Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club

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Hearts of Oak Sporting Club

Full name

Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club

Nickname(s)

Phobia

Founded

1911

Ground

Accra Sports Stadium,
Accra, Ghana
(Capacity 40,000)

Chairman

Steven Akwetey

Manager

Abdul Karim Zito

League

OneTouch Premier League

2006/07

Premier Football League, Champion





Home colours





Away colours

For other meanings see Hearts of Oak

Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, are a football (soccer) club based in Accra, Ghana.

Hearts have been among Ghana and Africa's pre-eminent clubs since their founding and have been very successful since the formation of a Ghanaian football league in 1956 having collected the league title 19 times. Their great rivals are Asante Kotoko of Kumasi who have been champions 20 times.

1 The Early Years
2 Tragedy
3 Achievements (1956-present)
4 Fight song
5 Club motto
6 Current players - 2006/2007
7 External links

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. The Hearts first match would come on November 11, 1911 against the Invincibles.

The Hearts won their first major match in 1922 when Sir Gordon Guggisberg, governor of the Gold Coast, founded the Accra Football League. The Hearts won 6 out of 12 seasons in this league. In 1956 the Hearts joined the Ghanaian football league and have flourished since.

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 controversial goal allowed by the referee to the Hearts of Oak side, despite the linesman raised the flag to signal an 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 in the death toll.