Brief History

Have you ever wonder how some of the oldest football clubs came to being in Ghana? Well, It is believed that, cape coast was the birth place of football in Ghana where students of the Local Government Boys School were inspired by their Jamaican headmaster, Mr. Briton. “The enthusiasm with which the students followed sports was said to be fanatical”

From then, the progress and heightening love of football swept through nationwide till date. As a result lots of sports clubs were formed. In 1903, the first football club was formed. The first football club was cape coast Excelsior. The football pioneers ordered their first kits from the United Kingdom which consisted of jerseys with red and yellow stripes, white shorts, socks, football boots and caps. The first footballs they used were gifts from sailors who were regularly at cape coast ports.

Some few months later, the town was boasted with a lots of clubs which has attention-grabbing names like Blankon’s XI, Bolton Wanderers, Energetics, Evertons, Garden, Judges, Majestic, MysteriousDwarfs, Rose XI, Swallows, Titanics and Venomous vipers etc. Apart from vipers and Dwarfs, currently in the premier division, the rest of the teams mentioned above are no longer in existence.

Then, in 1910, Accra Hearts of Oak joined the rise with the formation of Invincibles in James Town which has stood the test of time and can now boast of the accolade as the oldest football club in Ghana. They became a founding member of the national league in 1956 and have flourished since then. They have won the national league twenty {20} times with ten {10} Ghanaian FA cup, two {2} Ghanaian super cup, once CAF confederation cup 2004 and also in 2000 they won CAF champion league and became Runner up four years later.

1918, the football fever swept through sekondi-Tarkoradi also aknown as twin town in the western region. Later in 1919 a powerful team was formed called sekondi Eleven Wise affectionately called known as “Western Show Boys”. They became a founding member of the national league in 1960. They have won the premier league once in the history.

In the year 1925, another great team was formed called Fanti United which later reformed to sekondi Hasaacas. Popularly goes by the saying “Giants of the West”. In 1958, they joined the national league and in 1977, they won the special one round “Novelty league”. They have also won premier league once.

Twenty {20} years down the line, Kumasi, the Garden City of Ashanti kingdom also joined train in 1926. The first of all Ashanti football club formed was Ashanti united by a young driver Kwasi Kuma. The club later on changed names three times, from Ashanti United to Titanics, then Mighty Atoms and finally Asante Kotoko in 1935. The club was known as “porcupine warriors”. Asante Kotoko became one of the greatest clubs in the country. Asante kotoko has won the national league a record of twenty-four {24} times since 1958. They have also won the Ghanaian FA cup eight {8} times with two super cup, CAF confederation cup Runne up, two {2} times CAF champions and five {5} times CAF champion league Runner up.

Kotoko and Hearts have won forty-four {44} of the fifty-four {54} national league title contested and countless pieces of silverware with neither having tasted relegation since the inception of the Ghanaian elite division.

AKWAABA !!!!!!!!! BRA GRANT

PHOTO CREDIT:FOOTY-GHANA.COM

At long last you are here with the lovely and warmly welcoming people of GH. Ghanaians are warm people and very welcoming, especially to any light-skinned person popularly referred to us “Obroni’. You arrived in our beautiful land on Tuesday, 2 November, 2014 and as usual we say “Akwaaba” welcome to you. Bra Grant, I believed the GFA officials treated with you some local Ghanaian beer ‘Pito’and a local Ghanaian meal that I will personally recommend to you waakye with goat meat and wele. It is very nice when taken in the morning as breakfast between the hours of 6am to 10am especially when it is been served in the leaves.

Well, Bra Grant enjoys it while it last. Although Ghanaians are a warm and beautiful welcoming people, don’t forget the reason why you are in this country. The nation’s HEART is in your hands, and by heart I mean our national team, the Black Stars. Failure will mean breaking our hearts, and trust me; you will not like the angry Ghanaian football fan when he/she is disappointed.

Right now, it’s clear that you are Ghana’s beloved national football team, the Black Stars coach. But bear in mind that, the same people who are welcoming you are the same people who will make you feel uncomfortable you fail to deliver.

I believe by now you know the kind of people Ghanaians when it comes to football. They like giving excuses but they won't take your excuses when you don’t bring AFCON home or other trophies and surprisingly, all the twenty-five million people of Ghana are coaches so bear that too in mind that they are great and professional tacticians.

