By Ken Bediako
This is the continuation of my advocacy to restore the honour given to Ohene Djan, the celebrated sports administrator, who had Accra Sports Stadium named after him in 2004 but unceremoniously destroyed by some unidentified hooligans.
The surprise is the Ministry of Sports that did the honour does not appear concerned about this reckless destruction of history. And the hitherto vigilant sports media too are quiet. They seem to have suddenly forgotten the value of a Hall of Fame for outstanding sports personalities. Quite strange if you asked me.
Luckily, I have the support of Dan Kwaku Yeboah the ace sports presenter of Peace FM fame to tell the nation why Ohene Djan deserves to be honoured.
In addition to all the international sports honours Ohene Djan won for Ghana at the Olympics, Commonwealth and Africa Games including Afcon, he also made the National Football League an indispensable weekend entertainment package that has withstood the test of time.
Indeed Ohene Djan, as Director of Sports and executive secretary of the Football Association, competently organised six well-patronised national league matches from 1958 to 1966 when he was sacked from office in the wake of the Army cum Police Coup d’etat that ousted the Osagyefo Dr Kwane Nkrumah CPP Government.
I have already dealt with the the 1958 and 1959 leagues won by Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko respectively.
Here you are with the 1960-61 league that saw the rise of the Western Show Boys.
1960 – 61:
This was the season that saw Sekondi Eleven Wise, in a remarkable transformation from the mediocre team that languished at the bottom of the 1959 league, rise to become championship material. The amazing turnaround soon had them being referred to as the ‘Western Show Boys.’ The team was handled by Mr A. A. Ampofo, an astute civil service administrator.
Led by prolific scorer, Edward Acquah affectionately called the man with the sputnik shot, the ‘Show Boys’ fought a terrific neck to neck race with Asante Kotoko, the defending champions.
Wise whipped Kotoko 3-0 in the first leg at Sekondi Gyandu Park on May 1 but Kotoko avenged defeat with a 2-0 win in Kumasi on Dec 18. By the last game of the season, Wise had bagged 21 points and Asante Kotoko were only a point behind. Wise had a final game against local rivals Hasaacas, while Kotoko had a local derby against Cornerstone.
Hasaacas almost succeeded in dashing the championship hopes of Eleven Wise by taking a confident lead for 84 minutes; it was an 85th minute equaliser by Edward Acquah that revived the spirits of Wise.
With fingers crossed, Eleven Wise waited impatiently for the result of the Kotoko-Corners encounter in Kumasi. Then the news flashed. Kotoko had been beaten 2-0 by Cornerstone. It was a huge carnival in Sekondi and the celebrations went on throughout the night to mark the momentous occasion. Kumasi Cornerstone, by beating Kotoko, had handed the cup to Eleven Wise!
One memorable event in the league was Kotoko’s record breaking 12-1 victory over Mysterious Dwarfs in Kumasi on Jan 2, 1961. Interestingly, Dwarfs’ local rivals, Venomous Vipers, beat Kotoko 3-2 the following week.
The other stand out event of the season was the closure of the Cape Coast venue due to ‘financial reasons’.
The centre was transferred to Agona Swedru and Vipers, and Dwarfs had to adopt Swedru as their home ground.
The most outstanding player of the season was skipper Edward Acquah of Sekondi Eleven Wise.
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports as we celebrate an improved performance by the Black Stars in their trial matches for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Some of us weak hearted fans who were expecting another Bochum Disaster were definitely pleasantly surprised by the courageous show against Germany. It was a sharp contrast with the colourless show against Austria.
However, Head Coach Otto Addo has been sacked and opinions are divided over the decision to sack him.
Some observers believed Coach Otto might be learning a lesson after all. That is why opinion is divided on the timing of his dismissal.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bet this decision will continue to be discussed forever and ever. This is what I call adding confusion to disbelief.
