DYNAMOS legend Memory Mucherahowa says misplaced hatred and jealousy of the Glamour Boys’ successes has been the root cause of the violence by Highlanders supporters when the country’s two biggest teams clash at Barbourfields.

In his latest autobiography titled “Soul of Seven Million Dreams” the former Glamour Boys captain said the clashes go beyond the normal football ethos. 

He claimed there have always been strong suspicions across the board at Bosso that the success of their northern rivals over the decades has been aided by the special treatment they received from the match officials and football authorities.  

Last week a high profile match featuring the giants at Barbourfields was abandoned after 42 minutes because of crowd trouble after Highlanders supporters stormed the pitch protesting Cameroonian Joel Epoupa Christian’s equalizer which they felt was scored from an offside position.  

The scenes dovetailed with Mucherahowa’s account in which he also accused their traditional rivals of having an inferiority complex. 

According to chapter 17 of the book which has been subtitled “Highlanders and the culture of violence”, Mucherahowa claimed that Highlanders supporters always resorted to violence to vent out their frustrations and had turned Barbourfields into a dreaded venue.

“When it came to matches against Highlanders, it was more than just a game. The fixture usually sent chills down the spines of players and supporters alike because of the violence involved…

“We knew that a match against Highlanders was more than just a game. On the pitch, it will be fireworks as much as it will be in the terraces and outside the stadium.

“…However, for as long as I can remember, matches that were played in Bulawayo that ended in a Dynamos victory have always ended in violence with our fans being attacked by hooligans dressed in Highlanders regalia.

“The hatred was just too much. As long as Dynamos were in Bulawayo even to play another team that is not Highlanders, they had to be attacked,” wrote Mucherahowa.

The former DeMbare skipper also insinuated the violence was not much about the tribes but pure jealousy and hatred for the success that Dynamos had achieved on the field of the play to become the most decorated team in Zimbabwe.

He spoke about the friendships that existed among the players particularly his close relationship with Titus Majola, who always went out of his way with his hospitality whenever DeMbare were in Bulawayo.

“But why would Highlanders fans behave like this? It is my humble opinion that the team suffers from inferiority complex. It is only after Makwinji Soma-Phiri joined Dynamos from Highlanders in 1995 that we got to have an explanation of why there is so much hatred of Dynamos in the Highlanders camp.

“Soma-Phiri came to Dynamos with the mentality that it will be easy to win trophies because the club gets preferential treatment from the league administrators and referees. 

“It was when he realized that this was far from the truth that he told us that this was the general feeling at Highlanders FC from administrators to the players, cascading down to the fans.

“Maybe this explained their anger. They thought our royal seat at the crest of footballing in Zimbabwe was thanks to some divine right given us by administrators and referees,” wrote Mucherahowa.