Bosso road shows return Kenneth Mhlophe
Kenneth Mhlophe

Kenneth Mhlophe

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
WHEN Highlanders Football Club last won the Premier Soccer League crown in 2006, the team was synonymous with colourful road shows comprising hundreds of travelling fans for away games.

The fans would travel in buses, kombis and small vehicle convoys all resplendent in the black and white Bosso colours. Bosso never felt like visitors playing away from their Barbourfields Stadium home ground, as the vociferous fans played their 12th-man role effectively.

However, as the team began to slowly fade as the feared giants of Zimbabwean football, so did the road shows.

Fast forward 12 years later, coach Madinda Ndlovu’s “ECD” project is slowly bringing back the flair which the team was once associated with. And the fans are responding by descending on Barbourfields Stadium in their thousands, despite who the opponents are.

Following their impressive seven-match unbeaten run spiced with good, exciting football, the Bosso fans are beginning to believe and have decided to revive the colourful road shows.

The fans won the admiration of the team’s coach for rallying behind the boys, even when they were a goal down against Shabanie Mine at Barbourfields on Sunday. That support lifted the players’ spirits and the boys obliged by overturning the goal deficit to grab maximum points on a 3-1 scoreline.

It is the kind of support shown to the players against Shabanie that Ndlovu says has given his players reason to believe. And Ndlovu wants similar support for Bosso’s trip to log leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars at Baobab Stadium on Saturday.

What makes the weekend game against Ngezi even more exciting is that, along with Highlanders, the platinum miners are unbeaten in seven games, setting the tone for an exciting encounter.

“I’m very sure if that 12th man can afford to be with us (at Baobab), we won’t feel that we’re playing away,” Ndlovu told mysports.co.zw.

Highlanders’ supporters in Bulawayo and Harare have responded to the coach’s plea and are busy organising themselves to travel for the potentially explosive Ngezi game.

The Bosso fans want to turn Baobab Stadium into a sea of black and white, with the party starting way before kick-off on the Bulawayo-Harare highway leading to Mhondoro.

Lloyd Siyanda Sibanda, spokesperson of a Highlanders’ supporters group known as Team Away, said they had already organised six Mercedes Benz Sprinters, each with a carrying capacity of 22 passengers, to ferry Bosso followers to Ngezi at an affordable fee.

Sibanda, whose group travelled for the Week 2 encounter against Herentals in Harare where Bosso won 2-0 and the Week 4 clash with Dynamos where they emerged 1-0 victors, said they had also organised three Toyota Quantums and the number of vehicles could increase depending on the number of fans wanting to be part of the road show.

“We love Highlanders and we’re certainly travelling for the game. We encourage safe travelling whenever we embark on these road shows. The drivers of the vehicles we will use to Ngezi all do not drink alcohol and those wishing to travel with us can leave their cars parked at the Highlanders club house, which is safe,” said Sibanda.

“We are only charging $15 for a return trip to Ngezi. Those interested can get hold of me on WhatsApp or call 0777 719 190 or get hold of Lindani or Hadebe on 0719 782 997 to book their seats,” he said.

Another group of Bosso fans led by Pride “Bricks” Ndlovu has also organised some Mercedes Benz Sprinters for Saturday’s game.

“We’re calling on Highlanders’ fans that want to travel to get hold of me on 0775 993 266. We’ll leave on Saturday morning and return after the game. The team needs us and after what we saw when we beat Dynamos 1-0 in Harare, this game against Ngezi is one not to miss. So let us travel in numbers and rally behind the boys,” said Ndlovu.

Highlanders chairman Colonel (Rtd) Kenneth Mhlophe praised the supporters’ initiatives and challenged them to continue with their commendable behaviour.

“The supporters have been the power behind the team and as a club we are grateful for the maturity they have shown in all matches we’ve played. We haven’t witnessed any rowdy behaviour, which shows that our supporters have matured. As we travel to Ngezi, it is our plea that we travel with many followers to give the boys the support they need. We also ask our supporters to behave like they have been doing and protect the Highlanders’ brand,” Mhlophe said.

@ZililoR

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