Sports
End of an era for Royals?
In 2019 when a new management acquired Wa All Stars, it marked the birth of a new club side – Legon Cities; which was ready to challenge the Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko dominance.
It was the pride of Wa in the Upper West region of Ghana after the ‘defunct’ Upper West Heroes. They would have created a fierce city rivalry similar to the Hearts versus Olympics, Kotoko versus Cornerstones and others.
The change in management moved the club to Accra but with their spirit in Wa.
At least, a few pundits attributed their struggles to this analogy.
Belonging to a former Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kwesi Nyantakyi, under whose tenure they made history by winning the Ghana Premier League (GPL) once and played in Africa club championship, Legon Cities was touted as the latest force to reckon with.
Sadly, six years down the line, they have been relegated from the elite stage of football with a few matches to go in the 2024/25 football season.
It is such a sad story for their supporters to read about although the signals have been on the wall from the day of acquisition.
They went so close to suffering the drop in the previous season but were ‘saved’ by Accra Great Olympics, another capital force that has become so accustomed to relegation.
Legon Cities would be sorely missed for the carnival they added to the competition.
Their arrival for home matches reminded fans of scenes of over two decades ago when teams’ arrivals for matches at the stadium created exciting scenes with the arrival parties led by police riders. They lived like royals as they were known.
That died many years ago but Legon Cities revived that, as they kept fans spellbound with the convoy that follows their beautifully branded team bus.
There was a storm about the team’s name. The confusion was about whether it should be ‘City’ or ‘Cities’ but when that was clarified, the media was set in propagating information about them.
Now, with a few fans, the new management led by a bankroller that operated behind the scenes, Legon Cities undertook ventures clubs with mammoth, following never tried.
In a way to blend football and entertainment, they introduced showbiz packages that featured top performers like hiplife icons, Shatta Wale, Wendy Shay, Medical, Mr Drew, Krymi and many others.
It was certainly their way of bringing the fans back to the stadium.
But knowing those performances alone would not bring the results needed for survival, the playing and technical teams were not spared of the investment.
Legon Cities became an attractive destination for top stars like former Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan, Black Stars goalkeeper’s trainer, Fatawu Dauda, Jona Attuquaye, Mitchell Otoo and others that were about ending their careers.
The technical bench also attracted some of Ghana’s finest coaches like Maxwell Konadu, Yaw Acheampong, Paa Kwesi Fabin, Bashir Hayford and others.
Sadly, none of these coaches were able to deliver the aspiration of the new owners who are faced with a new task of fighting their way back to the top.
With three matches left, Legon Cities can count themselves out for next season.
It means the rest of the matches must become preparatory games in shaping the team for the more difficult Division One League (DOL) described as the wilderness of Ghana football.
It is a poignant tale for lovers of the game considering what they bring to the table as they created entertaining moments in matches against Hearts of Oak, Great Olympics, Accra Lions, clubs they faced in city rivalries.
But certainly expected to find a place on DOL Zone III, they could face traditional sides like Great Olympics and Okwawu United and others all striving to return to the GPL.
It will be a long journey back for the Royals. It will be rough and twisting with no guarantee of returning immediately, but no matter what happens, the focus should be on a return at all cost.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Heed to Saminu’s appeal
BEYOND Abdul Rasheed Saminu’s sensational triumph in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) East Preliminary Round lies a call every athletics enthusiast must heed to.
Saminu is Ghana’s latest athletics kid on the block after breaking Benjamin Azamati’s national record in 100m set in 2022.
Azamati set the previous record with a time of 9.87seconds (wind assisted) but Saminu showed class when he dropped it to 9.86 seconds to draw comparisons with South Africa’s leading athlete, Akani Simbine, who clocked 9.90 seconds this year.
The feat earned Saminu a place at the World Athletics Championship to be held in the city of Tokyo in Japan in September.
In that moment of joy, he stormed X (formerly Twitter), where he made a passionate appeal to managers of the sport back home in Ghana.
“Hopefully more to come and I want the world to know we got talents in Ghana. It’s an honour to be the new national record holder…local based athletes deserve more attention as well” he wrote on X.
