The ManicaPost
Luke Mafere Sports Reporter—
FORMER Premiership outfit, Buffaloes – who will be making a second attempt to get back to the domestic top-flight league this year after failing on the last hurdle last season – will be using Vengere Stadium in Rusape as their home ground.
Apart from the decision to move away from Sakubva, the Mutare army side has also made some changes to its executive as well as the technical team.
They have appointed new head coach, Shadreck ‘Father’ Mugurasave.
Buffaloes chairman, Tendai Chitowa, confirmed the developments.
“It is important to realise that we have roped in Rusape-based members into the executive because we shall be adopting Vengere Stadium as our home ground this season.
“This has been prompted by the pressures that exist at Sakubva Stadium considering that we have many Mutare-based teams that are in need of using that stadium including Mutare City Rovers and Tenax,” said Chitowa.
Notable in the executive is the return of Nyanga-based businessman, Francis Dongo as the club’s vice chairman, having served in the same capacity before its promotion into the Premiership in 2012.
The executive also has four new members based in Rusape, Anderson Chibvongondze (Commanding Officer 3.2 Infantry Battalion) as well as Luke Mahoko, manager at ZFC Rusape, together with Takawira brothers, Simon and Simba, who are both Rusape-based businessmen and passionate football followers.
Buffaloes Football Club technical team is now headed by Mugurasave as the head coach, Ndega Matsika as assistant coach, Tinos Mabhoko as medic and Crispen Mhike as physical trainer to mention just a few.
Chitowa added that the addition of civilians in the executive team was meant to ensure that sponsorship is easy to raise as well as make the team a community based and owned entity rather than a military one.
Meanwhile, Commander 3 Infantry Brigade and patron of Buffaloes Football Club, Lazarus Gutu, said the team would not be dissolved as widely held and believed by some quarters in the province.
Gutu said the team existed not for Premier Soccer League promotion, but as a social tool for the Formation and so failure to gain promotion into the top-flight soccer league might have dampened both the Formation and the province moral, but that should now be water under the bridge.
“Our major purpose with the team is to provide social relief to our troops and the Manicaland community at large. We will not dissolve the team or disband it even if it was playing Division One, Two or Three soccer,” said Gutu.
He added: “It is true we did not get PSL promotion, but that only means we need to use that as a learning curve and built on that going forward.”
Gutu also spoke about the difficulties that exist in financing the team, but also quickly pointed out that these shall not dampen the soldiers’ resolve for sport.
Gutu said: “It is not only soccer that as a force we specialise in, we do many other sporting disciplines and these needs financing which is hard to come by right now due to the biting and harsh economic challenges, but we owe it to ourselves to soldier on in these difficult circumstances.”
