By Chris Mutseyekwa

A CULTURE of winning and fear of betraying the multitude (seven million) of supporters have psyched up Dynamos to win league titles since the club’s formation in 1963.
When Dynamos clinched their 20th league title last week leaving distant second Highlanders with just seven, soccer followers opened debate on why this Mbare-based club were so exceptionally successful.
When Dynamos were formed in 1963, the team got massive backing from blacks who saw it as a challenge to white teams who dominated the then Rhodesia National Football League.
They did not disappoint.
That very year, the all-black Dynamos won the league title relegating white hope Salisbury Callies to second position.
Successive coaches have used this and subsequent successes and the ever growing crowd support to motivate Dynamos teams.
This in turn has helped to attract some of the country’s best players to Dynamos making the team not only more popular but stronger.
Off the cuff some of the names that have helped Dynamos clinch league titles include, George Shaya, Freddie Mukwesha, Ernest Kamba, Stephen Chimedza, Dr Tauya Murehwa, Moses Chunga, Memory Mucherahowa, Oliver Kateya, Edward Katsvere, Reeds Johanne, Kaitano Tembo and Obediah Sarupinda.
The present squad has the highest number of Soccer Stars of the Year finalists than any other team in George Chigova, Gift Bello and Tawanda Muparati.
By the mid-70s, Dynamos had emerged the country’s top club winning the league championship in 1965, 1966, 1970, 1976 and 1978.
This was against strong opposition like St Paul’s, Mhangura, State House Tornadoes, Rio Tinto, Bulawayo and Salisbury Sables, Highlanders, Zimbabwe Saints, Chibuku Shumba and Arcadia United, among others.
Thus in 2013, although the Glamour Boys did not look that invincible, they still lived to their reputation when they faced the other big boys like CAPS United and Highlanders.
The four points they got from Highlanders and the six from CAPS United had a big bearing on the destination of the championship honours on Super Sunday.
Because of their success, almost all the teams prepare their hardest when facing Dynamos and this has also helped to harden the Glamour Boys.
Throughout the years, no team has felt comfortable when running neck-and-neck with Dynamos on the home stretch.
Dynamos seem to know exactly what to do to get the better of their nearest rivals.
FC Platinum and Highlanders who were pipped on the last day of the season by goal difference in 2011 and 2012 can testify.
That is why in Week 20 when FC Platinum beat Dynamo 2-0 and either they or Harare City looked like they would win the title, Lloyd Mutasa dismissed this speculation asserting that DeMbare were still hot favourites.
He has been proved correct.
In 1995, Dynamos and Blackpool were tied with an identical goal difference with a game to go.
Whether by coincidence or design, Blackpool or ‘Ndochi’ as they were popularly known, played their last game against Tanganda FC on a Saturday and won 2-0.
Dynamos played their last game against Rhinos the following day knowing that they had to beat their opponents by at least three clear goals to clinch the title.
They beat Rhinos by exactly three goals to clinch the title in 1995.
That’s Dynamos for you.
Thereafter, teams involved in a relegation dogfight or title chase play their last fixtures on the same day at the same time.
If Harare City were Dynamos, I don’t see how CAPS were going to survive, let alone force a draw in such a life or death encounter.
The Sunshine Boys still lack character to withstand pressure and the handful of supporters at the National Sports Stadium showed that City have to do much more to build a solid support base.
In fact, the largest number of supporters seemed to be those of Dynamos who cheered CAPS United goals louder than ‘Kepe-Kepe’ followers.
Kalisto Pasuwa has made a record by winning the league title for three successive years as coach, but record books show that Dynamos won the same title for four successive years (1980; 1981; 1982 and 1983) although it was not under one coach.
Now that there is relative calm at Dynamos, probably due to the sponsorship by BancABC, more club honours can be expected.
However, boasting of being losing finalists alone in the 1997 continental club championships, is not good enough for a club with 20 domestic league titles and well over ‘seven million’ supporters.