The association football champions of Zimbabwe are the winners of the highest league in Zimbabwean football, which is the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (ZPSL). The ZPSL was founded in 1980, after Zimbabwe's internationally recognised independence, as a successor to the Rhodesia National Football League, which started in 1962. Originally governed by the Zimbabwe Football Association – the renamed Rhodesia Football Association, created in 1965 – the ZPSL has run itself since 1993.
The first edition of the Rhodesia National Football League took place in 1962, when Bulawayo Rovers won both the inaugural league championship and Cup of Rhodesia to claim the Double in the first season of nationally organised competition in Rhodesia. Since then, the championship has been largely dominated by teams from the country's capital, Harare (Salisbury until 1982), and second-largest city, Bulawayo: all but three of the 50 championships contested in the country have been won by a team based in one of these two cities.
The record 22 titles won by Dynamos is more than twice as many as the number won by the second-most decorated, Bulawayo's Highlanders, who have won seven. Dynamos and Highlanders share the record for most consecutive championships won, each having won four titles in succession. Harare-based Dynamos are the most successful team in cup competition, with ten cup-final victories to their name, one more than CAPS United. Unlike the league, the cup has been won numerous times by clubs from outside the traditional centres of Harare and Bulawayo; provincial sides such as Hwange, Mhangura and Masvingo United have claimed the cup on multiple occasions. The Double has been achieved 11 times in Zimbabwean football; since Bulawayo Rovers won both the league and cup in 1962, the Double has been repeated by Dynamos (seven times), Zimbabwe Saints, Black Rhinos, Highlanders and CAPS United.
† | Club won the Double (both league and cup) during that season |
(number of titles) | A running tally of the total number of championships won by each club is kept in brackets. |
(number of cups) | A running tally of the total number of cups won by each club is kept in brackets. |
Season | League champions (number of titles) | League runners-up | Cup winners (number of cups) |
---|---|---|---|
1962 | Bulawayo Rovers (1)† | Salisbury City | Bulawayo Rovers (1)† |
1963 | Dynamos (1) | Salisbury Callies | Salisbury Callies (1) |
1964 | Bulawayo Rovers (2) | No cup held | |
1965 | Dynamos (2) | Salisbury City Wanderers (1) | |
1966 | St Paul's | Bulawayo Rovers | Mangula (1) |
1967 | State House Tornados (1) [B] | Salisbury Callies (2) | |
1968 | Bulawayo Sables (1) | Arcadia United (1) | |
1969 | Bulawayo Sables (2) | Arcadia United (2) | |
1970 | Dynamos (3) | Wankie (1) | |
1971 | Arcadia United (1) | Chibuku Shumba (1) | |
1972 | Salisbury Sables (1) | Mangula (2) | |
1973 | Metal Box (1) | Highlanders | Wankie (2) |
1974 | Salisbury Sables (2) | Chibuku Shumba (2) | |
1975 | Chibuku Shumba (2) | Salisbury Callies (3) | |
1976 | Dynamos (4)† | Dynamos (1)† | |
1977 | Zimbabwe Saints (1)† | Zimbabwe Saints (1)† | |
1978 | Dynamos (5) | Risco Steel (1) | |
1979 | CAPS United (1) | Zimbabwe Saints | Zimbabwe Saints (2) |
Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning seasons |
---|---|---|---|
Dynamos [2] | 21 | 9 | 1963, 1965, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 |
Highlanders | 7 | 8 | 1990, 1993, 1998–99, 2000, 2001, 2002 |
CAPS United | 5 | 3 | 1979, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2016 |
F.C. Platinum | 4 | 2 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021–22 |
Black Rhinos | 2 | 2 | 1984, 1987 |
Bulawayo Rovers | 2 | 1 | 1962, 1964 |
Bulawayo Sables | 2 | 1968, 1969 | |
Chibuku Shumba/State House Tornados | 2 | ||
Salisbury Sables | 2 | 1972, 1974 | |
Zimbabwe Saints | 2 | 2 | 1977, 1988 |
Arcadia United | 1 | 1971 | |
Amazulu | 1 | 2 | 2003 |
Black Aces | 1 | 1992 | |
Chicken Inn | 1 | 2 | 2015 |
Gunners | 1 | 2009 | |
Metal Box | 1 | 1973 | |
Monomotapa United | 1 | 2008 | |
Motor Action | 1 | 1 | 2006 |
Ngezi Platinum | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
Simba Bhora | 1 | 0 | 2024 |
Manica Diamonds | 0 | 1 | |
Rio Tinto | 0 | 2 | |
ZPC Kariba | 0 | 1 | |
Dynamos F.C. is a Zimbabwean professional football club based since 1963 at Rufaro Stadium, Mbare, Harare. The team currently participates in Zimbabwe's top-tier, the Premier Soccer League. Founded in 1963 after a merger between two lesser teams in Mbare, Harare Township, Rhodesia, Dynamos quickly became one of the strongest sides in the Rhodesian league, and by the attainment of the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980 had become the country's most successful football team, having won six national championships. Dynamos have since won 22 league championships – a national record – and at least 16 trophy/cup honours.
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