Harare clubs pay heavy price for homelessness

Lawrence Moyo

Head Zimpapers Sports Hub

HARARE giants Dynamos, who claim to be the most-followed club in the country, yesterday played their first home game of the 2024 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League against Hwange at Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo as they are currently homeless.

The home team travelled at least 435 kilometres from their base to the match venue, and that is at least 100km more than what the visitors, Hwange, needed to reach Bulawayo.

All things being equal, Hwange would have travelled around 610km to face Dynamos in Harare, but they benefitted from Dynamos’ homelessness and made savings related to the fulfilment of the fixture.

It is a fixture that cost Dynamos, as the home team, more than the visitors, Hwange, in terms of match expenses.

On average, Dynamos would need around US$11 000 for transport to fulfil a home match, and the costs would rise to at least US$14 000 to cover other expenses like hiring of the ground, police and camping.

That would mean Dynamos needed around 5 000 fans paying US$3 each for the rest-of-ground ticket just to break even.

However, Dynamos did not seem to suffer much from using Barbourfields as a home ground mainly for two reasons.

The first advantage is that they secured a corporate partner for their travel, with Rouxgold taking care of airfares.

The second advantage is that, overall, Dynamos attracted bigger crowds at Barbourfields than the National Sports Stadium.

Dynamos realised their biggest pay day from gate takings at Barbourfields from the ill-fated Battle of Zimbabwe against Highlanders, who generated the most revenue and commanded the most paying spectators last season.

The match, which was abandoned in the first half, generated roughly US$72 000 from the turnstiles and around US$32 000 were deductions, leaving Dynamos with around US$40 000 as net revenue.

For their matches at the National Sports Stadium, the biggest was the Harare derby against CAPS United, with Dynamos making gross revenue of around US$60 000 from gate takings and then net income of about US$28 000.

These figures meant it made business sense for Dynamos to use Barbourfields as their home ground, backed by corporate support for the crippling expenses.

CAPS and Herentals

Also homeless and from the capital are neighbours Herentals and CAPS United, who had to travel a total 720km each to fulfil their Week Two match at Nyamhunga Stadium in Kariba yesterday due to the unavailability of approved venues near Harare.

That also came with a huge administrative cost for the two clubs, which results in non-payment of salaries and bonuses for players and coaches.

CAPS United have been reeling financially from playing many matches away from Harare since last season, while the excessive travel took a toll on Lloyd Chitembwe and his charges, who barely had time to prepare for matches.

There were also skirmishes over unpaid bonuses, as director Farai Jere was forced to prioritise other expenses related to fulfilling home matches hundreds of kilometres away from Harare.

In the end, they had to battle relegation until the final three matches of the season.

This year, they were very hopeful that they would be using Rufaro Stadium for their home matches and last week, they ended up hosting Chicken Inn in Gweru.

Hosts CAPS United travelled 280 kilometres for their home match, while visitors Chicken Inn drove 160km to be at Bata Stadium; they got to Gweru ahead of their hosts.

Under normal circumstances, CAPS United would have expected around US$8 000 from hosting Chicken in Harare, especially as the opening match of the season normally attracts interest but, due to their homelessness, they were left counting their losses last weekend.

Yesterday, they added to the losses by travelling again — this time to Kariba.

However, the expenses CAPS United incurred as visitors to Herentals in Kariba will be less than what they incurred as hosts to Chicken Inn in Gweru.

As things stand, CAPS United desperately need Rufaro Stadium to be available for their next home match after the international break to contain the expenses, especially in the absence of solid corporate and out-of-Harare fans support.

Herentals do not command a huge fan base and thrive on days they host crowd-pullers like Highlanders, Dynamos and CAPS United.

So, outside of the big matches, their plight remains the same regardless of where they play. Last season, the Harare clubs were forced to look for alternative venues in July following the withdrawal of the National Sports Stadium to allow for urgent renovations.

At that stage, they had hosted matches in the capital. Then newcomers Green Fuel enjoyed home advantage for their last couple of games on their way to survival.

Biggest casualties

The two clubs that suffered the most were Simba Bhora and Manica Diamonds, who played 34 matches away from their homes.

Simba Bhora are guaranteed proper home advantage this season after Wadzanai Stadium passed the test, as the Shamva and Mashonaland Central community has been known to offer support to clubs in both the Premiership and Division One league.

Last season, Simba Bhora were part of the relegation mix until the final month of the season, and their camp blamed this on having to play all matches away from Shamva.

Manica Diamonds finished second, eight points from champions Ngezi Platinum, and their failure to win the title can be attributed to their having to travel at least 360km for all 34 matches due to the unavailability of Sakubva Stadium.

Both Ngezi Platinum and Manica Diamonds lost eight games, but the latter suffered from too many draws (10) compared to the eventual champions (six).

Manica Diamonds used Gibbo Stadium in Triangle for their home matches and would travel at least 360km to get there.

It was a costly home venue, as Manica Diamonds needed about US$11 000 for expenses, up from the US$6 000 they usually incur when using Sakubva Stadium, as will be the case this season.

Getting Sakubva Stadium approved again means Manica Diamonds will use gate revenue to pay for ground rentals, the police and the ambulance, among key expenses, which average US$5 000.

However, Gibbo Stadium was a hostile home for Manica Diamonds as they never got big crowds and they also never banked any money from gate takings, as everything would be wiped out by expenses, forcing them to dig deep into their pockets to meet all the costs.

Just last weekend against Simba Bhora, Manica Diamonds had about 1 492 fans who paid to watch the match at Sakubva Stadium, and the crowd was way more than what they achieved at Gibbo Stadium the whole of 2023.

For a team that finished second in the title race, these were some of the paying spectators for their home matches at Gibbo Stadium: FC Platinum (244), Hwange (140), Dynamos (389), ZPC Kariba (83), Green Fuel (459), Herentals (149), Black Rhinos (126), CAPS (528), Bulawayo Chiefs (176), Sheasham (90) and Yadah (86).