Real Republicans Football Club were a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club based in the capital, Accra, along with Hearts of Oak, one of the most successful Ghanaian clubs in recent years. It was claimed it held Ghana's record for the most consecutive wins, four. The club claimed it formed the core of the national team,

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

Black Stars.

History

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. ...

had an ambition to unite Africa and believed football could be used as a tool. He appointed

Ohene Djan Ohene Djan (29 January 1924 – 26 March 1987) was a Ghanaian sports administrator. Ohene Djan was the First Director (Minister) of Sports of Ghana at the Central Organisation of Sports (COS) and was also vice-president of the Confederati ...

on 1 July 1960 as the Director of Sports. He encouraged Ohene Djan to form the football club which was also known as Osagyefo's Own Club. The passion and belief Nkrumah had in football led to the formation of the football club. It was claimed the team was made up of talented local boys who were assembled together. Notable among them was

Baba Yara Baba Yara (real name Osman Seidu) was a Ghanaian international football player. He was popularly known as the ''King of Wingers''. Early life Baba Yara was originally named Osman Seidu Maada, after his father, Seidu Maada, and his uncle, who w ...

and Dogo Moro from

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''Porcupine Warriors'', they compete in the Ghana Premier Lea ...

, Addo Odametey and Doddo Ankrah from Hearts of Oak. The team won its only

Ghana Premier League The is the top professional association football division of the football league system in Ghana. Officially formed in 1956 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition (which began in 1933 and ended in 1953–54), ...

title in the 1962/63 season. This remains the club's only title to date, as they were dissolved in 1966 at the height of their success. The team were more successful in the

Ghanaian FA Cup The Ghanaian FA Cup, currently known as the MTN FA Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the top knockout tournament of the Ghanaian association football. The competition is played between the clubs of the Premier League, Division One League, Ghana ...

than the league, winning four consecutive tournaments in the 1960s, which proved to be a great decade for the club. Republican's last FA Cup win in 1965 was also their last participation in the tournament, as there was no FA Cup in 1966, the year the club dissolved. Real Republicans were once seen as a model club for the rest of Ghanaian football as they were established at a time when the first edition of a league system in Ghana resulted in chaos and ended with 6 of the 8 teams in the league boycotting in protest at the federation's leader. Edward Jonah Aggrey-Fynn, who was appointed captain of Real Republicans upon signing for the team in the late 1950s/early 1960s, went on to captain the

Ghana national football team The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football, doing it since 1957. The team consists of twenty players including the technical team. The team is nicknamed the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa i ...

after showing great ability and leadership skills at club level. The club also found success in the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and c ...

, reaching the semi-final of the competition in 1964/65. However, they were beaten 2–1 by opponents

Oryx Douala Oryx Club de Douala is a football club from Douala, Cameroon, that achieved most of its success in the 1960s. It won the inaugural African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1964 beating Stade Malien on a score of 2–1 in the final, and so becoming the f ...

from

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

on 31 January 1965 in front of 50,000 at the

Accra Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra. Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium wa ...

and therefore did not reach the final. Oryx Douala went on to win the final against

Stade Malien Stade Malien is a Malian professional football and sports club based in Bamako. One of the two dominant clubs of Malian football, their eastern Bamako training grounds host other sports as well, including a successful basketball club. Footbal ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

. Republicans had qualified for the tournament by winning their domestic league and then winning the "West Africa B" group consisting of league Champions from other countries.

Games played

Real Republicans played against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

after they were invited by

through

in Ghana. The game ended with a 3–3 draw at the

Accra Sports Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra. Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium w ...

. The game was played on 19 August. They defeated Great Ashanti by 3 goals to nil in

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...

to win the Ghana FA Cup.

Accident

On 4 March 1963, the team had a motor accident which occurred at Kpeve, when they returning to Accra after playing a league match against Volta Heroes at

Kpandu Kpando is a town and capital of Kpando Municipal District Kpando Municipal District is one of the eighteen districts in Volta Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly on 10 March 1989 when it was known as Kpando Distri ...

who was claimed to be one of the glamorous footballer of all times in Ghana, got seriously injured which led to his career curtailed in his prime at the age of 26.

Disbanded

The team was disbanded after President

and his government were overthrown by coup de tat. The new military regime disbanded Real Republicans and Ghanaian football went into a relative period of decline.

Ghanaian FA Cup Wins

References

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External links

* http://ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/soccer * http://weltfussballarchiv.com/Vereinsprofilnew.php?ID=8470 Football clubs in Ghana Football clubs in Accra 1956 establishments in Gold Coast (British colony) 1966 disestablishments in Ghana Association football clubs disestablished in 1966