Buckle up! The new season of the Ghana Premier League is here, and for the next couple of months, it will be the only league that matters.
Real Tamale United have fought their way through and secured a long- awaited return to the Premier League alongside newcomers Accra Lions and Bibiani Gold Stars.
The trio are set to compete with a pack of hungry wolves in the division to either survive relegation or by their wildest imagination win the 2021/22 Ghana Premier League season.
In here we take a look at the home and away kings for last season and how that could affect the title race this season.
Home and away kings
Home record
Aduana Stars made a fortress out of their home grounds last season, as none of the 17 clubs were able to pick more than a point from Dormaa.
Out of the 17 games played at home last season, the two time Ghana Premier League champions won 13 of them and drew the four remaining.
This means that they won 43 of their total 55 total points of last season at their home venue.
Accra Hearts of Oak, Medeama SC and WAFA were the only sides who came close as they lost only once at home and managed to secure 40 points of of the 17 games played at home.
The tasks for these clubs especially Aduana Stars will be to be as perfect as they were last season.
Away record
A key reason why Aduana Stars were not able to challenge for the league trophy last season was their awful away record.
While being incredibly good at home, the Dormaa based side weren’t just good enough at home.
Aduana Stars just won and drew three games each, amounting to just 12 points on the road.
They certainly would have been better off with the superior form of Kotoko who were the best side and topped the away league table last season.
The Porcupine Warriors collected 26 points on the road as a result of winning eight games and drawing 8.
League champions Accra Hearts of Oak were in second place with 21 away points.
It remains to be seen if Kotoko’s tally will be bettered in the new season.
The title race
Accra Hearts of Oak
Undoubtedly, Accra Hearts of Oak will have no other intention and goal when the new season begins than to go all out and defend their crown in the new season.
After several years of failing to lift the Ghana Premier League trophy, the Phobians did so under the guidance of former Medeama SC head coach Samuel Boadu.
The Phobians have strengthened their team further with the additions of the likes of Kofi Kordzi, Gladson Awako, and Salim Adams; and will be determined to do the double in the 2021/22 season.
Accra Hearts of Oak had an impressive home record in the league last season and maintaining that while improving their away form will be enough to help them defend the crown.
Kumasi Asante Kotoko
The ambitions of the Phobians, will certainly, be threatened by several clubs in the league including arch rivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko whose last win of the Premier League came in 2014.
The Porcupine Warriors camped in Dubai ahead of the new season and have signed about 14 new players to challenge for the title this season.
While being the best away side in the league, Kotoko failed to impress at home.
Perhaps this was due to the fact that they were unable to use the Baba Yara sports stadium.
The expectation then is that the return to their favorite grounds and their fans will propel them to greater heights in the new season.
West African Football Academy
WAFA will certainly be more than a dark horse in the 2021/22 season based on their impressive run in the previous one.
Just as cited earlier, they were one of the best sides at home last season and their home grounds is certainly a place many struggle to survive.
Top clubs like Accra Hearts will testify to that and there is the expectation that some clubs will concede as many as five goals at Sogakope in the course of the season.
Perhaps the only challenge for WAFA will be to put up similar performances away from home.
While they were one of the top four best teams on the run, it was not enough to get them close to the title.
The five points that separated them and Accra Hearts of Oak, who won the title last season, were from away points.
It will thus be crucial for them to improve their away record this season, if the are to compete for the ultimate.
Medeama
The Western based side are two time winners of the FA Cup after winning it in 2013 and 2015 but are yet to win the Ghana Premier League.
Medeama SC were on course to win the trophy in 2018 after topping the league in 14 games, but the league was annulled due to the Number 12 exposé.
The departure of Samuel Boadu to Accra Hearts of Oak after being at the club since 2018 did no good to the club’s ambitions last season but they will be hoping to go all out with their new coach Ignatius Osei.
The Golden boot curse
The new season will be without last season’s top scorer, Diawise Taylor after the striker departed the Ayinase based club a couple of months ago.
With 18 strikes after 34 matchdays, Taylor won the golden boot award last season, with King Faisal’s Kwame Peprah only coming in second with 12 goals and Kotoko’s new signing Stephen Amankona with 11 goals.
While that represents a decent return of 0.529 goals per game, it does not speak well of the clinical nature of Ghanaian attackers and forwards.
That certainly is not an issue peculiar to last season’s top scorer but has been in the top flight for several seasons.
Between the period of 2000 and 2021, only three players have been able to hit at least 20 goals in the top flight.
Accra Hearts of Oak’s Ishmael Addo comes first on the list after notching 21 league goals in the 2000/2001 season before adding another goal to the tally to make it 22 in the 2001/2002 season.
He remains the only player in the said period to have netted 20 goals and over in two consecutive seasons and the only player to have won the crown of top scorer in consecutive seasons.
