Hearts to embark on fan registration drive â?? Togbe Afede

The Board Chairman for Hearts of Oak, Togbe Afede XIV says the club will embark on an exercise to officially register fans of the club in order to determine supporter strength.

Speaking at the unveiling of the club’s new Managing Director, Gerald Ankrah, Togbe Afede noted that the fans are viewed as a very important arm of the club by the Board, expressing dismay at the fact that the club is unable to correctly determine the number of fans supporting the club.

“Hearts of Oak consists not only of players; technical men, management and board but more importantly and this board recognizes it, is the role of the fans of Accra Hearts of Oak. Time and again, we are asked how large is your fan base and we don’t know. I travel to talk on behalf of Accra Hearts of Oak at many big places (you will soon begin to see the outcome) and they ask me how many are your people and I say about 8million people are behind the Oak tree.

"This is the time for us to document that 8million; so in order to mobilize the total fan base of Accra Hearts of Oak – local and international; the board has come up with this innovative idea; the first of its kind in the country (maybe in Africa).”

The Board Chairman explained that every supporter would be registered in the ‘Hearts Register’, adding that a website is being developed that would require registration before it can be accessed by fans of the club.

“The whole idea is to register every member, supporter or sympathizer of the Oak tree and have what we shall call the ‘Hearts Register’ or ‘The Phobia’. To be called a true Phobian, your name must be found in that register. We are developing a new website that, your name has to be on that website. You have to have that card that identifies you as a Phobian and you can access that website freely. You have the opportunity to be communicated to by the directors directly when they send information to the fan base and we have got the idea of giving these select groups of people representation on the Hearts board.”