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Accra Hearts of Oak: History, Club House, Trophies & Owner 

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Accra Hearts of Oak: History, Club House, Trophies & Owner

History 

Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in Accra (Greater Accra), Ghana. The team was founded in 1911, and remains the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its traditional colours are red, yellow and blue. 

Hearts of Oak competes in the Ghana Premier League, the premier division of the Ghanaian football pyramid. The Accra Sports Stadium is the club’s home grounds, where the team plays its home games. 

Club House ( Pobiman Project)

Hearts Academy Club House
A sneak-peak of the Hearts of Oak Pobiman Project

The continental club masters as commonly referred to by fans of the club have their clubhouse and sporting infrastructure at Pobiman, a suburb of Accra. The Club House after its completion will house the junior side (academy players) of the club, popularly called Auroras. 

The sod-cutting ceremony of the project took place on the 11th of November, 2019 by the majority shareholder and board chairman, Togbe Afede XIV. Turkish construction firm, Prefabex Yapi Technologileri  San Ve Tlc Limited (STL) have been mandated to construct the project which includes training pitches, hostels, swimming pools and offices.

Trophies & Honours

Hearts of Oak Trophies
Hearts of Oak defender, William Dankyi poses with the Ghana Premier League and MTN FA Cup trophies following a successful 2020/21 season

Hearts have won the Premier League twenty-one times, the Ghanaian FA Cup a record twelve times, the Ghana Super Cup, a joint-record three times, the President’s Cup, five times,[5] and the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup once each.

Accra Hearts of Oak was also ranked eighth football club in the world in the year 2000 when the club dominated most of the continent’s sporting activities. Accra Hearts of Oak remains the only football club in West Africa to have won a Continental Treble; one of 6 Africa-based clubs and one of 21 football clubs worldwide to have achieved this feat. 

During the colonial period, Hearts of Oak won a combined total of eight football league trophies in the Accra Football League and the Gold Coast Club Competition, both precursors to the Ghana Premier League. In the Accra Football League, Hearts of Oak won the Guggisberg Shield donated by Sir Gordon Guggisberg, then Governor of the Gold Coast in 1922; the competition for Accra-based clubs was played on 12 occasions between 1922 and 1954.

Owner

Owner of Hearts of Oak
Togbe Afede XIV addressing the public

Hearts of Oak after its successful floatation of shares has a board of directors with Togbe Afede XIV, as Board Chair, Mr E.M Commodore-Mensah, Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, Frank Nelson Nwokolo, Prof. Kofi Kumado, Ivy Heward-Mills, and Alhassan Andani, Hon. Vincent Sowah-Odetei, Alhaji Akanbi and Elvis Hesse Herman as other members of the board. However, a managing director will be appointed soon to join the board, for which the position has already been advertised.

As things stand before the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the club, Togbe Afede XIV remains the owner until any change will be effected by the AGM which is scheduled to take place later this year.

Story by: Theophilus Autridge

Ghana Football

AFCON 2023 Qualifiers: Jojo Wollacott suffers injury during Black Stars training ahead of Angola clash

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AFCON 2023 Qualifiers: Jojo Wollacott suffers injury during Black Stars training ahead of Angola clash

On Tuesday evening, Ghana goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott suffered a new injury during a Black Stars training session in Kumasi.

Wollacott was injured during training at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium when a goalpost fell on him.

The 26-year-old goalkeeper, who recently recovered from a finger injury that kept him out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, was helped to his feet before limping off the pitch.

Wollacott will have a scan to determine the extent of his injury before the Angola doubleheader.

The first leg will take place on March 23 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, with the second leg scheduled for March 27 in Luanda.

AFCON 2023 Qualifiers: Jojo Wollacott suffers injury during Black Stars training ahead of Angola clash

Ghana is currently tied for first place in Group E, with four points earned from their previous two matches, which included a 3-0 win over Madagascar and a 1-1 draw with the Central African Republic in June of last year.

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Jerome Otchere’s Take: Why Hughton impressed me

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Ghana coach Chris Hughton claims he developed positive relationships with his players while serving as technical advisor

Black Stars coach Chris Hughton lived up to expectation at the press conference in Kumasi, which officially unveiled him to the Ghanaian. Some have argued that for a coach of his make, he wouldn’t underperform at a press event. I agree with that. 

For any candid review, too, Chris Hughton’s responses to questions, his depth of knowledge and composure wouldn’t also escape attention. I believe he’s the coach Ghana should’ve had a year back but there’s no need elaborating on that point. 

I take a leaf from a decent answer Hughton gave on the issue of interference in selection to say, we must leave the past behind and focus on the future. “All I can say is, I am the new head coach. Anything you speak of before my time here is very much something you’re bringing up. It’s in the past,” said Chris Hughton. 

An AFCON qualifier awaits us on Thursday against Angola. Hughton has already named his squad. What lies ahead is what presently matters. Thus, in our forward march, Hughton made modest promises. 

“I will be spending more time in Ghana. I will be watching more games. I am constantly being made aware of players who are doing well. I’ll be paying more attention to [GPL] games because it is important that we have a strong national league” he said.   

“No coach can sit here and guarantee a trophy buy what I can guarantee is a strong team. We want to see a winning team”. In all, relevant questions were asked, and Hughton answered them well like the one concerning his contract. It’s been argued that discussions on his contract are needless, but that position is flawed.

When we’ve not kept a coach for long in recent years, there’s every need to ask what Hughton makes of his 21-month contract. “I have to get the right balance of what’s short-term, what’s medium term, and what’s long term. At this moment, always the most important is short-term. Winning football matches that’ll get you into a better position to when the other games come around. 

“The medium term of course is making sure that you all qualify and do well in the competition itself. The longer term, of course, is about developing players and bringing players through the system and that takes time. There’s no doubt, as a team that played in the World Cup with the youngest team, we’ve to have an eye on development. 

“And development can take time and sometimes this is where you need that little bit of patience from the likes of yourself, the journalists, the supporters” said Hughton. “So, the length of my contact is probably the correct length”.

That enlightened answer on his contract is why Hughton impressed me. We’ve been on this short-term Black Stars coaching business. The responses you get from people you expect to know better, is as if you’re an enemy of state who hates progress. Hughton, by that informed response and the others he gave showed why we must support him. 

Source: Jeromeotchere.com

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AFCON 2023 Qualifiers: Koln winger Kingsley Schindler replaces injured Tariq Lamptey

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AFCON 2023 Qualifiers: Koln winger Kingsley Schindler replaces injured Tariq Lamptey

Black Stars coach Chris Hughton has called up German-born Ghanaian winger Kingsley Schindler for the game against Angola.

Tariq Lamptey, who is out with an injury, was replaced by the 29-year-old.

The Koln winger is making his first national team appearance and could make his debut against Angola on Thursday.

This season, the former Holstein Kiel winger has been consistent for FC Koln, appearing in 20 Bundesliga games.

Schindler arrived in Ghana on Monday and began training with the rest of the team as preparations for the game in Kumasi began.

Meanwhile, seventeen players arrived at camp, with the remainder of the team expected to arrive today before the squad departs for Kumasi on Tuesday.

Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, Joseph Wollacott, Alexander Djiku, Denis Odoi, Kingsley Schindler, Patrick Kpozo, Daniel Amartey, Joseph Aidoo, Andre Ayew, Joseph Painstil, Ransford Yeboah, Inaki Williams, Antoine Semenyo, Jordan Ayew, Mohammed Salisu, Majeed Ashimeru and Edmund Addo were the players in camp.

Source: ghanasoccernet.com

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