List of Zimbabwean football champions

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.

Apart from the two titles won by the Mutare-based Black Rhinos, and one won by St Paul's, from Mrewa, every national championship held in either Rhodesia or Zimbabwe has been won by a team from Harare (left, Salisbury until 1982) or Bulawayo (right).[1]

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.

Champions
Key
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.
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Rhodesia National Football League (1962–79)
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 (3)[A] 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 (4) 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 (5) Dynamos (1)
1977 Zimbabwe Saints (1) Zimbabwe Saints (1)
1978 Dynamos (6) Risco Steel (1)
1979 CAPS United (1) Zimbabwe Saints Zimbabwe Saints (2)

Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (1980–present)
Season League champions
(number of titles)		 League runners-up Cup winners
(number of cups)
1980 Dynamos (7) Black Aces[C] CAPS United (1)
1981 Dynamos (8) Rio Tinto CAPS United (2)
1982 Dynamos (9) CAPS United (3)
1983 Dynamos (10) Rio Tinto CAPS United (4)
1984 Black Rhinos (1) Arcadia United Black Rhinos (1)
1985 Dynamos (11) Highlanders Dynamos (2)
1986 Dynamos (12) CAPS United Dynamos (3)
1987 Black Rhinos (2) Dynamos Zimbabwe Saints (3)
1988 Zimbabwe Saints (2) Dynamos Dynamos (4)
1989 Dynamos (13) Zimbabwe Saints Dynamos (5)
1990 Highlanders (1) CAPS United Highlanders (1)
1991 Dynamos (14) Black Rhinos Wankie (3)
1992 Black Aces (1) CAPS United CAPS United (5)
1993 Highlanders (2) CAPS United Tanganda (1)
1994 Dynamos (15) Highlanders Blackpool (1)
1995 Dynamos (16) Blackpool Chapungu United (1)[D]
1996 CAPS United (2) Dynamos Dynamos (6)
1997 Dynamos (17) CAPS United CAPS United (6)
1998–99 Highlanders (3) Dynamos CAPS United (7)
2000 Highlanders (4) Amazulu No cup held
2001 Highlanders (5) Amazulu Highlanders (2)
2002 Highlanders (6) Black Rhinos Masvingo United (1)
2003 Amazulu (1) Highlanders Dynamos (7)
2004 CAPS United (3) Highlanders CAPS United (8)
2005 CAPS United (4) Masvingo United Masvingo United (2)
2006 Highlanders (7) Motor Action[E] Mwana Africa (1)
2007 Dynamos (18) Highlanders Dynamos (8)
2008 Monomotapa United (1) Dynamos CAPS United (9)
2009 Gunners (1) Dynamos No cup held
2010 Motor Action (1) Dynamos No cup held
2011 Dynamos (19) FC Platinum Dynamos (9)[F]
2012 Dynamos (20) Highlanders Dynamos (10)
2013 Dynamos (21) Highlanders Highlanders (3)
2014 Dynamos (22) ZPC Kariba FC Platinum (1)
2015 Chicken Inn (1) Dynamos Harare City (1)
2016 CAPS United (5) FC Platinum Ngezi Platinum (1)
2017 FC Platinum (1) Dynamos Harare City (2)
2018 FC Platinum (2) Ngezi Platinum Triangle United (1)

Total titles won
Club Winners Runners-up Winning seasons
Dynamos
22
9
Highlanders
7
CAPS United
5
Black Rhinos
2
Bulawayo Rovers
2
Bulawayo Sables
2
Chibuku Shumba/State House Tornados
2
Salisbury Sables
2
Zimbabwe Saints
2
F.C. Platinum
2
Acadia United
1
Amazulu
1
Black Aces
1
Chicken Inn
1
Gunners
1
Metal Box
1
Monomotapa United
1
Motor Action
1

References and notes
Notes
A ^ Dynamos Salisbury City and Salisbury United amalgamated to form Dynamos Fc
B ^ (also sometimes referred to Salisbury Tornados) retitled themselves Chibuku Shumba between the 1967 and 1968 seasons.[2]
C ^ Black Aces were founded as a new incarnation of Chibuku Shumba when that club folded at some point between the 1975 and 1980 seasons.[3]
D ^ Chapungu United won the 1995 Cup of Zimbabwe by walkover after the semi-final match between Highlanders and CAPS United was declared void due to the fielding by Highlanders of an ineligible player. Left with no opposing team in the final round, Chapungu took the cup by default.
E ^ Motor Action were formed in 2000, taking the place of Blackpool in the Premier Soccer League by buying that team's franchise.[4]
F ^ The Mbada Diamonds Cup was launched in 2011, with the 16 teams from the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League participating. The winner will qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup.[5]
References
  1. Sharuko 2011
  2. King, Ian (15 June 2005). "Rhodesia (Cup) 1968". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  3. RSSSF (23 April 2006). "Zimbabwe 1980". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  4. Schöggl, Hans; King, Ian (4 March 2006). "Zimbabwe 1999/2000". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  5. "Mbada Diamond Cup launched". Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. 17 September 2011. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012.
General references
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