There is just a lack of vibe and a feeling of disconnection between football fans and the Northern Region Soccer League.
The 2025 season ought to have started last week but was postponed to allow all teams to complete their registration process.
It’s as if nobody cared that it didn’t roar into life.
Even the realization that Gwanzura Stadium — an iconic venue in Zimbabwean football, will host professional football for the first time in over a decade during the 2025 NRSL, doesn’t appear to have enticed football fans.
The interest is simply no longer the same, as compared to previous years.
A controversial end to what was at some point a captivating title race between eventual winners Scottland and arch-rivals MWOS last season, evidently disengaged football fans.
The race was supposed to go to the wire but eventually went to the boardroom and was decided there.
Many feel that the league lost credibility when it failed to take action amid multiple reports of match-fixing last season, with those in charge insisting there was no evidence.
A section of local football followers condemned and accused the Northern Region Soccer League bosses of aiding Scottland’s cause, at the expense of other teams competing in the championship.
The controversy surrounding Scottland’s promotion has also led to many fans distancing themselves from the Northern Region Soccer League, which was once described by some as the best region in the country.
Scottland’s promotion left a deep wound on the Northern Region, and to this day, many fans still boo the Mabvuku-based outfit in the Castle Lager Premiership, believing they used unfair means to secure promotion.
It is difficult for the Northern Region to claim innocence when Scottland, the team they are accused of aiding, has evidently become the most disliked team in the domestic top flight.
“More than just a league” is the general consensus among those who make decisions in the league, which simply means a connection that goes beyond the formal structure of a sports league.
Is it still the same though, as far as the Northern Region Soccer League is concerned?