Accra Hearts of Oak S.C.

The club was founded on 11 November 1911.[1] 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]

In the year 2000, Hearts of Oak won the Ghana FA cup, the Ghana Premier League and for the first time in their history the CAF Champions League.[3] This was the most successful year in the Clubs' history.

On May 9, 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,[4] 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.[5][6]

Accra Hearts of Oak play home matches at the Accra Sports Stadium. The Accra Sports Stadium formerly known as Ohene Djan Sports Stadium is currently under construction and 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.

The team recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases. They recorded 34 positive cases. Their game against Aduana Stars was called off due to results.[7] In another report, they were reported to have recorded 31 COVID-19 cases.[8]

As of 12 November 2020

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GHA Benjamin Nana Yeboah 2 DF  GHA Fatawu Mohammed 3 FW  GHA Victor Aidoo 4 DF  GHA Franklin Owusu 5 MF  GHA Frederick Ansah Botchway 6 DF  GHA William N. Denkyi 7 MF  NIG Abdourahmane Mamane 8 MF  GHA Benjamin Afutu 9 FW  GHA Abednego Tetteh 10 MF  GHA Emmanuel Nettey 11 MF  GHA Michelle Sarpong 12 MF  GHA Dominic Eshun 13 MF  GHA Kwadwo Obeng Junior 14 DF  GHA Robert Addo 15 DF  GHA Mohammed Alhassan 16 FW  NGA Danjuma Ademola Kuti

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 DF  GHA Benjamin Mensah 18 MF  GHA Razak Patrick 19 MF  GHA Daniel Barnie Afriyie 20 MF  GHA Aminu Alhassan 21 FW  CIV Eric Dizan 22 FW  GHA Isaac Mensah 23 GK  GHA Richmond Ayi 24 DF  GHA Nuru Suley 25 MF  GHA Nurideen Abdul Aziz 26 DF  GHA Larry Sumaila 27 DF  CGO Raddy Ovouka Machel 28 MF  GHA Abdul Manef 29 MF  GHA Enoch Addo 30 DF  GHA James Serwonu 31 GK  GHA Richard Attah

[10] Reference as of 12 November,2020

• Petre Gavrilă (1991–95)
• Cecil Jones Attuquayefio (1998–01)
• Herbert Addo (2002–03)
• Ernst Middendorp (2004)
• Eyal Lahman (2008)
• Kosta Papić (2008–09)
• Nebojša Vučićević (2011–12)
• Charles Akonnor (2012)
• David Duncan (2012–13)[11]
• Mohammed Ahmed (Polo) (Interim) (2014)[12]
• Kenichi Yatsuhashi (2015–2016)
• Sérgio Traguil (2016 –2016)
• Frank Nuttall (2017–18)
• Henry Wellington Lamptey (2018) [13]
• Seth Hoffmann (2018) [14]
• Kim Grant (2018–2019)[15]
• Edward Nii Odoom (2020-2020)[16]
• Kosta Papić (2020 to date)[17][18]

• Official website