Football in Ghana

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Football in Ghana
FIFA World Cup 2010 Uruguay Ghana3.jpg
Ghana players (in red and yellow) in action against Uruguay at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
CountryGhana
Governing body Ghana Football Association
National team(s) men's national team
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

Association football is the most popular sport in Ghana. Since 1957, the sport has been administered by the Ghana Football Association. [1] Internationally, Ghana is represented by the male Black Stars and the female Black Queens. The top male domestic football league in Ghana is the Ghana Premier League, and the top female domestic football league in Ghana is the Ghana Women's Football League.

Contents

History

It is on record that the game of football was introduced into the Gold Coast region towards the close of the 19th century by merchants from Europe. Sailors during their leisure times played football among themselves and sometimes with a select side of the indigenous people. The popularity of the game spread like wild fire within a short time along the coast culminating in the formation of the first football club, Excelsior, in 1903 by Mr. Briton, a Jamaican-born Briton, who was then the Head Teacher of Philip Quaicoe Government Boys School in Cape Coast.

Ghana national men's football team

The Black Stars team is one of the highly rated national football teams in Africa. Ghana has won the African Cup of Nations championships on four occasions. [2] They also reached the last sixteen of the 2006 FIFA World Cup before being eliminated by the Brazil. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, they became the third African team in history to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Some illustrious players have been Charles Kumi Gyamfi, Abédi Pelé, Abdul Razak, Tony Yeboah, Samuel Kuffour and Michael Essien.

The youth teams have been successful as well. The U-17 team regularly competes in the FIFA U-17 World Cup and has won it twice and were runners-up twice. The U-20 team were runners-up twice in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, and in 2009 the Black Satellites completed the double by winning the 2009 African Youth Championship and being crowned 2009 U-20 World Cup [3] Champions thus becoming the first African Country to win the U-20 World Cup Championship. [4] In 1992, Olympic U-23 team became the first African country to win a medal at Olympic Games football and in 2011 the Black Meteors were crowned 2011 All-Africa Games champions for the first time. Former Black Stars senior squad members such as Sulley Muntari, Michael Essien, John Mensah and captain Stephen Appiah all got their start at these youth tournaments.

In 2014, Ghana was one of the eight nations to take part in the first Unity World Cup.

Top goalscorers

As of 26 June 2014, the players with the most goals for the senior Ghanaian national team are:

Ghana national women's football team

The Black Queens have taken part in all the FIFA Women's World Cup championships since 1999. The team has however failed to go beyond the first round on each occasion. Ghana has also been runner up to Nigeria on three occasions in the African Women's Championships. Two Ghanaians, Alberta Sackey and Adjoa Bayor have been voted African Women Player of the Year.

Ghana Premier League

Ghanaian FA Cup

Ghana Super Cup

Ghana Women's Football League

Accra Sports Stadium disaster

Football academies

Since the late 1990s, European clubs and entrepreneurs have started establishing football academies in Ghana. Among the first ones were Ajax, Feyenoord, and Right to Dream. Unlike other youth teams in Ghana (also known as colts), academies offer an educational setting alongside football training. In the 2010s, locally-based academies have started to spring up across the country. [8] King James Asuming established Kumasi Sports Academy in Kumasi, which, unlike most academies in Ghana, offers a program for boys and girls. [9] Kumasi Sports Academy kickstarted the career of multiple female footballers, including Blessing Shine Agbomadzi, defender for the Black Queens. Ernest Kufuor established Unistar Soccer Academy in the town of Kasoa-Ofaakor. Dozens of footballers started playing at Unistar, including Lumor Agbenyenu, defender for the Black Stars. Unistar is also known for its urban impact. Many of the town's residents attested that Unistar had attracted new visitors, businesses and residents, improving the town’s infrastructures and general wellbeing. [10] Mandela Soccer Academy was established in Accra by Mohammed Issa with a main goal of leveraging football’s universal appeal to advance broader visions of youth and community empowerment. [11] Patmos Arhin, who currently plays for Turkish club Boluspor, played at Mandela Soccer Academy for several years.

Notable players

African Player of the Year and notable players

Abedi Pele is a three time African Footballer of the Year winner. He is Ghana's most successful football player and highest goalscorer of the Ghana national team to date, and has received the Golden Foot award. Abedi Pele (cropped).jpg
Abédi Pelé is a three time African Footballer of the Year winner. He is Ghana's most successful football player and highest goalscorer of the Ghana national team to date, and has received the Golden Foot award.

In the 1990s, Abédi Pelé and Anthony Yeboah received FIFA World Player of the Year top ten nominations: the following decade Sammy Kuffour and Michael Essien received Ballon d'Or nominations. Abédi Pelé was listed in the 2004 "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers.

On 13 January 2007, the Confederation of African Football voted Abédi Pelé, Michael Essien, Tony Yeboah, Karim Abdul Razak and Samuel Kuffour as members of the CAF top 30 best African players of all-time. In addition, Abédi and Yeboah were voted as among of the best African players of the century in 1999 by IFFHS.

