Most football clubs in Ghana are not living up to their given names, much less their accolades. It is one angle fallen standards may be viewed.
All things being equal, a club like Cape Coast Venomous Vipers should be high-flying by now but as deadly as its name suggests, Vipers are groping in the wilderness. In the elite division in 1986, the Cape Coasters failed to sting the other contenders though it nearly succeeded in dragging Mighty Accra Hearts of Oak to relegation in one of the abysmal years of the “phobians”.
When a win mattered most, and with relegation staring at both of them, the stakes higher for the Accra-based club to save their blushes owing to its big name, Vipers held Hearts to a 1-1 drawn game in the league’s penultimate match in Accra. Vipers went down, Hearts managed to survive. That was about the best fairy tales attained by the club with the intimidating name, Venomous Vipers.
The word “hero” carries weight. It suggests profoundness and mightiness. Upper West Heroes of Wa and a club called Ashanti Heroes of Kumasi, now defunct, failed to glitter. Their best records were simple qualification to play in the elite division of Ghana football and staying in the lower ranks to cause few and far between upsets in open galas respectively. Both are consigned to history now.
Mighty Sailors of Koforidua took upon itself, a name that did not connect with its environment or the place it originated. There is nothing like the sea in the forested area of Koforidua. The “Mighty” as the prefix to the Sailors also failed to click for the club. It remained in the division two league till it petered away from the assembly of football clubs in Ghana.
However, how Kumasi Cornerstones with the accolade “the spoilers” died away is bemusing. A cornerstone is a fortress and a symbol of reliability. Led by Anthony Yeboah, Frimpong Manso, Odame Ampomah, Emmanuel Ampeah, Ibrahim Gariba, and Ebenezer Lomotey, corners proved their mettle and became insurmountable. The club’s swift and catastrophic fall following the demise of its Chairman Mr S.Y Andoh, appears to suggest that the actual cornerstone of the club was Chairman Andoh whose presence proved to be magical to its fortunes.
Sekondi Eleven Wise was one club that lived up to its name tag. It gained from a 1983 tour of Brazil under the direction of Ackah Blay-Miezah, to give Ghanaians something to cheer about. The eleven wise men on the pitch against their opponents advertised sublime skills and good ball sense. Their sweet passing game and dribbling prowess were very much in sync with the name “Eleven Wise.” Its brand of entertaining football defined the club, more than laurels yet a fixture with Wise caused trepidations. Shoddy replacements in the wake of player exodus, induced by baits that tantalized them away remain silent existential threats to clubs.
Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs have not attained any meaningful heights, and this is consistent with its name “Dwarfs”. Except for a few flashes of excellence at different stages, Goalkeeper Robert Mensah and Ollabode Williams were with the club, Dwarfs have lived more by the literal meaning, and this paled the mysterious nature of dwarfs into insignificance.
If you delve deeper into the name “Stay cool professionals,” it advertised bluntness more than the cool and collectedness that are inbuilt in the expression “stay cool.” The club lacked verve and aggression that switches play into the attacking mode to goals. It was given a baptism of fire and bundled out of the Ghana league by clubs with a peppery approach to the game.
A name like Hohoe Hustlers gives an inkling into the fold it evolved. The hustlers in town might have come together to form the sporting club, yet the adjectival noun was the operational word, thus even though the club was promising at the time of its existence, it had already placed itself below the loftier levels, being the inferiority complex that defines hustlers. Any hopes in them were dashed by their inability to live down the hangover.
The most glamorous clubs of Ghana, Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak, live in past glory. The porcupine in Kotoko and the fortitude of the Oak tree do not synchronize with their precedents. Having been monarchs of Ghana football, testified by their trophy hauls and international recognition, the long march of the best has hit a bad patch and turned them upside down. See how both are mauled these days by the underrated and the so-called minnows. The balloons that bubbled-burst are often perforated with pins, as would ants in the snouts of elephants.
The list might be endless with regard to football club name connotations. However, this piece will not end without addressing the impact of town or regional names. Clubs that derive their names from places they originated are well-identified and inspired by that pride. Aduana Stars is a title that represents the clan of the people of Dormaa, a smaller town yet motivated enough to defend their pride. Is it any wonder the club continues to defy the bookmakers to cause sensations? They have succeeded in breaking the duopoly of Kotoko and Hearts. A replica of Okwahu United and Real Tamale United in their heydey.
Performance, the real deal on the pitch, provides the answers as to whether what embeds in football club names are contradictions or consistencies. Several factors come into play but the revelation is called by footballers, whether they are aware of the banners they must defend or are bent on making a laughing stock out of themselves.