Ghana has lost its five greatest football coaches in two years

The death of a man who was regarded as an innovator among his peers brings to five the number of elite football coaches who have died in the past two years. Their deaths are even more profound losses because cumulatively these five coaches post the highest win rations in the history of Ghana in international football.

There is a sense the country did not play its part in keeping these men alive through better welfare programmes as reward for their services.

Sadly ,we also mourn the knowledge they pass away with. These were men who were not big on leaving memoirs of their achievements. Only Ben Koffie, wrote a manual on coaching, one that has become the preferred text for coaches in Ghana.

Sam Arday has died with his ‘Multi System’ tactics that conquered the world at the U-17 level in 1995, whereas E.K Afranie has passed on with his ‘Ndoboa’, which literally means all defending all attacking strategy.

Below is a list of Ghana’s elite coaches that have passed away in the past two years.

C.K Gyamfi

Coach Gyamfi won three African Cup Nations (AFCON) for Ghana and one of the two coaches to win the continental showpiece three times. Hassan Shehatta of Egypt is the other coach. He died in 2015.

Jones Attuquayefio

The former Great Olympics skipper was part of the Black Stars team that won the 1965 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. He was the technical brains behind Accra Hearts of Oak when the won three league titles, two FA Cup trophies, CAF Champions League, CAF Super Cup and CAF Confederation Cup in the late 1990’s and early 200’s- the golden era of the Phobians. He also coached the Black Stars. He later qualified tiny Benin for their first ever AFCON campaign. Sir Jones Attuquayefio died in 2015, after battling with throat cancer.

Osam Duodu

Osam Duodu propelled Ghana to the 1982 African Cup of Nations triumph in 1978 on home soil. Osam Duodu had several stints with the Black Stars and also set up the technical directorate of the Gambian Football Association. He died last year in Accra.

Ben Kouffie

The former Vipers and Corners Stones striker assisted C.K Gyamfi when Ghana won the 1963 and 1965 Africa Cup of Nations. Ben Koffie coached the Black Stars to a second-place finish in 1970 in Sudan. He was part of the CAF Technical Committee and also headed the Technical Directorate of the Ghana Football Association until his death in 2016.

E.K Afranie

The former Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko coach assisted C.K Gyamfi in 1982 when Ghana won their last Africa Cup of Nations titles. He won league titles with both Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak. Afranie won silver medal with the Black Satellites in 2001 and he was the first coach to qualify the Black Queens for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1999. He also coached the Black Stars in the Africa Cup of Nations in 1984. He was killed in a road accident when being transported from Accra to Kumasi for further treatment late last year.

Sam Arday

The renowned Ghanaian coach conquered the world in 1995 at the U-17 level with his multi-system tactics. Before that time, Arday had already written his name in the minds of the football loving fans by emerging as the first black coach to win a medal in Olympic football when he propelled the Black Meteors to a third-place finish in 1992. He also made great strides at both Kotoko and Hearts by winning them league titles. He passed away on Sunday, after a short illness.