Pressure has always been an integral part of Ghanaians when it comes to sports specially, the national team, the Black stars. The clock is ticking; there are only six or so weeks remaining to make your chance at gold and glory.  Everyone is fired up and tensions are running high.

 You have barely six weeks to build a formidable team for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), Africa’s biggest football competition in Equatorial Guinea. And it is unquestionably clear that, you are very good when it comes to organizing a team and I applauds you for that.

Bra Grant, you have few weeks to prepare the Black Stars for the AFCON. I can sense the pressure on you already. Listening to an interview on ASEMPA FM, the GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi said "All outstanding issues with Mr. Grant have been cleared and we believe he is the right man for the job,” Ghanaians are also saying that go do your best. But the actual meaning of those words is that, go and bring the AFCON CUP. Ghanaians are hungry for cups now.

My advice to you is that, if you don’t want any insult and problems please get the team to win the AFCON. Bra Grant, don’t be comfortable with the idea thrown out by some individuals that

the time for you to prepare for the AFCON is short, hence tasking you to win the AFCON is asking too much. Listen to me very carefully; Ghana has performed extremely well in our last four AFCON appearances. In 2008, when we hosted it, we qualified to the semifinals and won bronze.In 2010, in Angola, Ghana made it all the way to the finals only to lose 1-0 to Egypt. In 2012, when the tournament was co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, we made it to the semifinals and lost 1-0 to Zambia, the eventual winners. The downhearted team lost the third place 2-0 to Mali.

History repeated itself a year after in South Africa 2013. We made it once again to the semifinals, lost 3-2 to Burkina Faso on penalties and lost the third place again to Mali with a 3-1 score line. In four straight AFCON competitions, Ghana’s worst performance has been an appearance in the semis. Don’t listen to anybody who says we don’t expect you to win the competition they must be joking because if you don’t win you will regret coming to Ghana.

As a sports writer and an ardent fan of the national team, I will advise you to be your own man, as I indicate earlier, that every Ghanaian, football fan or not during most important competitions like world cup and AFCON automatically becomes a coach. You can verify this information from the twenty-five million best sports writer CHRISTOPHER OPOKU. Don’t hastate to contact Christopher Opoku  He will give you all the information “filla” inside out on sports issues in Ghana and beyond.    

But remember, Bra Grant how long you will enjoy your stay in Ghana will depend on you and your performance AFCON 2015. Once again, Akwaaba!!!!!

Dear Arsene

photo credit: EPL GALLERY

It is categorically clear that, you are one of the best coaches around in this era of the game in our world today. It is equally clear your potential as a talent developer in football is grosse. It is also clear that with time, your game has evolved and it's becoming the more productive.

It again is a fact that you are one of the key cogs in Arsenal, unlocking players, creating something out of nothing for the team, when we seem not to be able to break down stubborn rearguards.

What is boggling my mind fleetingly however, is how you try so hard not to match your overall game with the ruthless finishing it deserves.

Many times, you have created opportunities for the players. Many times, you have gone past your counterpart coaches who do not use their coaching skills to create or develop young players. Again, many times, you have beaten opponents by a drop of the shoulder and left many others for dead.

What is desperately lacking, Arsene Wenger , I have to say, is your inability to put chances away with the sort of precision you apply to you players. But you rather sell those that you call developed talent player.

On many occasions, you have tried to overcomplicate things when you could easily, easily, buy players from ranges of football clubs around the world but you refused to do so and insisting of using developed talent players.

My advice to you as a gunner die hard supporter, If you are to challenge the Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchesters and co at their game at the moment, and in this era of the game, where it's all goals, goals, goals and goals, that count you among the best, then there's only one thing to do, and it's simple that you should just leave the club for someone who can bring more goals and trophies into the team.

Or put the chances players you have created and don not sell them, or make use of other coaches created players instead of putting them away with the sort of precision you apply to your tactics, darts and intelligent play.

I believe there is a way that you can help Arsenal to get back on its feet. How do you achieve this?  It is Simple. By doing the simple things. Tapping new players into the team, use accurate tactics when your key players are on injury ,and stabbing the more goals at home when you have to, instead of trying the overly complicated placements, dinks, lobs, rabonnas etc players around.

Arsene Wenger, remember I'm a big fan of yours truly, but sometimes you annoy me with some of those things you do, to be truthfully honest.

