By Axel Patsch
Football in Cape Coast has a very long tradition. The first football game ever played on Gold Coast's soil was held in December 1903 in Victoria Park between a selection of school students and English sailors. The first organized football club has been formed in Cape Coast as well, called th e Gold Coast Great Excelsiors.
During the years the interest in football increased and in major coastal town like Accra, Winneba or Sekondi clubs have been formed, too. In Cape Coast, a group of young elite came together and founded the „Great Gardens“ which then have been renamed into the Ebuasa Mysterious Dwarfs in 1939 and was one of the eight original clubs of the Ghanaian Premier League, established in 1956.
Football in Cape Coast has a very long tradition. The first football game ever played on Gold Coast's soil was held in December 1903 in Victoria Park between a selection of school students and English sailors. The first organized football club has been formed in Cape Coast as well, called th e Gold Coast Great Excelsiors.
During the years the interest in football increased and in major coastal town like Accra, Winneba or Sekondi clubs have been formed, too. In Cape Coast, a group of young elite came together and founded the „Great Gardens“ which then have been renamed into the Ebuasa Mysterious Dwarfs in 1939 and was one of the eight original clubs of the Ghanaian Premier League, established in 1956.
Winning their only championship in 1966, it has been a rollercoaster-ride with several relegations throughout the years for the Dwarfs. Ending a long drought, the green and yellows finally made back into the Premier League in 2010 where they are currently seeded 9th. Central Press spoke with Jonas Commey, the Dwarfs' administrative manager, about the current situation and the future of the club.
After a longer absence from top football the Dwarfs' goal for the 2010/11 season was to sustain themselves in the league. Seeded 9th at the moment it looks like the Dwarfs will be in no danger to get relegated again. For the next season, they will try to establish themselves in the top four of the league. Regarding to Commey, the potential should be there, although additional from sponsors would definetely help.
Another issue that would help boosting the club's success would be the new arena, the Cape Coast Sports Stadium, that has been planned already and can hold approximately 20,000 people. With the new venue, Dwarfs could attract more people to come see the games because in these days, football is more than just a game. The new stadium would increase the entertainment value of the Dwarfs games which in the current Robert-Mensah-Stadium are pretty basic with no convenience at all. RMS, which is approximately 40 years old, can hold roughly between 5000 and 6000 fans, although not all the games sell out and the average crowd is somewhere between 2000 and 3000.
With the new arena, the Ebusua Dwarfs will also get additional training facilities, administrative offices and a youth academy to improve the education of their youth players which is still the basis for success.
Many young Ghanaians watch the games of their idols on TV and dream of a career like Tony Yeboah, Abedi Pele or Asamoah Gyan, and the list goes on. And although most of them will probably not end up in the English Premier League or the Bundesliga, a solid education can still enable them the have a decent career in the Ghanaian Premier League. In the current, all-ghanaian squad, there are two players that are members of the under 23-national team.
Central Press also asked Jonas Commey about other financial sources like the sales of TV rights and merchandise. The TV rights are owned and sold by the FA and the money is distributed to the club, but so far the numbers are not very high.
Regarding the merchandise: When walking through the streets of Cape Coast one can see many people wearing football jerseys. Most of them are from the European top clubs like Chelsea FC, Manchester United or CF Barcelona. But yellow and green, the Dwarfs' colors, are yet to be seen. Uli Hoeness, former GM of the German top club Bayern Munich, saw very early the huge potential in merchandise sales and started marketing his club all over the world. He said that one day, the club might be able to give away the game tickets for free because all necessary revenues to run the club would come from merchandise sales and TV rights. Commey stated that so far there is nothing available, but that he knows about the financial potential and that the club will start selling jerseys and other articles soon.
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