By Ken Bediako.
Gone are the days when the National Football Calendar could contain the Guinness Gala, the League, FA Cup, Super Cup, Ghalca Cup, SWAG Cup and a few special friendlies.
Excuse my nostalgia. At 85 it is hard to resist the temptation of always raking the past. The fact is the last time I checked we still have 12 months in a year, Afcon is held every two years and the FIFA World Cup the, Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games still maintain their four year cycle to enable serious participating countries to plan ahead. Sorry for the unintended diversion.
The topic today is on the history of the national league depicting the 1979 neck and neck race by Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, the two veteran campaigners.
1979 LEAGUE: HEARTS NARROWLY RETAIN CUP
March 4- Dec 14
The season was heralded by the election of a new GFA chairman, Justice Isaac Aboagye, by the regional football associations on Jan 24. Nominated by the government he replaced Major Daniel Asiamah who had been chairman since 1977. S. K. Mainoo of the Ashanti FA was elected vice chairman.
Before the league could kick off, there appeared to be a split in the front of the Organization of Ghana League Clubs Association (OGLCA), as Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak quit the association. A joint statement signed by Kotoko chairman Simms Mensah and Hearts boss,Tommy Thompson, said “contrary to the objectives of OGLCA, we have realised that some members were manipulating the association to serve their selfish interests.”
OGLCA Secretary Kojo Quarshie’s reply was that clubs were free to quit the association. The stand-off was later on settled amicably at a meeting of all the clubs. The league kicked off on March 4 with Abuakwa Susu Biribi bouncing back to the first division after three years in ‘exile’ and another factory club, Tarkwa Gold Stars, promoted to raise the number of factory clubs in the first division to six. Dumas, Juantex, GIHOC, Akotex and Complex Stars were the others.
Gold Stars, led by talented left winger Opoku Nti, made a fine first impression by beating B. A. United 1-0 and Susu Biribi 2-0 but they hit a bad patch when they lost 4-0 to GIHOC Stars at Nsawam. To worsen matters four of their players Augustine Mensah, K. Dapaah, K. Boateng and E Antwi were suspended for the rest of the season for assaulting referee S. K. Bunyam from Takoradi who handled the match.
The players accused the referee of unfair officiating. The top scoring match in the season was Hearts’ 7-1 demolition of Susu Biribi in Accra. Kotoko’s 5-1 win over Complex Stars at Swedru and Dwarfs 5-2 defeat of Bofoakwa deserve mention.
The factory clubs led by Dumas gave the traditional clubs some anxious moments but the vast experience of veteran campaigners Hearts and Kotoko proved decisive in the end. It was one of the keenest struggles for the championship diadem between old rivals Hearts and Asante Kotoko. Chances were even untill the final post when Hearts, in the thick of the Africa Cup for champion clubs, beat Kotoko by only one point. Hearts lost the Africa Cup final to Union Douala of Cameroon on penalties after a 1-1 tie in both legs.
Discovery of the season was Tarkwa Gold Stars’ talented left winger, Opoku Nti, then dubbed ‘Tarkwa Polo’ who would later become a huge international star for Asante Kotoko and the Black Stars. He was a member of the 1982 Black Stars squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in Libya and also with the 1983 Asante Kotoko team that won the Africa Cup for champion clubs in Kumasi.
Susu Biribi’s come-back to the elite first division was short-lived, and together with Bofoakwa Tano, they slipped into the wilderness of Division Two soccer one more time.
As for Bofoakwa, they had the additional misfortune of being suspended by the GFA for taking the football controlling body to court. The GFA had deducted some points from Bofoakwa for fielding unqualified players in a number of matches and the Sunyani Club sought a redress in court, contrary to GFA bye laws.
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
