Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

(

Greater Accra The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the second most populated region, befor ...

), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its traditional colours are red, yellow and blue. Hearts of Oak competes in the Ghana Premier League, the premier division on the Ghanaian football pyramid. The

Accra Sports Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra. Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium was ...

is the club's home grounds, where it plays its home games. Hearts has won the Premier League twenty-one times, the Ghanaian FA Cup a record twelve times, the Ghana Super Cup, a joint record three times the President's Cup, five times, and the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

and the CAF Confederations Cup once each. Accra Hearts of Oak was also ranked eighth football club in the world in the year 2000 when the club dominated most of the continent's sporting activities. Accra Hearts of Oak remains the only football club in West Africa to have won a Continental Treble; one of 6 Africa-based clubs and one of 21 football clubs worldwide to have achieved this feat. During the colonial period, Hearts of Oak won a combined total of eight football league trophies in the ''Accra Football League'' and the ''Gold Coast Club Competition'', both precursors to the Ghana Premier League. In the Accra Football League, Hearts of Oak won the Guggisberg Shield donated by Sir Gordon Guggisberg, then Governor of the Gold Coast in 1922; the competition for Accra-based clubs was played on 12 occasions between 1922 and 1954; Hearts of Oak won the Shield six times, including the final tournament played in 1954.

History

The club was founded on 11 November 1911 in Accra. Hearts of Oak won their first major match in 1922 when Sir Gordon Guggisberg, then Governor of the Gold Coast, founded the ''Accra Football League''. Hearts won 6 out of 12 seasons in this league. The club also won the 1953/54 edition of the ''Gold Coast Club Competition'' - the colonial precursor to the Ghana Premier League. In 1956, Hearts joined the Ghanaian Football League and have flourished ever since. In the year 2000, the Hearts of Oak won the Ghanaian FA cup, the Ghana Premier League and for the first time in their history the

. This was the most successful year in the club's history. The team was led by club Joseph Ansah. On 9 May 2001, 127 people died in Africa's worst footballing disaster. During a match between rivals, Hearts of Oak and

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''Porcupine Warriors'', they compete in the Ghana Premier Lea ...

. Trouble started when supporters of Asante Kotoko began ripping out seats in an act of hooliganism in protest at a goal allowed by the referee. The match was officiated by referee J. Wilson Sey, from

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

. Police reacted by firing tear gas into the crowd, it has been suggested that this was an over-reaction. Reports suggest that the gates to the ground were locked and the stadium was not up to FIFA standards. The rush to escape the tear gas was a contributory factor to the death toll. A commission inquiry, indicted six police officers in its initial report, but they were not convicted as it was deemed that the deaths could have been caused by the stampede instead of the tear gas. As of 2020, the transfer value of the Accra Hearts of Oak was £2.03, the highest of all sports clubs in Ghana.

Grounds

Accra Hearts of Oak play home matches at the

. The Accra Sports Stadium formerly known as Accra Sports Stadium is currently under construction and holds an estimated 40,000 seats. Although purchased in the 1980s, the Pobiman Training Ground was only put to use in the summer of 2018. Construction for an expansion of the 19-acre site in the Pobiman neighborhood, is currently in the planning stages way. The club plans to build a state-of-the-art facility.

Rivalries

Accra Hearts of Oak's longest established rivalry is with Asante Kotoko S.C. and their city rivals Accra Great Olympics FC.

Current squad

First team squad

''Reference as of 12 March 2021''

Out on loan

Honours

Official trophies (recognised by CAF and FIFA)

Domestic

* Ghana Premier League **Champions (21): 1956, 1958, 1961–62, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1989–90, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2020–21 * Ghanaian FA Cup **Winners (12): 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1989, 1990 (After winning a protest that declared them winners), 1993–94, 1995–96, 1999, 2000,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

(record) * Ghana Super Cup **Winners (3): 1997, 1998, 2021 (joint record)

International

**Winners (1):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

**Runners-up (2):

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organi ...

**Winners (1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

CAF Super Cup The CAF Super Cup (also known as African Super Cup or for sponsorship reasons TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup) is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation ...

