Ghana Football by Kojo Acheampong

Article by Kojo Acheampong

It all began here in Ghana by our past colonial leaders from Great Britain; when they came to explore here they found Ghana somewhat boring in those olden days. So they brought their own game straight up from the Queen 's Greatest Land , and the game was "football", the Americans call it soccer but there meanings are the same.

When they brought the great game over here in Ghana no one knew any knowledge about the game and they only played it around the coastal areas, because that was where the British were mainly based.

In 1911 Greater Accra region established their team called "Accra Hearts Oak" founded by eleven men under an oak tree in Accra on November the eleventh 1911 .

One club which which was also based in Accra , was a club personally bankrolled by Dr.kwame Nkrumah who at the time was the first president of the country. His club was called "OSAGYEFO'S OWN CLUB" and it was more or less like the country's national team. Because the team was backed by the president it contained all the best players in the country , and if there was any player in another team in Ghana that was equally good as the players in OSAGYEFO'S OWN CLUB,the president would just poach that player without asking anyone permission.

In 1928 in the Ashanti (Asante) region , the Ahanti King formed a team which was to become known as "Kumasi Asante KotoKo". At first games between teams was on "add hoc" friendly basis, then in 1947 Mr Akwei was given the mandate as the first football Association chairman. Later in 1964 the first league was formed; teams that played in the league included KUMASI ASHANTI KOTOKO, ACCRA HEARTS OF OAK,VARMOS VIPERS , ELEVEN WISE & OLYMPIQUES .

The first league was won by Accra Hearts of Oak with 21 points followed by Kokoto with 20 points . In 1993 Ghana started the first professional football league and it was renamed GPL that is Ghana Professional League and it was won by Ashanti kokoto.

Since the league started there has been great rivalry between two of the most glamorous teams in the league namely Accra Hearts Of Oak, who were the First team to win a League in Ghana and KOTOKO . The rivalry compares to Manchester United and Liverpool in England. Unfortunately the rivalry was so great that during a match between Accra Hearts & Kotoko in 2001 a dispute over a technical point lead to fighting between fans and many lives were lost .

The country now has four world class stadiums spread through out the country to make and develop Ghana football including Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi. This stadium has a capacity of 45000 and this stadium has a record that it has been the stadium on which Ghana as country used as a platform to qualify for their first ever world cup in 2006 and four years again that is 2010. "Ohene Gyan" stadium was named after the second F.A chairman because of his Great Exploits in Ghana football and its located in ACCRA the nation Capital and the last two are "Sekondi stadium" in the Western region of the country, and Tamale stadium also in the Northern part of the country.

The name of Ghana's national team is "Blackstars" , and they had their first coach in 1957 & he was an Englishman named George Ainsley. Ghana's national team had its biggest win over an opponent when they played Kenya in in 1968, the score being 10-0 .

In the African League of Nations tournament Ghana has won four times and the years of victory are 1963,1965,1978,1982; but it took until 2006 for Ghana to even qualify for the world cup. The under 21 youth team however won the world cup in 2009, nd this help boost the profile and enthusiasm for football. he FIFA has started a project to develop the nations football and this is Pretty good for the country.

Emblem of Asante Kotoko Team