Men
Women

Support

Twitter research from 2015 found that the most popular English Premier League club in Ghana was Chelsea, with 26% of Ghanaian Premier League fans following the club, followed by Manchester United (18%) and Arsenal (15%). [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abedi Pele</span> Ghanaian association football player

Abedi Ayew, known professionally as Abedi Pele, is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and who served as captain of the Ghana national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest African footballers of all time. He played for several European clubs and found his fame in the French Ligue 1 with Lille and Marseille, the latter where he won the UEFA Champions League in 1993, among other titles. He was also the first to win CAF award in 1992.

Anthony Yeboah is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghana national football team</span> Mens association football team

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Kuffour</span> Ghanaian footballer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nii Lamptey</span> Ghanaian footballer and manager

Nii Odartey Lamptey is a Ghanaian former professional footballer and current manager of Elmina Sharks as well as the proprietor of a school in Accra called Glow-Lamp International School. During his career he played as a striker from 1990 until 2008 notably for Aston Villa, PSV Eindhoven, Coventry City and the Ghana national football team.

Prince Opoku Bismark Polley Sampene, known as Prince Polley, is a Ghanaian retired professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Hamza Mohammed is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for Real Tamale United for eight years before joining Kumasi Asante Kotoko in 2002. Mohammed also featured for the Ghana Black Starlets, Black Satellites, Black Meteors, and the Black Stars. He captained the Black Satellites in 1999 and was in the Black Stars squad that took part in the 2006 and 2002 African Cup of Nations. Mohammed was deputy captain of the Black Starlets squad for the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship. Mohammed is currently the Head Coach of Ghana Division One League club Tamale City Football Club.

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Alhaji Mohammed Ahmed, popularly known as Mohammed Polo and the "Dribbling Magician", is a former Ghanaian international and local club football player. He is considered one of the best dribblers and Ghanaian player of his generation.

Ghana national U-20 football team known as the Black Satellites, is considered to be the feeder team for the Ghana national football team. They are the former FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions and U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Champions. They have also been a four-time African Champion in 1995, 1999, 2009, 2021 and a two-time Runner-up at the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1993, 2001 and finished third in 2013. Ghana has participated in only six of the past 19 World Cup events starting with their first in Australia 1993 where they lost the World Cup final 1-2 to Brazil in Sydney and in Argentina 2001 where they lost the World Cup final 0-3 to Argentina in Buenos Aires. Incredibly, in 32 FIFA World Cup matches, Ghana has not lost a game in regulation below the Semi Final level of the FIFA U20 World Cup. They however failed to qualify for 3 consecutive events in UAE 2003, Netherlands 2005 and Canada 2007 until they made the Egypt 2009 Tournament.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jollof derby</span> Football encounter between Nigeria and Ghana

Jollof derby is the moniker given to any encounter between the national football teams of Nigeria and Ghana. The derby takes its name from the nations' long-standing rivalry over who makes the best Jollof rice. The rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria extends beyond the realm of sports and has a deep-rooted history. The divide extends beyond just football and encompasses aspects of culture, economy, and social status in West Africa. Debates have arisen regarding the origins and influences of music, the supreme culinary delight, and occasionally, the most robust economic system. Due to their shared colonial histories, there are natural areas of cultural overlap between these two nations. This overlap can be observed in their cuisine, traditions, cinema, music, and the use of Pidgin English. Consequently, collaborations between individuals from these two countries have been common.

References

  1. ↑ "The Politics of Soccer - How Kwame Nkrumah built a team of winners". southerntimesafrica.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-10.
  2. ↑ Anaman, Fiifi. "The Last Time: How Ghana managed an unlikely ascension unto the African football throne" . Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Association, Ghana Football. "Black Satellites aim for world best again". www.ghanafa.org. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  4. ↑ "Today in history: Ghana became first African country to win FIFA U20 World Cup 15-years ago". Graphic Online. 2024-10-16. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
  5. 1 2 "Gyan, Asamoah". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Abedi Pelé Ghana's brightest Black Star". FIFA. Archived from the original on January 10, 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Ghana would qualify to next round of World Cup - Tony Yeboah". ghanaweb.com. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  8. ↑ Dubinsky, Itamar; Schler, Lynn (2019). "Goal dreams: conflicting development imaginaries in Ghanaian football academies". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 57 (2): 247–272. doi:10.1017/S0022278X19000041. ISSN   0022-278X. S2CID   199777218.
  9. ↑ Dubinsky and Schler 2019, p.256
  10. ↑ Dubinsky and Schler 2019, p.261
  11. ↑ Dubinsky, Itamar; Schler, Lynn (2016-10-12). "The Mandela Soccer Academy: Historical and Contemporary Intersections between Ghana, Lebanon, and the West". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 33 (15): 1730–1747. doi:10.1080/09523367.2017.1317633. ISSN   0952-3367. S2CID   148690229.
  12. ↑ "Which is Africa's favourite Premier League team?". BBC News. 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
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