There have been too many matches this season, you could have gotten us the satisfied results and points needed, even in the champions league matches. I remember the match V Swansea city, and that v Chelsea, and recently united. If you had taken even 80% of the opportunities you were presented with, you would have hit 27+ points by now.

So, my dear Arsene as I have advice you, the season grinds into the period, where the real action starts, Endeavor to heed the request of the fans and club and be more ruthless in front of the table to make you that complete team as we want it to be, and hopefully challenge Mourinho and the rest of the coaches at their matches……………………………………………………….
Thank you.

Yours truly, happily unhappy fan!

Nana Akua

THANK YOU GIJ

I have always Imagine a world without schools and colleges! Impossible, right? No matter how much I hate waking up early for school or studying all night for the tests and exams, I knew that education is very important. I am not saying that an uneducated man has no chance of being successful or an educated man will surely do well in life but the exceptions are always there.

 However I have come to agreement that, as an educated person I get better opportunities in life thanks to Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ). GIJ told me that, it is easier for me to become successful and realize my dreams as compared to someone who is uneducated.

GIJ further said that, Other than success and economic prosperity, there are various other reasons why education is almost necessity in my career life. Because  Education  is what I need if I want an answer to my ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ and ‘wheres’ and ‘whos’ and ‘whens’ etc which will help me understand the world Am  living in.

GIJ also thought me that, I live in an ever changing world. New technologies keep coming up and if I don’t want to be left behind, I must keep up with the world which is moving really fast in the form of new media, blogging, Smart phones and internet. GIJ made it clear that without education it will be really difficult for me to adapt to all these changes.

 As a GIJ product Am much more aware of the latest technologies and all the changes that are taking place in the world. For example, a non GIJ person may not know about the benefits of the internet whereas a GIJ person uses this gift of technology regularly for work.

I have been thought how to be confident in myself under GIJ and my Diploma is considered as a proof of my knowledge by many corporate in the country and the world as well. With GIJ Diploma in communication studies I have more chances of being heard and taken seriously. Generally, a non GIJ person will find it harder to express his/her views and opinions owning to lack of confidence. Even if he/she does so, people may not take him seriously. GIJ have given me the confidence to express your views and opinions.

Again GIJ advised me that, I live in a society which has its own set spoken and unspoken rules and one of them education and the society expects me to go to the extra miles to get them the expected information, educate, factual to save them from being subjugated and fooled.

Through GIJ, I have learnt that I live in a country where we enjoy a number of rights and freedom but it does  not means that I should take advantage of innocent, weak, and illiterate people.

 Today, I get to enjoy the good things the world has to offer me because of what GIJ have installed in me. A great job, a good social reputation are few of the many benefits of being a GIJ person. With GIJ has helped me to realize my dreams.

GIJ “promoting communication with Excellence”

 I LOVE GIJ

 

AYEKOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PROF. AZUMAH

photo credit: ghanaweb

Some sport personalities are good and great when it comes to talking but Azumah is an exceptional. Azumah Nelson also known as the "professor" has been one of the greatest sport people in the country. I cannot dispute the fact that he is very good and kind to all persons of manner. Also he is a man of integrity and trustworthy. To such noble man I say “ayekoo”. Coming out with two hundred and seventy-eight paged book is not easy.

 The Professor-The Life of Azumah Nelson account the life of Ghana and Africa’s greatest boxer and corridor of being widely honored and acclaimed of his best and worst moments, achievements and disappointments among other terrifying stories which completed him  to be the shining example in Ghana and  African as whole.

The book  enlighten the  level of interest by the story of the man who has been well-known international reputation for his involvement to the success of World boxing has been gigantic and have expose some of the hidden truth in the rear of  his incredible profession.

The professor’s book launch also brought some dignitaries in the country together which includes former presidents, sports personalities, politicians, businessmen and women, foreigners, corporate, academia  , love ones and others.

Azumah said what account to his enormous successful career was his intelligence of patriotism and devotion and his love for Ghana and Africa.

Listening to him on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM with Kojo Yankson Tuesday, he advised that “Money is something that God gives…we have to listen to voice of God sometimes. When God makes you great, He didn’t make you great to come and control the people but He made you great to come and serve the people.”

However, my question is; are we pursuing our professional courses based on God's calling? Or we are doing it because of the money involved? 

photo credit: GFA