pittance allowances Highlanders were playing. While their counterparts in Harare would earn as much as $40 they were getting just $10. What made matters worse was that the players would stay the whole off-season without any earnings and with a majority jobless and getting to have family responsibilities that became a thorny issue.
“It was hard for most players to survive. I had a job as a sports assistant at Bulawayo City Council so I was able from time to time to assist teammates like Isaac Mafaro.
“So when we got to the end of 1976 we were not happy with the remuneration issue. The breakaway idea had been simmering for a long time and when they said they were going to the lower division we resolved we would stay in the premier division as Highlanders Olympics with the same colours,” said Daka.
The former attacking midfield star said the idea to retain the name Highlanders was shot down by club officials with threats made against the rebels.
Among the players who stayed in the top league with the rebel team were Daka, Stanley Nyika, Isaac Mafaro, Itai Chieza, Peter Zimuto, Chutika Tembo and Ephraim Moloi with additions coming from other clubs. Among arrivals from other teams were Cosmas Zulu, Rabson Chisango and Lovemore British.
Daka admitted that the dream of self governance soon became a nightmare as there were no crowds and funds to sustain the club. There were however, lucky to get city businessmen like Stanford Sakupwanya, Stanley Bazaya and Ambrose Mutungwazi coming on board to administer and financially support the club.
“The realities of the ill-timed decision began to show and haunt the players and one by one they started deserting Olympics with Itai Chieza joining Saints, Nyika and Mafaro going to Harare, Tembo back to Hwange as we were now in a worse of financial position,” said Daka.
Daka laboured on as coach and in 1980 when a new national Super League was launched clubs like Black Horrors, Black Chiefs and Olympics were unlucky not to make it to the premier division and hence had to revert to Division One action.
The talented Daka who doubled up as a coach and player having cut his teeth as a gaffer under Jack Meagher at Hwange, was able to assemble a formidable side. Among his finds were Boyce Malunga, Tito Paketh, Patrick Ncube, Ben Makadzange, Philemon Dangarembwa, Fortune Zengeni, Felix Ntuthu, Amin Soma-Phiri, Eddie Juba and and Mike Mhlanga.
In 1982 Daka’s boys won the Rothmans Shield, then a tournament for lower division clubs to earn the Coach of the Year accolade. In 1983 he once again was in the thick of things winning the same tournament after beating Caps United 2-1 in the final.
Caps were in the Super League while Olympics were campaigning in the Southern Region Division One.
“It was a good group of players that was able to conduct a post mortem of a match on their own. What you simply had to do was to introduce a topic and leave the rest to the boys. They were business minded and dreamt big.
“If resources had permitted we would have had a club house, club office, camping house and training ground of our own so when I moved to Highlanders it was among the things I discussed with one executive member Jahalamajaha Dlamini,” said Daka.
The former Highlanders coach said he was happy with achieving so much during his career which took off at Mzilikazi and Makokoba Youth Clubs in the 1960s.
Daka’s first dance with glory was in 1970 when he was among the scorers for Hwange in the 6-2 drubbing of Salisbury Callies in the Castle Cup.
Having been granted permission by Highlanders to join Hwange after a job transfer to the Colliery by Bata, Daka had featured in the semi-finals against Arcadia illegally as Adam Simula. In the replay in Harare he was among the scorers with Bart Sibanda and having started on the left, he was moved to the right, his favourite wing after Obert Agayi had been red-carded and all afternoon he was making easy meat out of Adolf Mutuma, a Rhodesia international.
“When I was moved to the right I spent most of the afternoon roasting the great Adolf Mutuma,” he said with a chuckle.
Daka was to win his second Castle Cup in 1973 with Hwange again a 7-6 victory over Dynamos officiated by the legendary Premji Giga.Hwange then had Mwape Sakala, Posani Sibanda, Agayi, Amos and Daniel Rendo, Sam Mutende, John Garatsa,Aaron Lowani, Leonard Tembo, Chris Yoyo and Rodrick Simwanza.
At the end of 1973 Meagher moved to Harare and he tried to lure Daka to the capital.
“I could not go to Harare because of family commitments in Bulawayo. I had long left Bata and was part of the sports department at the Colliery where I coached youngsters like Matshona Sibanda and Benson Soko at Lwendulu.
“Meagher left with Posani Sibanda and striker Stephen Chuma who was later to switch to defence. Guys like Twyman Ncube had already left for Harare by then.
“I was excited with re-joining Highlanders whom I had left with a crop of young players I had grown up with and was involved along when we won promotion in 1970. I was excited I was coming as a Castle Cup winner and they had just won the Chibuku Trophy,” said Daka.
In 1974 and 1975 Daka helped one of the best Highlanders teams of all-time win the regional league championships and were reaching semi-final stages of most tournaments. Daka, a product of the Bulawayo City Council Youth Clubs had had his first dance with the Bulawayo giants in 1966 when some elders at Eastern Brothers whom he used to play with took the whole team to Bosso.
“Led by one Mutsago we were taken to Highlanders enmasse from Eastern Brothers who used to be run by Nyikas.
Highlanders were still in Bafa and we found guys like Lawrence Phiri, Billy Sibanda, Kenneth Sparks, Andrew Jele, Edward Dlamini, Edward Dzowa who was a source of inspiration to younger players, John Vella and Fakazi.
Daka arrived along with Langton Tshuma, Patson Nyoni, Benjie Mpofu and Daniel Dididi Ncube the father of city sportswear and equipment supplier Daniel Bingadadi.
Daka was later to enjoy a purple patch guiding Highlanders to almost every piece of silverware contested in the country from the early 80s to 1994 when they won the BP League cup.
“I had a successful stint with Highlanders. There is no single tournament contested between 1984 and 1995 that I did not win as a coach. I was involved with national teams too, taking a team to Libya for the Pan African Youth Championships in 1982 as Paul Moyo’s assistant and guiding Zimbabwe to silver with Wieslaw Grawboski and the late Lovemore Nyabeze in the 1995 All-Africa Games,” said Daka.
He also had a successful coaching stint in Botswana, winning a league title the first for a Francistown based side and several tournaments.
Daka was at one time the Botswana Coach of the Year.
He regards his 1986-88 Highlanders squad as the best team he ever worked with and has lots of admiration of the Dynamos teams of 1969-82 and the Caps United squad of 1979-83.
“These were great sides. They played good football to win my praises,” said the veteran gaffer.
His best 11 players he worked with in his career would be in a 4-3-3 formation with legendary Hwange goalkeeper the late Posani Sibanda in goal, Fanuel Ncube at rightback, Dumisani at left, Alexander Maseko partnered by Hwange legend Amos Rendo, with the late greats Willard Khumalo and Tutani Moyo partnering Tito Paketh.
He has Madinda Ndlovu at right wing and the late Adam at the centre with Peter Ndlovu on the left.
Next week we continue with Daka as he talks about Great players who never made it big in the Zimbabwe colours.
