Hardrock

Kwekwe United will be the name in the fixture list marked "derby", but Hardrock FC came from nowhere to matter more than that rivalry suggests. The city had gone without top-flight football since 2008, when Lancashire Steel dropped out of the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League and folded soon after. Hardrock ended that wait themselves, starting out in the ZIFA Midlands Division 2B and working up through the Central Region Soccer League before taking the 2025 ZIFA Central Region Division One title and going up.

The club exists because Shepherd Chahwanda, a Kwekwe gold-mining figure known locally as "Magodora", founded it in 2019.

Hardrock built its squad for the top flight by paying for experience rather than developing it — the recruitment has run almost entirely through capped internationals, among them Kwanda Mngonyama, a South African defender arriving from Mamelodi Sundowns. Kelvin Kaindu took over as head coach for the 2026 PSL campaign, and by mid-season the team was already leading the table, a 2-0 win over Bulawayo Chiefs among the results that got them there.

Chawanda Stadium, also known as The Heart Main Arena, was originally planned for just over 10,000 seats before being taken up to 15,000 to meet the standards the league now expects of a promoted club.

Hardrock have no PSL titles and no Zimbabwe Cup to their name yet. What they have is a first season in the top division, and a lead in it they are still trying to hold.