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Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Season Kicks Off


The wait is over. The $700,000 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League race roars into life tomorrow in what promises to be an exciting nine month show.

The off season transfer period has been a hive of activity with most of the teams going on a spending spree hoping to land Zimbabwe's biggest football title.

Will Dynamos make it four in a row? What about Bulawayo giants, Highlanders ? Will they win the title they last won in 2006?

Dynamos have been the most active on the transfer market signing the likes of Masimba Mambare from Highlanders, Ronald Chitiyo from Monomotapa, Walter Mukanga, from Triangle and have also retained Devon Chafa who has served his Fifa suspension for doping.

The Bulwayo giants might have lost Masimba Mambare and Njabulo Ncube but the popular Bulawayo side still have acquired the required shape by signing the likes of Joel Ngodzo who has returned to the club after an unsuccessful spell at FC Platinum.

They have also enlisted the signature of 2010 Soccer Star of the Year Charles Sibanda from FC Platinum. The Bulawayo outfit have also retained the bulk of the team that did so well last season.

Football supporter Tawanda Mukaro thinks Highlanders are now a well-oiled machine and will hit the tape first come the end of the season in December.

As for Harare City, they might have put up a good show in the 2013 season but observers believe that was beginner's luck.

They are saying the club does not have the overall strength and team spirit to win Zimbabwe's biggest football league title.

This leaves FC Platinum as the biggest challengers to Dynamos and Highlanders but Caps United coach Taurayi Mangwiro says fans should not rule out his team as they are dreaming of representing Zimbabwe in the CAF Champions League in 2015.

The Green Machine are banking on their foreign legion to lead them to success after signing Ishmael Tindwa and Gerald Phiri from Malawi as well as Modelisa Mwanza from Zambia.

The last time Caps United won the league title was in 2005 when they provided Zimbabwe with its only foreign soccer star of the year in the form of Malawian Joseph Kamwendo.

As we reflect on the off season activity, it is clear that Dynamos and Highlanders are the strongest contenders for the championship followed by FC Platinum and Caps United.

The likes of How Mine, Chicken Inn, Harare City, Triangle, Hwange, and Buffaloes, are just likely to avoid relegation while Moses Chunga's Chiredzi, Shabanie, Chapungu, Black Rhinos, and Bantu Rovers, are likely to fight relegation throughout the season.

The winners of the league title will this year receive $100,000 instead of the $70,000 Dynamos got in the past three years they have won the championship.
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