ASCOT Stadium’s gates in Gweru will this weekend be flung open for Castle Premier Soccer League football when TelOne hosts Simba Bhora on Sunday afternoon.
The stadium, which had been closed for some years after failing to meet Zifa’s minimum standards, has been Gweru’s main football arena for decades.
TelOne, in partnership with the Gweru City Council, invested in the renovations of the facility so that football returns to Mtapa, Ascot and Mambo communities, which is the city’s football hub.
Ascot has a rich history, where teams such as Gweru United, Chapungu and Tongogara made the ground as its fortress.
It is accessible as it is a walking distance for the people coming from Mambo, Mtapa, Ascot and Shamrock suburbs.
In the last two years, Bata Stadium has been doing the Lord’s work, serving the people of Gweru with topflight football after Sheasham put in a lot of work on the facility.
From being a Division 1 club, gaining promotion into the topflight and unfortunately getting relegated, Sheasham put up a spirited fight in renovating Bata Stadium.
At one time, the Premier Soccer League halted the use of the stadium saying it did not meet the required standards, but the club fought hard that football resumes and they had a good reason.
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Some Harare clubs were now using Bata as their home ground.
Now, TelOne, a club based in the Midlands capital, have been using the stadium as well, but have decided to go back to the people in the residential areas, where they will definitely enjoy good support, particularly as they are currently the only team from the City of Progress in the topflight league.
They believe that they will give themselves the best chance of surviving relegation if they go to Ascot, where they hope to create a fortress.
It is commendable how TelOne and Gweru City Council joined forces to ensure that Ascot Stadium is spruced up to Zifa’s satisfaction.
We implore the two parties to continue improving the stadium so that it does not face the same fate as was the case over the last few years and deny football loving fans in the area topflight action.
We urge other companies to partner local authorities in improving stadiums, particularly those located in residential areas.
Gwanzura Stadium, once one of the main venues for Premier Soccer League matches, is now being used by junior teams.
Pictures circulating show that stadium has gone through a bit of work, but still far off topflight standards.
If only one of the topflight teams that have the means could take up Gwanzura Stadium and bring it back to the required standards, they would benefit from good crowds at the Highfield facility.
Teams like Caps United or Herentals would reap great rewards if they could partner Harare City Council to bring back topflight football to Highfield.
What is needed are teams or corporates that are dedicated to sport to rehabilitate facilities to bring back the crowds to the stadiums
With crowds waning due to many factors, key among them economic, Highfield is certainly a low-hanging fruit for a team like Herentals, which is building a support base.
Yadah Stars have built a modest facility in Heart Stadium.
Local authorities must put their houses in order to lure corporates through public-private partnerships (PPPs).
It is unfortunate that companies that have gone into PPPs with local authorities do not want to repeat the same deal after they were caught in the crosshairs of political fights in local authorities.
Capital, they say, is a cowardly bird that flies to safer places where it expects to earn better returns.
Local authorities owning stadiums have to present a compelling case for the corporate world to jump on board in PPPs ventures.
