News / National
Manchester Utd Zimbabwe Supporters Chapter gets official recognition
09 Jun 2019 at 08:13hrs | Views
MANCHESTER United Zimbabwe Supporters Club recently got official recognition from their parent club in England, an exciting development for those who support the Red Devils in this country.
Shepherd Kamuruko, the Manchester United Zimbabwe Supporters Club chairman described the development as a great achievement since it was something that they have been working on for a number of years.
"To be an officially affiliated supporters club in Zimbabwe brings a great feeling. Long standing dream which we finally achieve brings a huge sigh of relief and great breakthrough. For that we would like to thank everyone who participated in this great work. However, the challenges ahead remain exciting. There are still more goals to be achieved,'' Kamuruko said.
On the benefits of being an officially recognised supporters club, Kamuruko said they could now interrelate with Manchester United directly. The Zimbabwe chapter can now host former Manchester United players whenever they come to Africa.
"We have put Zimbabwean supporters on the road map to interact direct with the club and the international community. It gives us an opportunity to officially invite MUFC dignitaries to Zimbabwe, in that way improving tourism, marketing the club as well as the country. This has opened avenues to source funding for club activities such as football development, donations, charities,'' Kamuruko said.
With the season having come to an end, it means the Zimbabwe chapter has to fight hard to retain their status. Kamuruko stressed on the need to work extra hard to preserve the status by recruiting members.
"We need to get down to serious work of members retention. Keep on advertising, innovate and keep on appealing as a supporters club. We also need to recruit members so that our numbers grow and keep on growing. We fighting to grow the supporters club in everything corner of the nation. For example the launching of the Bulawayo Chapter is one of those,'' he said.
Zimbabwe join Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Sierra Leone and South Africa as the only officially recognised Manchester United supporters in Africa.
Chelsea supporters in Zimbabwe recently got official recognition as well from their parent club in the UK. This means that Manchester United and Chelsea supporters in the country can claim to be the most organised English football fans. In celebration, Manchester United and Chelsea supporters played each other in Harare last Saturday in a match which ended 3-3.
Shepherd Kamuruko, the Manchester United Zimbabwe Supporters Club chairman described the development as a great achievement since it was something that they have been working on for a number of years.
"To be an officially affiliated supporters club in Zimbabwe brings a great feeling. Long standing dream which we finally achieve brings a huge sigh of relief and great breakthrough. For that we would like to thank everyone who participated in this great work. However, the challenges ahead remain exciting. There are still more goals to be achieved,'' Kamuruko said.
On the benefits of being an officially recognised supporters club, Kamuruko said they could now interrelate with Manchester United directly. The Zimbabwe chapter can now host former Manchester United players whenever they come to Africa.
"We have put Zimbabwean supporters on the road map to interact direct with the club and the international community. It gives us an opportunity to officially invite MUFC dignitaries to Zimbabwe, in that way improving tourism, marketing the club as well as the country. This has opened avenues to source funding for club activities such as football development, donations, charities,'' Kamuruko said.
With the season having come to an end, it means the Zimbabwe chapter has to fight hard to retain their status. Kamuruko stressed on the need to work extra hard to preserve the status by recruiting members.
"We need to get down to serious work of members retention. Keep on advertising, innovate and keep on appealing as a supporters club. We also need to recruit members so that our numbers grow and keep on growing. We fighting to grow the supporters club in everything corner of the nation. For example the launching of the Bulawayo Chapter is one of those,'' he said.
Zimbabwe join Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Sierra Leone and South Africa as the only officially recognised Manchester United supporters in Africa.
Chelsea supporters in Zimbabwe recently got official recognition as well from their parent club in the UK. This means that Manchester United and Chelsea supporters in the country can claim to be the most organised English football fans. In celebration, Manchester United and Chelsea supporters played each other in Harare last Saturday in a match which ended 3-3.
Source - sundaynews
