Mensah finds comfort at Simba

Veronica Gwaze

Zimpapers Sports Hub

WHEN a huge chunk of Simba Bhora’s Castle Lager Premier Soccer League championship-winning team embarked on a mass exodus, joining other clubs, their Ghanaian import Wilson Mensah stayed put.

Between the end of last season and the start of 2025, the Shamva-based club parted ways with coach Tonderai Ndiraya and 13 first-team players.

Soccer Star of the Year and skipper Walter Musona led the player exodus along with goalkeepers Talbert Shumba and Tymon Mvula, Tichaona Chipunza, and Vassili Kawe.

Partson Jaure, Mthokozisi Msebe, Perfect Chikwende, Valentine Musarurwa, Albert Manenji, Simbarashe Maram-widze, Onifade Obubaka, and Talent Chawapiwa also left.

Although offers also came along Mensah’s way, the West African, who emerged from a rugged football past, felt that he needed more time to blossom in Shamva.

“Simba feels like a home that I really needed since coming to Zimbabwe; a place where you are surrounded by immense love and room to figure yourself out,” he said.

“I do not despise where I came from, but following two turbulent seasons, I was at some point left wondering if I had made a mistake to take up football as a career.”

His story dates back to 2022 when the expatriate came to Zimbabwe, joining the recently relegated Bulawayo Chiefs.

Although he took longer to find his feet in the domestic league, he was instrumental that year when the Bulawayo side won the 2022 Chibuku Super Cup.

However, in the league, they flirted with relegation only to survive the chop at the last minute. The following season, he was snapped by Triangle.

As fate would have it, that season, the Sugar Sugar Boys’ 11-year stay in the top flight came to an end with a 2-1 loss against Green Fuel sealing their fate.

This left Mensah doubting his abilities and contemplating returning to Ghana.

“When I joined Triangle, I felt a bit of relief thinking that maybe the journey would be easier now after a gruelling PSL season with Chiefs.

“However, things did not go my way, and I felt that maybe a bad omen of some sort was after me.

“It was a tough season; playing for survival and failing to rescue the sinking ship is the worst thing any player wants to go through.” The futile survival journey left Mensah nursing psychological wounds.

He still has fresh memories of a must-win tie that they played on November 18, 2023, against CAPS United at Gibbo.

An under-pressure Triangle needed a win, and had it not been for Mensah missing a clear chance in front of goal, the match would not have ended 1-1.

A heartbroken bunch of fans mounted the exit point, baying for his blood.

“It was a bad day for me, missing a golden chance and an angry mob of supporters waiting to hit me . . . I considered going back home,” he said.

“When you are a foreigner, expectations are always high, so you know something is at stake whenever you step on the pitch.

“Struggling at Chiefs and then getting Triangle relegated left me broken.

“Since that day, I was for some time in a bad emotional state, unsure of what I wanted to do next.”

But when an offer to join Simba Bhora came last season, Mensah ignored his fears.

“I was afraid that the old script from the previous season would play out again.

“With each game, a part of me started believing that something good would eventually come . . . I was surrounded by talent and love, so everything felt easy.

“After enjoying a great season, moving became the last thing on my mind. Simba has been good to me, and I felt obliged to return the favour.

“I am hoping for a good campaign in the CAF Champions’ League; that way I will have given them (Simba) something to smile about just as they did to me.

“I did not see myself winning a championship in Zimbabwe considering my past two seasons, but things changed when I came here, so I should stay put.”