Panashe David Babi
In the rubble of dusty Shabanie Mine facilities lies what was once a great football giant known as Shabanie Mine Football Club.
Formed in 1914, the club has since been relegated from the top league and once failed to register for the 2021-2022 season in the lower league.
Shabanie Mine FC have their own stadium: Maglass, with a five thousand seating capacity, which is located in the high density suburb of Maglass, Zvishavane.
The stadium which miraculously stays solid despite having a long spell without epic football still stands as a beacon of hope for the Zvishavane community.
One would wonder how a football club with such a legacy and fame vanish from the limelight to a state of near oblivion.
The misfortunes of the football club came in the closing of Shabanie mine which was a major producer of asbestos and the sole financing partner of the club.
Without finance from the mines, everything came down falling like dominoes and the club was left on an automated collision course that nearly saw its natural death.
Maglass Stadium was nicknamed by most Zvishavane locals as a butchery due to its historical trend of defeating bigger teams or at least making it extremely difficult for them to win.
Those who played so well to make sure that Maglass stadium is respected like Tinos ‘tornado’ Msipa had fans vividly remembering the highs and the lows of the club.
“The most memorable moment is of course our win in the 2001 season when we beat Dynamos FC in the BP Shell cup, it was definitely a glorious moment for the club, community and players” said Thabani Moyo a club supporter.
Most notable moment is during the 2013 Madison cup where they won against FC Platinum, a team that had just made its debut in CAF tournament.
Glory days have since passed for the great club and for some of its revered club legends in the community.
For survival, most players survive on support from family members while others take minimal jobs for their day to day survival.
Shabanie Mine FC at its peak looked at the welfare of its players, giving them a fair remuneration, benefits such as accommodation and many other needs taken care of.
One of the club legend Musa Mumba who played for the club and retired in 2015 has taken an initiative of helping youngsters in the community, once establishing a youth academy prior to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Shabanie Mine FC is still at the midst of many resident’s hearts despite all that may have happened, they have helped many who were then young to acquire their first houses and cars.
“The club treated players with respect, and dignity, many were offered once in a lifetime opportunity such as being given a home just like Shabanie mine workers,” said another supporter
Mumba has continued with his passion, after retirement in 2015 he embarked on a journey of forming a football academy called Future Generation Football Academy which dissolve in 2019 due to COVID-19.
One would then ask how a huge club by Zimbabwean standards like Shabanie Mine FC with a stadium of five thousand sitting capacity and lots of home support fail to float its head above water.
The collapse of Shabanie Mine Fc has handled a trickle-down effect on the lives and livelihood of community members.
The immediate effect is the collapse of what was once a thriving football club that employed workers on and off the pitch as well as take many young community members through football academies.
Social ills such as drug abuse and promiscuity have been nabbed as a root cause of idleness as a result of the closure of Shabanie Mine FC.
“The closure of Shabanie Mine FC has caused us a big problem, our kids no longer have the luxury of being enrolled in sport academies, they end up taking drugs” said Denzel Ncube a resident.
In an era when government is pushing for Vision 2030 where sports become business and contribute to the national cake, it remains to be seen what authorities will do to save Shabanie Mine FC so as to put it back to its former glory.
For now it slowly tries its best waiting for the majestic structures to be revived and for the piercing noises of euphoric fans echo in the stadium.