THOHOYANDOU – Dynamos Football Club are one of the oldest clubs in the country. The founders of the club revealed this during a ceremony that was held at the Thohoyandou Botanical Gardens last Saturday. The founders of the club were honoured during the ceremony.

The history of the club shows that it was established in 1961. It was called Home Sweepers Football Club until 1964. It was renamed Highlanders Football Club in 1965; the name was retained until the end of 1968.

They acquired a lucrative sponsorship from the Pitco Tea Company in 1969 and the club was ultimately renamed Pitco Pirates in order to cater for the sponsors. The tea company left them in the cold at the end of the 1974 soccer season.

Ford took over as the new sponsors at the beginning of 1975. The club was consequently renamed Ford Stars, the name they retained until the end of 1982, when Bobs Furnishers took over as the new sponsors. That resulted in the club’s changing the name to Bobs Stars until they bought the Premier First Division franchise from Dynamos at the beginning of 1995.

The club retained the name until the directors decided to sell the franchise to the Giyani-based present owners. The people who were honored during the ceremony are Messrs Enos Mmbi, Hibbert Masiagwala, Samson Mulaudzi and the late Messrs Norman Mudau, SEB Mandiwana and George Maboho. The fallen heroes were represented by their wives at the ceremony.

During the ceremony, the Sports and Recreation officer from the Thulamela Municipality, Mr Ronald Makhadi, indicated that the six men had sacrificed a lot for the sake of football development in the area and that a ceremony to honour them was long overdue.

Some of the people who delivered speeches during the ceremony include the mayor of the Thulamela Municipality, Cllr TN Makumbane. He praised the founders of the club for the role they had played, saying it was a pity because some of them died before their good work could be recognized.