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