A taste of Premier League football

Wednesday (May 13) was a memorable day for fans of Division One League (DOL) side, Debibi United.

The club made history on that fateful afternoon as they registered a 3-1 win over Tamale City in the Access Bank Division One League playoff final to secure promotion to the Ghana Premier League for the first time.

Words alone cannot describe the emotional sights and scenes at the Accra Sports Stadium after the final whistle.

But those emotional scenes were understandable as they conceded the first goal of the game and were pinned to their half of the field for greater spells by a determined Tamale City side that also aimed a return to the elite stage of Ghana football, which they have tasted once.

But without that experience, Debibi showed character and refused to be suppressed and bullied by the Tamale lads.

They produced a stunning turnaround led by striker Kwadwo Antwi who delivered a match-winning performance by scoring a hat-trick to complete the 3-1 comeback victory.

Debibi United joined as the third club to have officially secured promotion from the Access Bank Division One League to the 2026/27 Ghana Premier League after winning their respective zones.

The two others were Port City and FC AshantiGold 04.

Port City emerged victors from Zone Three where they showed character against some very tough opponents including former Premier League sides, Accra Great Olympics, Okwahu United and a few others.

FC AshantiGold 04 topped Zone Two to book their place in the top flight. 

But due to peculiar challenges in Zone One, the group has been divided into two with the respective winners facing each other in a play-off final to determine which side snatches the sole ticket for qualification.

Without doubt, the three clubs have done extremely well by qualifying from a stage of Ghana football which is often described as the wilderness of Ghana football.

It should surely be a reward for their hard work and not as a result of some of the funny stories about club collusions and maneuvers.

Although the DOL has undergone a lot of transformations to make it very competitive, the ‘wilderness of Ghana football’ tag is still associated with it as reports about poor officiating leading to questionable calls still fly around.

With little or no evidence to substantiate some of these, one has no reason to doubt their quality and readiness for life at the elite stage of Ghana football.

However, there is a trend in the past few years where clubs that gain promotion freshly suffer the fate of going back in the next season.

That trend is one that must influence their preparation for the GPL to avoid that path of history.

Thirty-four weeks of competition is no joke and the expectation and demands differ from what they are used to in DOL. Survival would mean consistency with results and ability to face the challenges that comes with life at the top.

By Andrew Nortey