: **Winners (1):

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

**Runners-up (1):

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Other GFA National Titles

* Ghana SWAG Cup: 7 :: 1973, 1974 (shared), 1977 (shared), 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985 * Ghana Telecom Gala: 4 * GHALCA Special Cup: 3 * Ghana Top Four Cup: 3 * Ghana Top Eight Cup: 2 * President's Cup : 5 ::2003, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2022 * Independence Cup: 4 * PLB Special Knockout: 1 * June 4 Cup: 3 * 31 December Revolution Cup: 1

Gold Coast

*''Inclusive of trophies won in the Accra Football League (Guggisberg Shield) and the Gold Coast Club Competition, both played during the colonial period'' **Champions (8): 1920, 1922, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1933, 1935, 1953–54

Notable players

''For all former players with a Wikipedia article see :Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players''

Club captains

* Mahatma Ottoo (2011–2013) *

Thomas Abbey Thomas Abbey (born 16 August 1993) is a Ghanaian professional football midfielder who currently plays for Malaysian club PKNP F.C. Abbey played for Malaysia Premier League club PKNP F.C. Career Thomas began his career at Soccer Intellectuals ...

(–2017) * Inusah Musah (2018) * Fatawu Mohammed (2018–present)

Managers

''List of managers since 1991'' *

Petre Gavrilă Petre Gavrilă is a Romanian football manager who last worked as the head coach of defunct Turkish club Vanspor. Career Gavrilă started his managerial career with Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea. After that, he coached Accra Hearts of Oak S.C., the Gha ...

(1991–95) * Cecil Jones Attuquayefio (1998–01) * Herbert Addo (2002–03) *

Ernst Middendorp Ernst Middendorp (born 28 October 1958) is a German association football coach who coaches South African Premier Soccer League club Maritzburg United. Education Middendorp was born in Freren. In 1984, he enrolled in the University of Bielefel ...

(2004) * Cecil Jones Attuquayefio (2004) * Archibald Lamptey (2004–05) *

Emmanuel Ofei Ansah Emmanuel Ofei Ansah (6 June 1953 – 8 June 2005) was a Ghanaian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he played as a defender for Accra Hearts of Oak. At the international level, he is known for his involvement in t ...

(2005) *

Eyal Lahman Eyal Lahman ( he, אייל לחמן, born 29 September 1965) is an Israeli football manager. Biography Born in Petah Tikva, Lahman joined the Hapoel Petah Tikva youth system, but left the club at 16 to join Petah Tikva-based Hapoel Mahane Yeh ...

(2008) * Kosta Papić (2008–09) * Nebojša Vučićević (2011–12) * Charles Akonnor (2012) * David Duncan (2012–13) * Mohammed Ahmed (Polo) (Interim) (2014) * Herbert Addo (2014–2015) * Kenichi Yatsuhashi (2015–2016) *

Sérgio Traguil Sérgio Traguil is a Portuguese football manager that worked in Benfica Youth Teams 2009 to 2012, got the 3rd place of Ghana Premier League only 3 points behind the Winner with no defeat at home matches 2016, Won the best attack of Girabola 2018, ...

(2016 –2016) *

Frank Nuttall Frank Nuttall (born 4 May 1968 in Hamilton) is a Scottish UEFA Pro Licence Manager and Head Coach. Playing career Nuttall was a player at Celtic, playing in the reserve and youth teams, before studying at Cardiff Metropolitan University and L ...

(2017–18) * Henry Wellington Lamptey (2018) *

Seth Hoffmann Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...

(2018) * Kim Grant (2018–2019) * Edward Nii Odoom (2020) * Kosta Papić (2020–2021) * Samuel Nii Noi (Interim) (2021) *

Samuel Boadu Samuel Boadu (born 24 February 1986) is a Ghanaian professional football manager and former player who last served as the head coach of Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. in the Ghana Premier League and serves as the assistant coach of the Ghana national ...

(2021–2022)

Seasons

2020–21 Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. season The 2021–21 season of Ghanaian club Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. The season covered the period from 20 November 2020 to 8 August 2021. Season overview Hearts of Oak won the domestic double, the league and the FA Cup. They won the league after 12 y ...

References

External links

* {{CAF Super Cup winners Association football clubs established in 1911 Football clubs in Ghana

Hearts of Oak Hearts most commonly refers to: * Hearts (card game), a trick-taking game * Hearts (suit), one of the standard four suits of cards * Heart, an organ Hearts may also refer to: Music * The Hearts, an American girl group closely related to the Jay ...

1911 establishments in Gold Coast (British colony) Sports clubs in Ghana H H H