Two years after floatationof shares… HEARTS OF OAK GETTING BETTER THAN BEFORE

“we want to win more honours” says SAS GM

Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club went on the stock exchange and floated shares for the general public to invest in 2011. Two years on stake holders are weighing whether the floatation had been successful.

Mr. Apiigi Afenu, General Manager of Stragetic African Securities (SAS) who is a stunch Phobian believes the floatation had been very good and though the estimated target of 10 milllion Ghana Cedis was not met, a quarter of it as yielded and the 2.5 million Ghana Cedis had been rightly invested. He revealed that 1622 shareholders are the owners of the club and they have entrusted the management into the hands of the Chairman of the Board, the Board and management.

According to Mr. Afenu, most of the projections focused on had not been hit and very soon the plans would be implemented. He said Accra Hearts of Oak is about to build an ultra modern club house with gymnasium and academy attached.

He hinted that the training pitch at Kpobiman is under contruction by Green Grass Technology (GGT), and efforts are being done to make the players happy so that they can deliver.

The General Manager of the prime sponsors of Hearts said SAS pumps 60, 000 Ghana Cedis into the team every month and that amount must be accounted for and utilized positively.

He noted that Hearts travel by jet when they are going for away games in Kumasi or Wa in the north of Ghana, and all these are borne by the SAS who own an airline aside a financial institution. Mr. Afenu urged supporters not to be discouraged as greater things are about to happen. He confidently predicted a league triumph and then Hearts of Oak will be the model of Ghana and Africa.

He said 1.9 million Ghana Cedis was spend on player poaching in the last two seasons and in the first season most of the players under Coach C.K. Akunnor could not preform as expected. When Coach David Duncan took over, he was able to move the club from the relagation zone and Hearts placed a comfortable fifth position missing the Top Four and an opportunity to play in the continental competition.

With the new season getting started, Mr. Afenu thinks the share holders who are not happy, would be made happy. He said now Hearts is being run scientifically and professionally with the appointment of a new chief executive in the person of Neil Armstrong-Mortagbe, a FIFA Adminstration and Marketing consultant and former chairman of the National Chapters Committee (NCC).

The target of the management and fans of Accra Hearts of Oak is to win the league, the FA Cup, get the best players winning personal awards like Goal King, Most Valuable Player, Most Promising Player, Best Defender, Best Goalkeeper and others.