For a league that witnessed a 58 percent win rate at home in the just ended campaign, it is safe to that any action or inaction that takes any club from its traditional home ground is a curse in disguise.
And rightly so, it is no surprise that the eventual winners of the 2023/2024 Ghana Premier League, FC Samartex 1996 won 16 out of 17 home games at the Nsenkyire Sports Stadium.
Almost every traditional home ground has become a fortress with every single team bar the relegated Bofoakwa Tano FC (W6 D5 L6) winning more home games than draws or losses throughout the season.
But even the only exception, Bofoakwa Tano FC were handed a three-match home ban by the GFA Disciplinary Committee “following various degrees of misconduct in their Premier League match against Nsoatreman FC at the Sunyani Coronation Park.”
A decision which from all indications contributed to the club being relegated in their first season back in the top-flight after 16 years in the lower divisions, just like many other Division One clubs in recent years.
KOTOKU ROYALS ‘WITHOUT A PALACE’
Akyem Oda Kotoku Royals were formidable at home when they won Zone Three of the Division One League amassing 63 points in 30 games to qualify for the 2022/23 Ghana Premier League for the first in their history.
However, all that formidability and home support was stripped away after their home venue at Akyem Oda was rejected by the Club Licensing Board.
The club was forced to adopt the Cape Coast Stadium as its home ground switching later to play at the Dawu Theatre of Dreams. They scrapped a slim one-nil victory over Accra Lions on match-day one, but what followed was disastrous.
The team picked only 26 points in the entire league campaign. With relegation fast knocking and just five games to end the season, they finally decided to deal with the elephant in the room.
The club’s Communications Director, Okatakyie Afrifa, attributed the team’s poor performance to their inability to play at the Oda Sports Stadium, which was promised to be renovated by politicians.
“I believe that that is the major problem of a young club like Kotoku Royals who got the promotion to the Premier League. Unfortunately, we couldn’t even play one match at the Oda Sports Stadium,” he told Radio Gold.
WOUNDED KPANDO HEART OF LIONS SURVIVE
Kpando Heart of Lions first selected the Sogakope Wafa Park as their home grounds for the 2023/24 season and averaged a point a game after three matches at home.
The club then had to relocate to the Hohoe Sports Stadium when the Akosombo Dam spillage flooded Sogakope.
Unsurprisingly, the club only registered its first victory at home on the last matchday in the first round against Berekum Chelsea, just two days to Christmas.
In contrasting form, the club saw a rebirth on their return to the Kpando Sports Stadium with a one-nil win over Asante Kotoko on match-week 18.
The wounded Hearts of Lions in the first round survived by going unbeaten under Coach Bashir Hayford at their traditional home ground backed by the good people of Kpando.
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PRECEDENT FOR PROMOTED SIDES
The precedent is set, clear and backed by data. To the three promoted sides; Young Apostles, Basake Holy Stars, and Vision FC, any action or inaction that will lead to playing home away from home next season will not only be a disservice to the themselves but a self-inflicted curse in disguise.
