Full name | Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | Phobia | ||
Founded | 11 November 1911 | ||
Ground | Accra Sports Stadium | ||
Capacity | 40,000 | ||
Chairman | Togbe Afede XIV | ||
Manager | Slavko Matic | ||
League | Ghana Premier League | ||
2022–23 | 12th | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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. [1] Founded in 1911, the club is 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 on the Ghanaian football pyramid. The Accra Sports Stadium is the club's home grounds, where it plays its home games.
Hearts has won the Premier League twenty-one times, the Ghanaian FA Cup a record twelve times, [2] the Ghana Super Cup, a joint record three times [3] [4] the President's Cup, six times, [5] [6] [7] and the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup once each. [8] 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. [9] 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. [10] 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; Hearts of Oak won the Shield six times, including the final tournament played in 1954. [11]
The club was founded on 11 November 1911 in Accra. [12] Hearts of Oak won their first major match in 1922 when Sir Gordon Guggisberg, then Governor of the Gold Coast, founded the Accra Football League. Hearts won 6 out of 12 seasons in this league. The club also won the 1953/54 edition of the Gold Coast Club Competition – the colonial precursor to the Ghana Premier League. [10] In 1956, Hearts joined the Ghanaian Football League and have flourished ever since. [13]
In the year 2000, the Hearts of Oak won the Ghanaian FA cup, the Ghana Premier League and for the first time in their history the CAF Champions League. [14] This was the most successful year in the club's history. [15] The team was led by club Joseph Ansah. [16]
On 9 May 2001, 127 people died in Africa's worst footballing disaster. During a match between rivals, Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. Trouble started when supporters of Asante Kotoko began ripping out seats in an act of hooliganism in protest at a goal allowed by the referee. The match was officiated by referee J. Wilson Sey, [17] from Cape Coast. Police reacted by firing tear gas into the crowd, it has been suggested that this was an over-reaction. Reports suggest that the gates to the ground were locked and the stadium was not up to FIFA standards. The rush to escape the tear gas was a contributory factor to the death toll. A commission inquiry, indicted six police officers in its initial report, but they were not convicted as it was deemed that the deaths could have been caused by the stampede instead of the tear gas. [18] [19] As of 2020, the transfer value of the Accra Hearts of Oak was £2.03 million, the highest of all sports clubs in Ghana. [20]
Accra Hearts of Oak play home matches at the Accra Sports Stadium. The Accra Sports Stadium holds an estimated 40,000 seats. Although purchased in the 1980s, the Pobiman Training Ground was only put to use in the summer of 2018. Construction for an expansion of the 19-acre site in the Pobiman neighborhood, is currently in the planning stages way. The club plans to build a state-of-the-art facility.
Accra Hearts of Oak's longest established rivalry is with Asante Kotoko S.C. and their city rivals Accra Great Olympics FC.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For all former players with a Wikipedia article see Category:Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players
List of managers since 1991
Charles Kweku Bismark Taylor Asampong is a former Ghanaian professional footballer who played as a striker or an attacking midfielder. He had his greatest playing days and is one of the few players to play for Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. and Asante Kotoko. As a kid, he was often called tailor, after his uncle who was a tailor as he used to help his uncle with work, hence, he adopted the name Charles Taylor after the former Liberian president. Nicknamed "Terror" due to his ability to terrorise opponents. He's arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the Ghana premier league and a key member of the famous "64 Battalion" squad of Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. that won the African Champions League in 2000 and consecutive Ghanaian league titles.
Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the Porcupine Warriors, they compete in the Ghana Premier League and play their home matches at the Baba Yara Stadium in Amakom, Kumasi.
Cape Coast Mysterious Ebusua Dwarfs is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Cape Coast. The club competes in the Ghana Premier League, the Premier division on the Ghanaian football pyramid, and holds home games at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.
The Ghana Super Cup is a football competition involving a match played between the champion of the Ghana Premier League and the winner of the Ghanaian FA Cup in Ghana. The first Ghana Super Cup competition took place in the 1996–1997 season, after which there was a thirteen-year hiatus between the 1998 and 2010 seasons. Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko are the two most successful clubs in the competition's history.
James Kwesi Appiah, also known as Akwasi Appiah, is a Ghanaian football coach and former player who played as a left back and is currently the head coach of Sudan national football team.
David Duncan is the assistant coach of the Ghana national football team, the Black Stars.
Mas-Ud Didi Dramani is a football coach and a retired Ghana international football player. He is the Head coach of the Asante Kotoko. Didi is also a senior Confederation of African Football (CAF) instructor and assessor of coaches. He is also the formal Head coach of the Ghana National under 17 team where he qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan and won a bronze medal.
Mathew Anim Cudjoe is a Ghanaian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Scottish Championship side Dundee United and the Ghana National under-20 team.
Justice Blay is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ghana Premier League club Asante Kotoko and the Ghana national team.
Christopher Nakai Nettey is a Ghanaian footballer who plays as a right-back for Great Olympics and the Ghana national football team.
Samuel Paa Kwesi Fabin is a Ghanaian professional football manager. He is the current coach of the Ghana national U-23 team. He is a former coach Ghana Premier League teams; Asante Kotoko, Accra Hearts of Oak and Aduana Stars He previously coached the Ghana national U-17 team leading them to 2nd place in the 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.
Daniel Afriyie Barnieh is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward for Swiss Super League club Zürich.
Michael Donkor is former Ghanaian professional footballer who played as a defender. He played most of his career with Ghanaian Premier league giants Accra Hearts of Oak.
Ismail Abdul-Ganiyu is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as defender and captains Ghana Premier League side Asante Kotoko S.C.
Kwadwo Obeng Junior is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ghanaian Premier league side Accra Hearts of Oak.
Frederick Ansah Botchway is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Zimbabwean club Dynamos City.
David Sandan Abagna is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Moldovan Super Liga club Petrocub Hincesti.
Sam Adams is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ghanaian Premier League side Aduana Stars. Adams won the Ghana Premier League in 2017 and the Ghana Super Cup in 2018 during his first stint with Aduana Stars. He joined Asante Kotoko in December 2019 but left after 8 months after his contract was terminated only to rejoin Aduana Stars in 2020.
The 2021–22 Ghana Premier League was the 66th season of the top professional association football league in Ghana which began on 29 October 2021 and concluded on 19 June 2022. Hearts of Oak were the defending champions.
The SWAG Cup (Sports Writers Association of Ghana Cup) is an annual one-off game, featuring two selected clubs at the end of the season. The cup is called the H.P. Nyemitei Cup in honour of former GFA president Henry Plange Nyemitei and the SIC H.P. Nyemitei Cup for sponsorship reasons. football season. The game is the official shutdown match for the football season in Ghana.