To immerse ourselves in Ghana culture, we decided to attend the premier local event, a football (soccer) match at the famed Ohene Djan stadium. Here is some history behind the Accra Hearts of Oak SC: The club was formed in 1911 and was the second team to be founded in Accra after the Invincibles. They are the oldest existing club in Ghana. The club was, in the most part, trained by Ackom Duncan, who would also become the team's first captain. Other members of the fledgling club were J.T. Ankrah (father of Ghana boxing great, Roy Ankrah), and C.B. Nettey, who was later to become the chairman of the Ghana Football Association. Hearts first match would come on November 11, 1911 against the Invincible[1].
Here is a team photo of the current Hearts of Oak club:
Hearts of Oak won their first major match in 1922 when Sir Gordon Guggisberg, governor of the Gold Coast, founded the Accra Football League. Hearts won 6 out of 12 seasons in this league. In 1956, Hearts joined the Ghanaian football league and have flourished since[2]. Their vice chairman was Mr Robert Hayfron.
Tragedy
Hearts suffered a great tragedy on May 9, 2001 when 126 people died in Africa's worst footballing disaster while watching a match between 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 for Hearts of Oak, which they believe should have been disallowed for offside. 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 that the rush to escape the tear gas was a contributory factor to the death toll. A commission inquiry strangely failed to indict the hooligans in its report[3].
Since we had never been to professional soccer match, we did not know what to expect. We geared ourselves in Hearts of Oak garb, and got tickets into the stadium. About the size of Carter-Finley, NC State fans could only hope to attain the atmosphere that was present during the game. I'm not a fan of soccer, but I swear that every person inside that stadium cheered as if their life depended on the outcome of the game. After the loudest 90 minutes of my life, is was dismayed to learn that when the home team loses, like they did today, in a 1-0 game, the fans get really angry. Pushing and shoving for about 45 minutes, we managed to get out of the stadium with only minor scrapes and bruises. We vowed never to go to another soccer match again.
After that disaster, we decided to find a bar to drown our sorrows and refuel our stomachs. Still wearing our team colors, we were greeted pleasantly everywhere we went. When we flashed our ticket stubs at the bar we settled on, the local started cheering, and dancing around us. We were flabbergasted by this experience, but so overcome with the local pride for their team, we decided to offer a round of drinks at the small bar to all the patrons. Not really sure if this was an okay thing to do or not, we found out that this small gesture made us even bigger heroes. Someone even produced a small american flag from somewhere, and a huge cheer went up in the bar when they waved it around us. Crazy African cultures can be so much fun!!!
Costs for the day, including tickets, clothes, food: 1300 GNC
information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accra_Hearts_of_Oak_SC
No comments:
Post a Comment