Yorkshire students launch ambitious fundraiser to replace Zimbabwean football team Bulawayo Chiefs' bus almost 8,000 miles away

Sheffield Journalism students Adam Dickinson, 19, and Harry Robinson, 20, said they were looking across the globe for a new football team to follow after the English leagues ground to a halt due to the Covid pandemic.

After hours of searching, the pair came across Bulawayo Chiefs in Zimbabwe thanks to their striking social media output.

However - after a series of messages shared between the students and the club - Adam and Harry discovered a shocking story about the team.

The Bulawayo Chiefs’ last team bus was involved in a serious road accident in 2016.

The vehicle rolled twice as it turned a corner at speed on the way to a game. and three people were left severely injured.

Since then, the ‘Ninjas’ have been forced to hire their vehicles in order to get to games.

Eager to help, Adam and Harry have now become "brand ambassadors" for the club and have set up a fundraiser in order to raise £20,000 to fund a new bus.

Adam said: "We were just going through the Wikipedias of various football leagues, and Zimbabwe had a few clubs with names that we liked.

"We followed a load of clubs on twitter and they followed us back, we started talking by DM with them about football, bantering and sent off a few questions, I guess we settled on Bulawayo because they've got a pretty unique social media approach."

Following a series of messages between the students and the club, Thulani ‘Javas’ Sibanda, 39 - head of media at the club - asked the pair to become ambassadors.

They have set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise £20,000 to buy the club a new bus in a unique partnership - without having ever met anyone involved.

Thulani ‘Javas’ Sibanda said: “That accident delayed our promotion in 2016; half of the squad was affected for the rest of the season.

"They recovered and went on an unbeaten run in 2017.

“Our current Kombi bus no longer fits the grade.

"To have our own bus will go a long way in keeping us in the direction of sports professionalism that we desire.”

“Harry and Adam have shown the kind of spirit that we look for from day one.

"There is no better way than to reach out to the world.”

Harry said the duo had now supported the club by purchasing some kits and hope to be able to reach their £20,000 target to transform their future.

He added: "[We] ended up ordering some kits and I made some fake graphics to play along and the club well and truly rolled with it, telling us that they expect to see us in training and all sorts.

"The club's patron Kelvin got in touch and even offered to get us out to Zimbabwe!

"The effects of the pandemic on football over here is constantly covered in the media, that you're completely oblivious to the fact that there were clubs who were reliant on the community and a shoestring budget before any football was halted.

"The Bulawayo Chiefs need this money to keep them running, both in a metaphorical sense and a motoring sense."