By Ken Bediako
The National Chapters and National Circles were supporters groups approved by managements of Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko FC respectively in the
70s. They provided a cumulative and major support for the running of the club.
Indeed, the idea came from then Hearts chairman Mr Tommy Thompson and was quickly adopted by the fast learning Kotoko chairman Mr Simms Kofi Mensah.
Membership comprised devoted supporters of the two clubs who dedicated themselves to the welfare of the clubs players. A social club, members had regular meetings, paid dues and arranged for many lovers of the game to fill the stands at the various league Centres.
The capital city of Accra boasted of the famous Nima based “Chapter O” for Hearts of Oak and “Powerful Circle 8” for Asante Kotoko. The welfare of players off the pitch, was their top agenda and they gave enormous assistance to management in various forms.
A lot of effort was made to fill the stands by the hiring of buses for the various league centres. It was therefore no accident that matches involving these two most popular clubs always yielded maximum profits. The players were extremely idolised almost to a fault and given attractive nicknames to boost their egos. No wonder the players of Hearts and Kotoko gave of their best and really dominated the competition so much.
To satisfy the teeming supporters, management saw to recruiting real talented players who gave fans their moneys’ worth. It was a great privilege and honour in those days to play for either Kotoko or Hearts.
Unfortunately, the situation has changed. Not much is seen of the assembling of high calibre talented players for the two Giants of Ghana football. The “Chapters” and “Circles” are almost extinct. The result is that fans are no more attracted to fill the stands.
This is a worrying situation. The snag is that a lot of business minded people are eager to sponsor Premier league clubs but seem to have little regard for the quality of players around. As things stand now, we have assorted clubs some with funny names and full of ordinary players who are giving football in Ghana a rather poor image.
Gone are the days when we used to call Kotoko-Hearts matches “Super Clash.”
The Super Clash title was an idea from then Premier League Board chairman Nana Abra Appiah who was so overwhelmed by the glittering spectacle of Kotoko-Hearts matches as the huge attendance could easily be compared with Real Madrid-Barcelona or Liverpool Man United fixture he needed something special for the Ghana version.
Now standards have fallen to such an extent crowd attraction is terribly low as we witnessed last Sunday at Accra Stadium. I was thinking the 24th anniversary of May 9 stadium disaster would rekindle some sentimental interest in the fixture but to no avail.
The coincidental 20th anniversary of Kotoko coach Karimu Zito’s return to handle the club after his violent attack by mobile phone snatchers in 2005 also added no spice to the game. The Osu stand for instance was blank.
In my preview last week I was thrilled Kotoko won the league in 2005 despite the incapacitation of Zito. I completely lost sight of the fact that he was replaced by coaches Kwasi Afranie and Malik Jabir, who ensured Kotoko’s comfortable lead after the 4th week incident in the second round. With 11 matches to go, the Porcupines were unbeaten till the end winning six matches and drawing five.
The results were Kotoko 1 Okwawu 0: Dwarfs 0 Kotoko 0: Lions 0 Kotoko 1: Kotoko 3 Bofoakwa1: Powerlines 1 Kotoko 1: Kotoko 2 Hotspurs 0 Hearts 1 Kotoko 1: Kotoko 1 Feyenoord 1: Hasaacas 0 Kotoko 1: Kotoko 2 King Faisal 0: RTU v Kotoko match ended abruptly Kotoko awarded points: Kotoko 1 Arsenal 0.
Incidentally, the Month of May has several landmark incidents for Ghana football.
Apart from the horrendous May 9 2001 incident when 126 football fans were killed in a stampede after Hearts-Kotoko super clash at Accra Stadium, it was on May 5 1969 that Ghana’s ace footballer Baba Yara, affectionately called King of Wingers, died. He had been in a wheel chair since 1963 when he was involved in a terrible motor accident.
I crave your indulgence to reproduce a tribute by legendary sports administrator Ohene Djan in his authoritative book “Short History-of Soccer in Ghana,” published in 1964 edited by his good friend, former President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Here we go:
“This book which sets out briefly the interesting transformation of Ghana football is proudly dedicated to Baba Yara the greatest soccer genius of Ghana.
The tragic spine injury which he sustained in the terrible lorry crash at Kpeve on March 24 1963 when returning from a victorious league match with his club mates Ghana Real Republikans have rendered him quadriplegic.
Born on 12th October 1936 in Kumasi, Yara was a champion sprinter in an Arabic School. At the age of 13 Yara showed precocity as a talented footballer but his insatiate desire for Games generally drew him to horse racing and between1950 to 1955 he was a jockey at the Accra Turf Club.
In 1955 Yara returned to Kumasi and registered for Asante Kotoko. That same year he hit the headlines. He made an impressive foray into the international scene. Yara wore Jersey No 7 for Ghana’s victorious team which annihilated Nigeria by seven goals to nothing. Yara scored two and created four of the seven goals.
Capped 49 times, Yara whose originality and dexterity on the soccer field were a delightful spectacle, scored 51 goals for Ghana.
A natural footballer Yara abhorred orthodoxy and believed that a coach’s primary duty, like the music master, was to teach the student to read the notes and that the student’s own ingenuity and creativeness will enable him to make a melodious music with the d-r-m-f-s.
The incomparable Ghanaian winger was twice voted the footballer of the year and in 1961 won the highest soccer award of the state. The Most Distinguished Member of the Black Star Group, his charming personality and affable character added to his dazzling football quality made him the football hero of his generation. Here was a football genius when cometh another?”
Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.
