Towards my Accra Hearts Of Oak thriving locally & internationally
My journey with football started in my childhood, spent on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus in Kumasi, Ghana. I did not just frequent the library just for books and newspapers to know trivia, but also to play tennis and football. I was not one of the top players in my neighbourhood, many of my friends had better skill, talent, etc. The sports trivia I learnt made me enjoy football even more. When I watched football matches, I enjoyed the tactical aspect. Maybe because I was not that good at football, I learnt more tactics and was interested in coaching. I would coach and manage my neighbourhood teams, especially when my Okodee road team faced off against Buroburo or Ridge. This also fueled my analytical mind that would eventually help me study engineering in later years. In fact, one can argue that this also lends itself well to mathematics, a subject I always excelled in from Class 1 till till.
In a 2024 interview-style blog post on the #KonnectKouch (pioneered by GhanaThink), I shared, "I really love watching football and basketball especially, I use it to relax." I position football and sports as a way to unwind while studying strategies and team dynamics, much like my approach to entrepreneurship.
I have my football fandom like many sports fans. I have my all-time favorite footballers, but I support teams more than I support players. Domestically, my heart lies with Accra Hearts of Oak, Ghana's oldest surviving storied club. This is due to my father’s support of Phobia. How can you not like their motto though? “Never Say Die Until The Bones Are Rotten”. Positivity written all over that. It was founded on November 11, 1911. 11/11/11. 1 of its famous songs goes like “Hearts Eleven is a mighty team”. It’s aligned in the stars. Even before I became the #MightyAfrican, there was mighty around me.
Even though we grew up in Kumasi, Phobia is the team we support. Naturally, my first Ghana Premier League match attendance featured Hearts. Daddy took me and my brother Kofi to watch Hearts play Ashanti Gold at the Len Clay Stadium in Obuasi, in the Ashanti Region. There is the iconic rivalry with Kumasi Asante Kotoko. I live-tweeted some "Super Clash" matches, noting in 2013, "Hearts of Oak 1-1 Asante Kotoko. The rivalry is still alive." In 2019, I attended my first Hearts vs. Kotoko game on Father's Day, urging unity: "We should all be better Black Stars." There is also the Ga Mashie derby, pitting Hearts against its traditional home rivals - Accra Great Olympics.
Hearts is the only West African club to have achieved the continental treble (League, FA Cup, and CAF Champions League) in a single season. I was schooling at Presec in Accra in the year 2000 when this happened. We were in the midst of winning 4 consecutive league titles from 1997 to 2001, bookended by the May 9th disaster that Obrafour also referred to in his Nya Ntetee Pa classic in 2003. Hearts was ranked the 8th best football club globally by CNN/World Soccer within this period.
The club’s name comes from the oak tree, taking its strength, resilience and longevity. My alma mater, Presec also has the Baobab (Tree of Life) in its identity. The Oak (King of the Forest) & the Baobab (most resilient tree in the African savannah) all have an unshakable foundation for success. I am a proud Ɔdadeɛ (PRESEC alumni) just like a proud Hearts fan. I celebrate our triumphs with unbridled joy, from major trophies to NSMQ to others. In 2021, following the league championship, I tweeted, "#PositiveEnergy indeed! Congrats to my favorite football team in #Ghana - #Accra Hearts of Oak! Looking forward to more wins & more trophies!"
Hearts has not challenged in Africa for many years. We also won the maiden CAF Confederation Cup in 2004, defeating our arch-rivals Asante Kotoko in a historic "All-Ghanaian" final. We won the league in 2004/05, 2006/07 and 2008/09 seasons as well. Little did we know the dry years would be coming. We last participated in Africa for the 2022/2023 CAF Confederation Cup. In all, Hearts has won 21 Ghana Premier League Titles, with the most recent being in 2020/21, led by Samuel Boadu. We have a national record 12 FA Cup Titles, with the most recent win in 2022.
Some of the major players from the early 2000s include Emmanuel Osei Kuffour who was key in the 2000 CAF Champions triumph, Ishmael Addo (GPL Golden Boot winner 1999–2001), Sammy Adjei (mainstay for the Black Stars too), Charles Taylor (maestro), Jacob Nettey (club captain), Bernard Don Bortey (technically awesome), etc. Other major players of note are C. K. Gyamfi, Edward Aggrey-Fynn, Mohammed Polo, Shamo Quaye, Ablade Kumah, Stephen Appiah (one of Ghana’s best captains nicknamed Tornado), Laryea Kingston, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, etc.
I recently purchased a new Hearts jersey and cannot wait to wear it with pride. Spending time in Syracuse before going to MIT, I saw the influence of sports on local economies first-hand. People in the US support their local teams, attend their matches even in times of losing, buy their paraphernalia, celebrate their stars, etc. This is true with Major League Soccer as well. They even intentionally support and patronize businesses that sponsor the local teams. I buy from companies that partner with GhanaThink programs, etc so I can relate very well.
My loyalty to Hearts persists, and I am committed to such Ghanaian institutions. Like many, I am concerned about the state of local club football in Ghana. In 2013, I tweeted, "Wondering what happened to my love n interest in #Ghanaian club football." It is a sad state of Ghanaian football now, especially locally. The corruption in our game is unprecedented, and it got to a head with Number 12, the documentary released in 2018 by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his team at Tiger Eye P.I. It uncovered widespread corruption, match-fixing, and bribery within the Ghana Football Association (GFA) especially. The current GFA has been working on the #BringBackTheLove campaign but local football is riddled with hooliganism, lack of investment, lack of quality, and bad business decisions in general.
If Hearts does better, other clubs would learn from them and our domestic game would do better. We must appoint elite technical staff who can grow the squad with the current financial limitations. We must build Auroras FC (our youth team) to be a funnel for our team as part of the "Phobian Revolution". It is great to know that club legend Bernard Don Bortey has been involved with this, as it competes in the Greater Accra Division Two League. This would help with financial sustainability, reducing expensive transfers, ultimately being money makers. The resilience of the oak tree should show in our play, with defensive dominance as a foundation.
We must protect our home advantage, backed by the support we enjoy in the nation’s capital, irrespective of whether we play at the Accra Sports Stadium, University of Ghana Stadium, etc. This would ginger our fans all over Ghana to support us accordingly in games outside Greater Accra.
We need to invest more in Pobiman, with state-of-the-art training pitches, facilities, hostels, etc. I met our Chairman Togbe Afede XIV on the day Ivory Coast won the 2023 AFCON at the Ivorian Ambassador’s house. I congratulated him for the work he has been doing and assured him fans like us are solidly behind him. We also look forward to having our own stadium meeting CAF's requirements. We must do better with commercial partnerships, leveraging our Hearts’ history and brand. “Tsooboi!” “Hei!” “Wɔn ne nipa! Let’s rally behind Accra Hearts of Oak! "Phobia ɔdɔ nti, yɛnkɔ stadium!"
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