A Football Crazy Society, are we?

… google search for January corroborates this fact

If for nothing at all, we are all very much aware of how sports, particularly football, was, is and continues to be the passion of the nation, with throes of fans pouring out to watch Black Stars, their preferred European and local clubs in footy action.

Beyond merely seeing people gather at joints to feast their eyes on some football action and the passion with which callers and contributors to radio and TV discussions relative to football, express themselves research has also proven what I dare say is fact.

The latest corroborators of this fact are google Ghana whose results as per their January 2011 highest search items revealed that football and football related topics were very much in the thick of what issues that was on the minds of internet users.

Of the ten highest search topics as ascertained by google Ghana, football issues clinched four results, the highest of which was the English Premier League (EPL) which placed on the sixth spot.

Aside the EPL, an online portal dedicated to sports but with focus more on football, “ghanasoccernet,” came in at the ninth position, only ahead of the tenth search result, north London football team, “Chelsea FC,” another north London based team, “Arsenal,” were the seventh placed side on the log.

The wider implications as could be concluded from the dominance of football on the google Ghana list of highest search items must however leave us all thinking, first is about why the EPL as a search item is on the minds of Ghanaians comparative to our own GLO Premier League.

Then again, why it is that Chelsea and Arsenal, clubs that play miles away from us prompt higher search prospects relative to say, Kotoko and Hearts, which at least are undisputedly, Ghana’s biggest and I dare say, most prestigious clubs.

The reason I think is premised on the absence or otherwise, the poor state of websites of Ghanaian clubs, (even of Hearts and Kotoko) sites that are hardly ever updated, with dull features and far less information, even with the strength of reach of the internet and the attendant rise in use of the resource by sports savvy people.

Beyond the clubs, even the Ghana Football Association’s, (GFA) website is not top notch if I may say if put side-by-side that of other FAs the world over, again, organizers of the league, the Premier League Board, (PLB) I doubt if they have a website at all.

In the era, when individual clubs in Europe, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and the likes give up-to-the-minute LIVE update of matches, the closest in our peculiar case is the exploits of online portal, “ghanasoccernet.”

Little wonder that the above mentioned portal was about the only sports component to have made it onto the list, ghanasoccernet, has over the years built credibility as a trusted reference point at least relative to local football and of Ghanaians abroad.

Along with football which is at the centre of this piece, educational related search made a strong showing with three slots on the ranking. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST) and the University of Ghana, (UG) Legon made the third and fifth positions respectively.

The West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) slated to be written in May – June of this year came second behind ‘New year messages’ as a search item.

Social networking site ‘twitter’ and news online portal, ‘ghanaweb,’ were all represented albeit the highest placed search item, perhaps on the advent of entering a new year was rightfully so, search on; “New Year Messages.”

Google Zeitgeist explores billions of global search queries received by google each month and highlights top trends as pertains to particular countries.

The full list of fastest rising google search items for January 2011

1. New Year Messages

2. The West Africa Exams Council (WAEC)

3. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

4. Twitter

5. University of Ghana (UG)

6. The English Premier League

7. Arsenal

8. Ghanaweb

9. Ghanasoccernet

10. Chelsea

By Shaban Barani Alphaalfarsenal@yahoo.com