The Sunday News
Dear Highlanders
Ref: I was born Highlanders, nothing and no one can change that
…. I will return to Highlanders one day to lead this great team!
Highlanders Football Club, I have got a lot to say here. Some of which I’m sure you will disagree with. But I would like to get this out the way first. Thank you.
I write this missive with a heavy heart. I was heartbroken when I heard that there is a push at Highlanders to marginalise people like me for being at another club. Why?
How have I become persona non grata at the club that I love with all my heart, the institution that defines my very being from a football perspective? How have I become an enemy of the club that made me who I am, a club that defines me as a ‘football person’?
Who then is Highlanders if I am not? In fact, who is more Highlanders than the next person? Is there a measure of how Highlanders one can be or should not be? Were, it not for your signing me to the first team in 1997, I may not have become the Zenzo Moyo that I am today. Overnight you transformed a cash-strapped club into one of Zimbabwe’s most powerful clubs.
And in the following years, I got to celebrate Premier League titles and a Champions League success.
For me to be eventually voted Soccer Star of the Year, I went to Botswana and earned my stripes as a goal scorer. In Botswana I polished my craft and became the player that Highlanders were proud to call their own.
And we must remember that when one of my heroes, the late Adam Ndlovu came back from South Africa to settle down back home, he did not come to Highlanders, the same Highlanders he loved with all his heart, and instead, he joined Chicken Inn as an assistant coach.
Too, so that he could earn his stripes as a coach and the respect of the Highlanders family.
In my early years as a Highlanders supporter first and foremost, and a Highlanders junior player second, those were mere dreams.
I could not have imagined what was to come when I sat at home or in the stands at Barbourfields Stadium as a starry-eyed youngster – dreaming of donning that black and white striped jersey – watching Bosso take down everyone who came calling.
I have also been incredibly proud of Highlanders’ actions almost always. I know you care, Highlanders. Truly. You have shown that throughout my career, and after. And you seemed to appreciate that football was far, far more than just what happens on the pitch.
Not every decision that has been taken during my lifetime as ‘umntwana weBosso’ (son of Highlanders) is the right one. You probably know that.
I have sometimes thought head coaches have been sacked too early, key players in the club’s history not given fitting send-offs, administrators of limited ability being put in charge of the club as well as questionable commercial decisions.
But in all that time, I have always kept my own counsel, unwilling to publicly blame you for anything.
Yet nothing that has taken place under your watch breaks my heart as the suggestion in some circles to marginalise me and other former players at the club we love. I have always been told and believed that Highlanders is my family, part of my DNA, my nirvana.
And the smile on your face when I grew into the player that I was, the administrator that I am, suggested as much. Now you are ready to take it all away from me!
Highlanders, did you consult widely before making this call, who could be stopped from developing football and their hometown? Did you speak to the thousands that make this institution what it is today?
They spend their last dollar to come and back the stars of today over 90 minutes. Or you didn’t because they too are alien because they have not paid their membership fees? Well, I have and always have!
Highlanders has a very rich history and I have always felt extremely fortunate and privileged to play a part in its continued growth and development, regardless of where I am day to day. The club was here before me, and will be here after me, but my job is to ensure we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future.
Please take heed: I will return to Highlanders one day to lead this great team! It was my dream to play for Highlanders and I achieved this. Now my dream is to one day lead this club and I know I will.
To the candidates who are up for election today, I wish all of them the best of luck and call on them to give their all for Highlanders once they are in office.
To those that are leaving office today, ngithi siyabonga ngemsebenzi yenyu imehle elasenzela yona (I say thank you for the good work you did for the club) while you were in office.
Truly Highlanders
Zenzo Moyo
