By Ken Bediako
Kumasi Asante Kotoko will be 89 years old this August 2024. Three cheers for the Porcupine Warriors. Eighty-nine years of excellence on the field of play is no joke.
In my capacity as a keen follower of the club for more than six decades, I have decided to profile, in a series, many of the true legendary footballers who in my estimation, have made the club so fabulous on the field of play since its formation in 1935.
Two times Africa champions, 24 times national league champions and 9 times FA Cup winners is no mean achievement. No wonder Kotoko are the best supported football club in the country honoured by World class football statisticians as Africa’s Club of the Century.
Regarded by many as the most popular and richest club in the country, Kotoko have recently and noticeably lost the huge popularity and dominance on the local football scene. Indeed, since they won the national league three seasons ago, they have been off colour of late. Most uncharacteristically they had to put up a last minute face saving effort last season to occupy a somewhat respectable position on the league table.
The good news however is that Coach Prosper Ogun seems determined to refurbish the team with fresh talents as seen in the club’s recent Democracy Cup match against traditional rivals Accra Hearts of Oak at Accra Stadium which ended in a 2-1 victory.
You could sense Kotoko fans were impressed with the team’s performance on the day and are hoping for a brighter new season this time round.
The decision by club owner Otumfuo Asantehene to give the club’s training grounds at Adako Jachie a first class facelift of international standard has boosted the morale of the supporters to give of their best.
The many neutrals on the Ghana football scene who believe the success and progress of Asante Kotoko is linked to the total development of football in the country, see a bright future for the game in the upcoming season.
Let’s hope for the best as I begin my profile of Asante Kotoko greats starting with the indomitable Baba Yara, the celebrated King of wingers and James Adjei, the wizard ball artist.
Baba Yara
Tall and handsome Baba Yara was a most fascinating footballer who could score easily with either foot. In a sensational display, Yara scored two great goals for the national team that trounced Nigeria 7-0 in a historic annual challenge Jalco Cup match at Accra Stadium in 1955.
He is on record as leading Kotoko to become Ghana’s first FA Cup winners in 1958 and followed it up with the National League Cup for Kotoko in 1959. Baba Yara was twice voted footballer of the year and in 1961 he won the highest football award of the state- “The most distinguished member of the Black Star group.” He was one of the top outstanding national players forcibly recruited to form the controversial national model club Real Republikans in 1961.
Born on Oct 12, 1936, in Kumasi. Yara was a champion sprinter in an Arabic school at the age of 13 he showed signs of a talented footballer. His love for games generally drew him to horse racing and from 1950 to 54 he was a jockey at the Accra Turf Club. Very much interested in football he returned to Kumasi in 1955 and registered for Asante Kotoko. That same year he hit the headlines in the international match against Nigeria.
His football career was cruelly cut short following a tragic spine injury he sustained in a terrible motor accident at Kpeve in the Volta Region on March 24 1963 when returning from a victorious league match at Kpando with his club mates in Republikans. Sadly, Yara remained in a wheel chair and died on May 5, 1969.
James Adjei
An accomplished dribbler with great shots in both feet, he had abundant skills that made him a crowd favourite in the early fifties. He was voted the most celebrated member of the then Gold Coast national team that toured Britain in 1951.
He was so outstanding during the tour that a British sports commentator described him as – “the inside forward who in all things being equal could hold himself among the best inside forwards in England.”
Adjei and former national skipper Chris Briandt were the first Ghanaian football stars to be trained abroad as football coaches.
James started playing for Kotoko when he was a student at the Osei Tutu Boarding School in Kumasi in the early fifties. He later played for Odorgonno Secondary school in Accra where he continued with his studies. He also played briefly for Accra Standfast before being sent to Germany by the government to train as coach. He is reputed to be one of the greatest dribblers of his generation.
The story is told that James loved dribbling so much that he would leave a white handkerchief at a spot
on the pitch and dribble all over the pitch back to the spot to take his handkerchief amid thundering cheers.
Part Two next week.
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
