The very first attempt at organizing a national league in Ghana was in 1958. This maiden contest, however, was poorly organized. Asante Kotoko and four other Kumasi-based teams—Cornerstone, Great Ashanti, Dynamos, and Evergreens—boycotted it. The competition took off with only the teams from the south. In the ensuing confrontation, the four boycotting clubs were able to get others to join them, thus wrecking the league and flouting the authority of the Ghana Amateur Football Association (GAFA).
The competition was eventually left with only Accra Hearts of Oak and Sekondi Eleven Wise, who were later declared, respectively, gold and silver medalists.
The 14 clubs that originally entered the competition were Accra Hearts of Oak, Accra Great Olympics, Accra Standfast, Accra Great Argonauts, Cape Coast Venomous Vipers, Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs, Sekondi Hasaacas, Sekondi Eleven Wise, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Kumasi Cornerstone, Kumasi Dynamos, Kumasi Evergreens, Obuasi Hearts of Oak, and Obuasi Evertons.
After a turbulent year of confusion, a properly organized national league was launched by the newly elected chairman of the Ghana Football Association, Mr. Ohene Djan, who later became the first Director of Sports (and after whom the Accra Sports Stadium is named).
The landscape of the exhibition explores times past to the present era, employing the dynamics of memory. These features are the driving forces that have propelled Ghana to participate in a tournament of the greatest significance on the global scale: The World Cup finals in South Africa.
Essentially, the exhibition considers such questions as: Where have we come from? Where are we going? What have we done? What have others done? It also captures moments in our culture where we make use of this sport in interesting and leisurely ways.
All are cordially invited to witness and participate in this exhibition: “Football in Ghana.”