Relegation Storm Hits Super Sunday: Zimbabwe’s Biggest Clubs on the Brink
The 2025 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season reaches its dramatic conclusion this weekend, with the title already settled but the fight for survival gripping the nation. Champions Scottland were crowned on Saturday after their final outing against TelOne at Ascot Stadium in Gweru. Yet, it is Super Sunday that holds the country in suspense — a day carrying the weight of tradition, fear, pride and destiny.
Because this is no ordinary finale.
The Castle Lager Premier Soccer League’s Super Sunday has arrived — and it feels less like a football matchday and more like a national reckoning. Eight clubs step onto the field with their futures trembling beneath their boots.
Two giants of Zimbabwean football, Highlanders and Dynamos, walk into the last round confronting a danger they have not felt in decades. Both sit on 38 points. Both linger in the bottom half. Both need something as small as a draw, yet as enormous as divine favour. Their fans have paced, prayed and panicked all week. Today, the stadiums will throb with a tension that is no longer about entertainment, but about the survival of identity itself.
If the giants escape, it becomes an unprecedented moment — the first season in which two members of the Big Three cling to safety together on the final day. If one or both fall, Zimbabwean football enters a new world, one where long-standing hierarchies crumble.
Dynamos know the pain of a relegation scare. Their 2005 escape in Masvingo — rescued by a last-minute goal in heavy rain — remains the stuff of folklore. Ironically, today’s weather hints at another storm, as if fate wants to replay old theatre. But this time, the stakes are doubled. Back then only one giant stood at the cliff’s edge. Now two could topple.
The implications would be seismic. Sponsors, broadcasters, gate revenue, media consumption — all would face aftershocks. PSL chief executive Rodwell Thabe does not downplay the situation.
“It could massively reduce the league’s commercial appeal,” he said. “But we must follow our rules, whatever happens.”
Even if both giants survive, the scars will remain. Modern, well-run smaller clubs have proved they can compete — and even win titles — through better structures and smarter fan engagement. Thabe says this shift explains why newer sides have risen while traditional giants have faltered.
Veteran broadcaster Charles Mabika fears the unimaginable.
“A PSL without Dynamos or Highlanders would be catastrophic,” he warned. “Attendance, TV viewership, sponsor interest — all of it collapses.”
Marketing strategist Simbiso Katsekera stresses the importance of brand power.
“Dynamos and Highlanders carry the league’s cultural weight,” he said. “They anchor television ratings, sponsorship structures and national identity. Remove them, and the PSL loses its commercial spine.”
Fan leader Aggrivah “Ogege” Jaure says ordinary people would feel the blow.
“Some corporates associate with the game because of these giants. If they fall, sponsorship drops, engagement drops — even some jobs drop.”
Inside the camps, coaches preach calm.
Dynamos’ Kelvin Kaindu remains confident:
“We will survive. The boys are motivated. We want to finish unbeaten under my leadership.”
But calm means little when one goal can flip fate.
Kwekwe United have already gone down. Eight more clubs fight to avoid joining them.
Yadah must win big and pray.
Bikita Minerals must win — their -12 goal difference is a death sentence otherwise.
GreenFuel survive only with a victory.
Triangle must win or hope a constellation of results saves them.
Highlanders and Chicken Inn need a point each — but defeat could still drag them into the abyss if other matches turn poisonous.
Manica Diamonds survive with a draw.
Dynamos need one point, though even a defeat may save them if rivals crumble.
Standings entering Super Sunday:
Highlanders 38pts (+1)
Chicken Inn 38pts (-2)
Manica Diamonds 38pts (-4)
Dynamos 38pts (-6)
Triangle 37pts (+3)
Bikita Minerals 37pts (-12)
GreenFuel 36pts (-2)
Yadah 35pts (-6)
Manica vs Bikita is a straight elimination battle.
Triangle vs GreenFuel is a fight for oxygen.
Simba Bhora vs Yadah could unleash chaos across the table.
By sundown, at least four clubs will be relegated — taking the total to 24 demotions since the league expanded to 18 teams in 2017. And the 2025 campaign, with all its tension and turmoil, will be over.
Saturday Fixtures (3pm):
TelOne vs Scottland – Ascot Stadium
MWOS vs Ngezi Platinum – Ngoni Stadium
Herentals vs ZPC Kariba – Rufaro Stadium
Super Sunday Fixtures (3pm):
GreenFuel vs Triangle – GreenFuel Arena
Chicken Inn vs Highlanders – Barbourfields Stadium
Manica Diamonds vs Bikita Minerals – Sakubva Stadium
Simba Bhora vs Yadah – Wadzanayi Stadium
Dynamos vs FC Platinum – Rufaro Stadium
Kwekwe United vs CAPS United – Ascot Stadium
When the final whistle blows, Zimbabwe will know its survivors, its fallen, and the new order of the league.