Emmanuel Ofei Ansah (6 June 1953 – 8 June 2005) was a Ghanaian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

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 the

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

that won the

1978 African Cup of Nations The 1978 African Cup of Nations was the eleventh edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, football championship of Africa (Confederation of African Football, CAF). It was hosted by Accra and Kumasi, Ghana. The format of the ...

. Whilst serving as the manager of Accra Hearts of Oak, on 7 June 2005, he collapsed after a Ghana Premier league match and was rushed to the Ridge Hospital, Accra, but unfortunately died the following day.

Early life

Ansah was born on 6 June 1953 to David Ansah and Florence Quao both from Accra. He was a Ga. His potential as a talented footballer was discovered early when he started for the colts' teams like Falcom Dwellers, Salami Aces and Bukum Young Hearts before joining Auroras FC.

Club career

Ansah started his career with the youth side of

Accra Hearts of Oak Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports club based in Accra (Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving football club in Ghana and its trad ...

, Auroras FC. He rose to become an integral member of the senior team of which he also served as captain. Over his playing career he won the Ghana Premier League on six occasions, the Ghanaian FA Cup on four occasions. He was part of the team's side that lost in two

African Cup of Champions Clubs 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 cont ...

finals in the 1970's, in 1977 and 1979. Due to his aggressive and combative style of playing he earned the nick name '''' The Rock of Gibraltar''''. He was a dead-ball specialist noted for

bending In applied mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the behavior of a slender structural element subjected to an external load applied perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the element. The structural element is assumed to ...

free kicks. He later went on to play for Kumapim Stars and Okwawu United in the late 1980s and early 1990s before retiring.

International career

Ansah was a member of the Ghana national team from 1975 to 1986. He was key member of the squad that played in both the and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

African Cup of Nations helping Ghana to make history as the first country to win the competition three times and for keeps during the 1978 edition, after scoring Uganda 2–0 in the finals.

Coaching career

Ansah started his coaching career whilst playing for

Okwawu United Okwawu United is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Nkawkaw Nkawkaw is a town in southern Ghana and is the capital of Kwahu East District, an area in the Eastern Region of south Ghana. Nkawkaw has a 2013 settlement population of ...

as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. He later joined his former club Hearts of Oak in 1996 as an assistant coach and a key member of the technical team. In 2000, he was the assistant coach to Jones Attuquayefio who incidentally was his uncle and role model, when they won the treble, the 2000

Ghana Premier League The is the top professional association football division of the football league system in Ghana. Officially formed in 1956 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition (which began in 1933 and ended in 1953–54), t ...

Ghanaian FA Cup The Ghanaian FA Cup, currently known as the MTN Group, MTN FA Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the top Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament of the Ghanaian association football. The competition is played between the clubs of the Gha ...

and Confederation of Africa (CAF) Champions League and Super Cup in 2001. From 1996 to 2004, whilst serving as the assistant coach he helped them to win the league 6 times, FA Cup twice, Ghana Super Cup three times and the first ever Confederation Cup in 2004. He also doubled as the head coach of the youth side, Auroras FC. In 2004, he served under

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 ...

and Archibald Lamptey before being promoted to

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

in 2005 after latter was relieved of his duties. On 7 June 2005, after match day 8, at full time of a 1–0 home victory over

Liberty Professionals Liberty Professionals Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Dansoman, Accra. History Liberty Professionals, was founded in 1996 by Accra-based businessmen Felix Ansong and Alhaji Sly Tetteh. The club was one of the earl ...

at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium, he collapsed and was rushed to the Ridge Hospital, Accra after first aid treatment but he unfortunately died the following day. He led them to 5 wins in 7 matches with Hearts at the apex of the league table.

Personal life

Ansah died on 8 June 2005, two days after his 52nd birthday and a month after Hearts' goalkeepers coach Salifu Ansah died. He was survived by a wife and four children. He was buried on 30 July 2005 at the Osu Cemetery, with the funeral taking place at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium. Prior to the burial and pre-burial celebration, a farewell football gala was held in his honour on the morning of the funeral with the Accra Hearts of Oak Old Players Association (AHOOPA) and a group of foreign based footballers including

Anthony Yeboah Anthony Yeboah (born 6 June 1966) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the most prominent and prolific goal scorers in Ghanaian and African football history and gained a reputation for sc ...

, Arthur Moses and Ablade Kumah taking part.

Honours

Club

Hearts of Oak *

: 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1986 *

: 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981 *

Ghana Super Cup The Ghana Super Cup is a football competition involving a match played between the champion of the Ghana Premier League and the winner of the Ghanaian FA Cup in Ghana. The first Ghana Super Cup competition took place in the 1996–1997 season, af ...

: 1973, 1979 *

runner up:

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 ...

International

Ghana *

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofei, Emmanuel Ansah 2005 deaths Association football defenders Ghanaian footballers Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players Ghana Premier League players Ghana international footballers 1978 African Cup of Nations players 1980 African Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Ghanaian football managers Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. managers Ghana Premier League managers People from Greater Accra Region Ga-Adangbe people 1953 births