Sam Arday (2 November 1945 – 12 February 2017) was a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who has managed the Ghana national side on two occasions – from 1996 to 1997, and again in 2004. He retired from the police service where his last position was a Superintendent. He was the originator of the 'multi system' technique of football, which involved playing all attack and all defense simultaneously. This was executed by switching among the 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and the 4-4-2 formations. He was a scout for the Black Stars prior to the 2006 World Cup in Germany and again when Akwasi Appiah was the coach of the team.

Coaching career

Arday was the coach of Ghana Olympic Team, which won the Olympic Bronze Soccer Medal at Barcelona '92, the first for an African country, and coach of

Ghana national under-20 football team Ghana national U-20 football team known as the ''Black Satellites'', is considered to be the feeder team for the Ghana national football team. They are the former 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions and U-20 Africa Cup ...

. The Black Satellites won the Bronze Medal at 1991 Africa Youth Championship in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

after beating Zambia 2:0 in the 3rd and 4th Place Match. He then became head coach of the

Ghana national under-17 football team The Ghana national U-17 football team, known as the Black Starlets, is the youngest team that represents Ghana in football. They are two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup Champions in 1991 and 1995 and a two-time Runner-up in 1993 and 1 ...

, the Black Starlets, who won the

1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship was the sixth edition of the FIFA U-17 World Championship which was held in the cities of Guayaquil, Portoviejo, Quito, Ibarra, Cuenca, and Riobamba in Ecuador from 3 to 20 August 1995. Players born after ...

Trophy in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and the African Under-17 Championship in

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. On the local scene, he coached teams like Ashgold,

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional sports, professional association football, football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''African crested ...

Okwawu United Okwawu United is a Ghanaian professional Football team, football club based in Nkawkaw, Eastern Region (Ghana), Eastern Region. They are competing in the Access Bank Ghana Plc, Access Bank Division One League, Ghana, Division One League. Their hom ...

and Feynoord. He was the Technical Director of Ghana Premier League side West Africa Football Academy at the time of his death. He also brought Tony Yeboah into the limelight from Kumasi Cornerstone

References

1945 births 2017 deaths Ghanaian football managers Ghana national football team managers Ashanti Gold S.C. managers Sportspeople from Accra {{Ghana-footy-bio-stub