By Ken Bediako
The above was an inscription on a beautiful Benz bus that ran the Akyem Oda-Accra route in the fifties when I lived in the diamond city on holidays from Abusco, Kyebi. The veracity in this inscription was proved last Sunday to supporters of Accra Hearts of Oak who were expecting a repeat of the 45-year-old 1977 Miracle of El Wak at Accra Stadium in 2021. Truly no days are equal.
I suspect many of the supporters who unsportingly tried to assault some top officials of the club following the exit from Africa, were too young 45 years ago to recall what actually transpired at the time. The circumstances appear somewhat similar. Hearts needed to erase a three goal deficit in both instances.
Against Uganda’s Mufulira Wanderers in 1977, Hearts needed three unanswered goals to upturn the 5-2 first leg loss. And in the case of Bamako, last Sunday, Hearts needed to score three unanswered goals to break even and possibly win on the resultant penalty shootout.
The vast difference between the 1977 scenario and the current one is the strength of the playing staff. The 1977 squad was solid and trenchant featuring the famous fearsome five of Peter Lamptey, Mama Acquah, Robert Hammond, Anas Seidu and Mohammed Ahmed Polo. They played with precision delivering non-stop aggressive football all over the place compared to the unstable 2021 squad spearheaded by Afriyie Barnier who I will describe as a lone star in a dark horizon. There
was no way Hearts could have weathered the Bamako storm with such a side with weak credentials in the just suspended national league.
It is generally accepted football is an emotional sport but fans must strive to display sportsmanship in times of defeat. It is obvious the nation’s two representatives in Africa, Kotoko and Hearts did not prepare sufficiently for the continental championships and their early exit should not surprise any objective football lover.
And come to think of it that, Kotoko and Hearts are the best supported clubs in the country and are expected to set a good example. The two clubs are the only sides to remain in the top division since the birth of the national league in 1958 with eight clubs.
Those were the amateur football days and things appeared to be moving smoothly till 1993 when a Ministerial fiat turned all clubs and players into professionals overnight. Presto! We had a professional league run by a Professional League Board headed by veteran football administrator Mr Zac Bentum, one time GFA chairman with Mr E.O. Lamptey his vice. Other members were Mr W.K Agrah of the University of Ghana; Mr Kofi Harlley, Registrar Generals Department Mr Joe Aggrey, SWAG President; Mr Kojo Quarshie and Major Yaw Larsen, both of the League Clubs Association. The work of the Board was not clearly defined. I am told it is now a Committee under the GFA. At its inception in 0ctober 1993, all clubs were ordered to register as limited liability companies. To offset their expenses at the initial stages the Ministry offered the clubs 3 million cedis each (GH¢300). The amount however turned out to be peanuts as gate fees continued to dwindle.
It is not known whether all the so-called professional clubs are registered as such and whether there is any standard format for all to comply with suffice to say that Ashgold, led by the indefatigable businessman cum sports addict, Dr Sam Jonah set the ball rolling. The club built its
own stadium, sought expert consultation from English legendary football icon Bobby Charlton, recruited competent playing staff and administrators and won the league thrice on the trot before Hearts of Oak halted their domination.
The professional League is 29 years old but compared to similar leagues, even on the African continent, ours seems to be a joke.
A professional league is supposed to be run like a business entity. You have a complete laid down programme and fixtures are drawn taking into
consideration all international events. It is supposed to be a marathon event and only force majeure could alter the programme. There is an off season and pre-season schedules.
This is what we seem to lack over here and we even enjoy the luxury of playing the game in the law courts. Perhaps it was for the good of the game that we had a retired senior judge like Justice Ampiah to head the Football Congress sometime ago.
I don’t believe we need to reinvent the wheel. Let’s emulate good ideas from our contemporaries. If we strictly stick to the rules, the league will be exciting and I am sure each club can unearth at least two outstanding players each season who will merit inclusion in the various national teams.
As things stand now we don’t seem to attach much premium on our clubs’ participation in Africa.
In the not too distant past, continental club matches were given place of honour. The league was arranged in such a way that Africa matches could be given special attention. The last time when Kotoko were ousted by the Burkinabes at the Baba Yara Stadium, the fixture was crowded among league matches around the country. This was not the practice in the recent past.
Hearts were somewhat lucky their ill-fated match against the Malians had full national attention. It’s just that their standard has dipped a bit these days and they could not rise to the occasion.
I would like to suggest that just as there is a national call to fight against illegal mining that is destroying our rivers and forests, a similar national effort should be made to sanitise the way we run our football.
Football and sports in general for that matter, has become a big global pastime offering huge employment opportunities and raking in tidy cash into the national coffers.
Let’s not feel too big to learn from those who know.
As my learned friend told me the other day, “we gain insight when we listen to those who have gone before and who know more than we do.
We are able to learn from others when we humble ourselves and acknowledge how little we know
Willingness to learn is a mark of those who are truly wise. If you think you know everything you have a lot to learn”.
We have had an administration that was so concerned about poor penalty taking that it introduced penalty shootouts for a drawn game in the league. It worked all right. The winner got a bonus point.
No one went to court to challenge the status quo.
One administration also introduced the pre-season gala involving top division clubs. It was a thirty-minute game that is 15 mins each half playing at a fast pace. The idea, borrowed from Brazil, was to see how fast the game could be played in addition to unveiling new signings for the new season. It was an exciting well attended programme and the press gallery was always awash with products from the title sponsors, Guinness Ghana Ltd.
I recall Francis Edzie of Hasaacas scoring the fastest goal in 11 secs with a brilliant left footer. The score board was very active those days and fans hailed his record.
As time went on the gala competition was corrupted by a new administration. Presumably unfamiliar with the format the Gala became a thirty minute each half competition. It almost turned into a full scale regular match. The tempo slowed down completely resulting in a number of goalless games that ended in penalty shoot outs. The essence of having a fast, high scoring game for a change, was lost. The Gala was akin to Six a Side football that promotes ball control and dribbling.
There was also a time when the league was slashed from 20 to 12 clubs that promoted a much keener competition among equals of some sort.
To my mind, the current 18 club is too wieldy.
Every club, no matter its attraction, wants to be in the premiership even if it can’t attract a fully packed home crowd to pay bills. My worry is when we have a situation where everybody is somebody, nobody is anybody.
Now you understand why Ghana’s Premier league is on sabbatical while others, worldwide, are polishing their star players for the World Cup in Qatar.
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
