Why Abra-Appiah Never Won National Adulation

On December 30, 2005, a young vibrant and exuberant football administrator bamboozled experienced football geniuses, Ade Coker, Vincent Odotei Sowah and Kojo Bonsu in an election to succeed Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe who announced his resignation from the office of the Ghana Football Association earlier in the year in a radio interview.

The young man, Kwesi Osman Nyantakyi accepted a responsibility to become the first citizen of Ghana football, and club football being both soul and heart of the country’s beautiful game as stated by the first director of the Ghana Football, Ohene Djan when the Ghana Premier league was properly structured in 1958, chose a right-wing man to oversee the affairs of club football.

The honour fell on the shoulders of Welbeck Abra-Appiah, who had served at the body as first vice chairman under Maj (RtF) Yaw Larson from 1993 to 2004. With a wealth of experience at the highest level of football management, Kwesi Nyantakyi gave him the driving seat to partner him steer Ghanaians love to its peak.

In brutal truth, his tenure as the head of the landlord of the body has been a sweet-sour journey. Ten years at the offices of the PLB, his success and failure on a beam balance will be in a equilibrium.

When Abra-Appiah was the vice chairman, the world fell in love with Ghana football. Accra Hearts of Oak, the continental club masters made their way into the history books of CNN and World Soccer Magazine. They were ranked the 8th world best club ahead of Spanish giants Real Madrid 2001.

The late Cecil Jones Attuquofio who masterminded the club’s Africa success, ignored foreign-based players for a crunch world cup qualifier against Nigeria at the Accra Sports Stadium. He invited five players from Asante Kotoko, two each from Liberty Professionals and Obuasi Goldfields (now Ashanti Gold) and one from Ebusua Dwarfs.

Nigeria, by contrast, named foreign-based players for the match and most Ghanaians were expecting the Super Eagles to win by a wide margin, but to their surprise, the local players held to grounds and recorded a draw — that was Ghana Premier League talents on display.

Ghana was a constant threat to teams in CAF inter-club football competitions. Who can forget the all Ghana CAF Confederation Cup final in 2004? But since then, Ghana has lost the path that poured acid on opponents when the teams from this country were mentioned.

Clubs now fail with distinction in Africa, and we’ve witnessed only two money zone football from our clubs: Hearts of Oak, Kotoko and Berekum Chelsea respectively (in 2005/06 and 2012).

Where did it go all wrong? What was done differently to make club a beauty to behold? Did Abra-Appiah led PLB abandoned the strategies that made local football so admiring? Were from the python that destroyed local football? And why has been difficult returning it to the days old? These are the numerous questions I have struggled to provide answers to. Abra-Appiah understudied for many years and was a partner to the success local football chalked, and taking over the mantle of leadership should have been a success but in contrast, it became dreadful.

Instead of local football rising to the apex it sunk and is continuing to sink and we may soon find oil underneath.

The future of club football is bleak. It is gloomy and club’s are in tatters.

And in the natural world, the mid version has always been served to the leader and Abra-Appiah will gladly be the stock of failure in that regard.

However, Abra-Appiah’s administration should be credited for throwing hooliganism through the windows. It is not completely erased, though, but gone are the days when players and officials were molested for winning away from home. His work has not earned him a national adulation, but it has changed the image of the country’s football.

“It hasn’t been easy, honestly, it hasn’t been easy. Some of these things are such that if you want your football to develop you need to have first and famous, infrastructure.l,” Abra-Appiah reminisced why Ghana football bloom now looks gloomy.

“Years ago, before the 10 years that I have been the chairman of the PLB, there were series of governments which came where the then minister for Youth and Sports said that every year they were going to put an infrastructure like what we have at El Wak for each of the regions, but that idea never materialized.”

On hooliganism, Abrah Appiah said:

“There were many instances. Okwahu United of which I was the financier went to play in Tamale in a crucial match, Kwame Bamfo ‘Sikkens’ and myself were molested and all the people we knew, the RTU directors closed their and watch us been molested.

“I sat on the floor to watch the game because they would not permit me to sit on the chair. These are some of the moments that tells us that Ghana football has come of age and now we’ve stepped into a new era where some of these molestations and other atrocities are no more there in our football.”

From a neutral perspective, this could be a major achievement, but is one not worth celebrating. And if Ghana football can’t still find it’s feet in the 21st century, he paid his dues but we should have progressed and not retrogress.