Ishmael Addo is joined on the list by Emmanuel Baffuor who had an incredible time with New Edubiase in the 2011/2012 Ghana Premier League season.
The third is Accra Hearts of Oak’s Mahatma Otoo who took over the reins as top scorer from Baffour in the subsequent season after netting 20 goals in the 2012/2013 season.
Below is a list of the top scorers from 2000 to 2021:
2000 Ishmael Addo, Hearts of Oak, 21 goals
2001 Ishmael Addo, Hearts of Oak, 22 goals
2002 Bernard Dong Bortey, 18 goals
2003 Shaibu Yakubu, Goldfields Obuasi, 13 goals
2004/05 Samuel Yeboah, Heart of Lions
2005 Prince Tagoe, Hearts of Oak, 18 goals
2006/07 Emmanuel Clottey, Great Olympics, 14 goals
2007/08 Eric Bekoe, Asante Kotoko, 17 goals
2008/09 Bismark Idan, Kessben FC, 13 goals
2009/10 Samuel Affum, Hearts of Oak, 13 goals
2010/11 Nana Poku, Berekum Arsenal, 14 goals
2011/12 Emmanuel Baffour, New Edubiase United, 21 goals
2012/13 Mahatma Otoo, Hearts of Oak, 20 goals
2013/14 Augustine Okrah, Bechem, 16 goals
2014/15 Kofi Owusu Berekum Chelsea, 19 goals
2015/16 Latif Blessing Liberty Professionals, 17 goals
2016/17 Hans Kwofie Ashanti Gold, 17 goals
2020/21 Diawise Taylor Karela United 18 goals
Relegation battle
Inter Allies, Ebusua Dwarfs and Lliberty Professionals were the unlucky side to be relegated last season, and ahead of the new season we take a look at the three teams who could fall in a similar category.
Elmina Sharks
Elmina Sharks remain the sole representative of the central region following the relegation of Dwarfs last season.
They were in fact in danger of being relegated but turned the corner in their last two games of the season.
According to Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, who serves as the CEO of the club, Elmina Sharks could have done far better if they performed well in certain profile of games.
“Our current position on the league table is not as a result of our very recent results, he said.
“What hurts me most is that the likes of King Faisal can come to our own stadium to defeat us. That is very hurtful.
“It is also painful to lose against the likes of Liberty Professionals and Inter Allies when Elmina Sharks are capable of defeating the likes of Kotoko…”
Based on last season, Elmina Sharks are tipped as one the sides to be relegated, but they could avoid that if they find a solution to the challenge identified by their CEO.
King Faisal
Like Elmina Sharks, King Faisal were lucky not to have been relegated last season.
They might, however, not find such luck this season and would have to improve their performances.
Last season, the club lost more games than they won or drew, losing 13 out of their 34 games of the 2020/21 season.
They were the 13th best team in the league in terms of away records and had a goal difference of -21 after 17 games on the road.
King Faisal also ranked 15th on the home record table, securing an unconvincing 1.76 PPG last season.
There’s certainly work to be done if they are to survive.
Legon Cities
Tagged as a potential threat to the title contenders in the league last season, Legon Cities fell short of that expectation as they ended up fighting for a survival spot.
The club dominated the headlines prior to the 2020/21 season with their recruitment, bringing in Ghanaian legend Asamoah Gyan and others such Victorien Adebayor, but were unable to deliver.
Legon Cities won the same number of points as King Faisal last season, while ranking as the 8th best home team in the league.
New coach Maxwell Konadu, who joined at the latter part of last season to help the team survive alongside Bashir Hayford will have the task of helping the side perform better.
Players to watch out for
Adamu Amadu (Dreams)
The skillful winger was one of the exciting talents in the Ghana Premier League last season.
He spent the whole 2020/21 season, away from his parent club Krystal Palace, with Liberty Professionals, but despite his bright performances, he couldn’t help Liberty Professionals to stay up.
This season, he will be hoping to put up more impressive performances after joining Dreams FC on a season long loan.
Stephen Amankona (Kotoko)
The former Berekum Chelsea player is among the 14 new players who have been signed by the Porcupine Warriors ahead of the new season.
Amankona led his side to secure 10th position in the league last season closely behind the likes of Karela United and Ashanti Gold, but the expectation will be bigger now.
Kotoko have not been potent enough in front of goal following the departure of Kwame Opoku last season and the expectation is that the arrival of the ‘number 10’ alongside other forwards recruited this season will help propel the club to higher heights.
There is certainly no questions about the quality of the player and can be as clinical as you would want a forward to be, evidenced by the 11 goals he netted last season.
Accra Lions and Elmina Sharks will set the ball rolling for the new season and that will hopefully be the beginning of something exciting.
Let the season begin!