Previously a typical local athlete that hails from the village of Nanumba in Ghana where he switched to athletics after failing to make a mark in football, Saminu has seen it all at that level of sports in Ghana; the reason why his call cannot and must not be ignored.
In Ghana, football at the lower tiers is often described as ‘wilderness’, a situation that suggest the harsh and difficult circumstances under which clubs navigate their way to the top.
The story with athletics is not different, if not more difficult than football which offers so many platform for players in every corner of the country to showcase their skills.
The now University of South Florida (USF) athlete understands the challenges his peers face in Ghana, trying to rise to the very top level.
The biggest obstacle for athletics in Ghana is the unavailability of infrastructure. Currently, the Legon Sports Stadium remains the only recognised athletics facility in the whole country, courtesy of Ghana’s hosting of the Africa Games Accra 2023 event.
Other facilities around the country are in terrible shapes, and readily coming to mind is the Elwak Sports Stadium which became an alternative venue after the running tracks at the Accra Sports Stadium was scrapped to enable Ghana increase the capacity of the structure to host AFCON 2008.
From 2008 to 2023 when the Africa Games was hosted, nothing was done to develop and promote athletics in Ghana.
Apart from infrastructure, lack of regular competitions have been the biggest bane of the sport as young and promising athletes turn their running spikes into boots to play community football after their second cycle education.
One may ask why but the reason is simple. After completing Senior High School, the next hope for competition lies in their ability to make it to a tertiary institution where they either participate in University games or what was known as Polytechnic (now technical universities) games.
For those that fail to progress, it means the end of a burgeoning career in sports, notably athletics.
That, however, appear to have been dealt with in a way as universities now consider brilliant sports athletes for admission but that’s quite limited.
Unlike football which has clubs scattered all around, athletics have few clubs to accommodate the unlucky ones.
Now in the case where few competitions were organised, prizes presented at some of these competitions were nothing to write home about.
I have witnessed the organisation of such events in the past where winners of some disciplines received pressing irons, fans, heaters, cameras and other products.
From such products, one wonders how such athletes without proper management teams are able to survive and also prepare for other events.
For an athlete with such humble beginnings to his current status to make such call, it truly mean there are a lot of things fundamentally wrong with the athletics system in Ghana.
The current managers of the sport led by the dynamic Bawa Fuseini appear to be doing very well to improve their fortunes but while focusing on getting athletes to qualify for the big events, they must find ways to address concerns such as the one coming from Saminu.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Kotoko, Goldstars, Nations FC in contention for league honours tomorrow
The curtain will officially be lowered on the 2024-25 Ghana Premier League (GPL) season tomorrow with all final round fixtures set to kick off simultaneously at 3pm.
With the title race, top-four finish, and final standings on the line, fans can expect a dramatic and action-packed conclusion to what has been a compelling campaign.
In Accra, Hearts of Oak will be aiming to secure a top-four finish as they welcome FC Samartex 1996 to the Accra Sports Stadium. The Phobians, buoyed by recent form, are eager to end the season on a high in front of their home fans.
Accra Lions face a daunting away trip to Bibiani, where they will take on title-chasing, Gold Stars FC, in a crucial fixture with Premier League implications. Gold Stars, locked in a tight title race, know that only a win will keep their hopes alive.
Dreams FC, safe in mid-table, will host relegated Legon Cities in what is expected to be a low-stakes encounter.
In another intriguing matchup, Bechem United square off with Young Apostles at the Nana Gyeabour Park, while Aduana FC will look to finish strong as they host Basake Holy Stars at the Nana Agyemang Badu I Park.
The spotlight, however, will be firmly on Nations FC, who remain firmly in the title picture. They host Heart of Lions in a must-win fixture that could decide the destiny of the league crown.
Elsewhere, Medeama SC welcome Berekum Chelsea to the TnA Stadium in Tarkwa.
Vision FC, who have impressively retained their top-flight status in their debut season, will host Asante Kotoko at the Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex. –Ghanafa.org
