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No More Wonders
Ghana’s premier division football club Accra Great Olympics affectionately called “Wonder Club” has ceased to perform any more wonders. One of the eight pioneer teams that started the National league of Ghana in 1958, Olympics are now firmly rooted at the bottom of the table and with nine matches to go there is utter confusion in the team as it faces imminent relegation. To make matters worse the entire management and technical team have resigned as they are completely frustrated at the appalling performance of the team
In the disastrous first round Olympics lost as many as 10 matches drew two and won three. In six matches played so far in the second round Olympics have won only one drawn two and lost three. What broke the camel’s back was the 0-3 home loss to Ashgold this week; that triggered the resignation of the management and the technical crew.
It is learnt that the club’s Board of Directors are working around the clock to stem the tide and try to gather a team to honour the 7th week fixture at Agona Swedru this weekend against All Blacks affectionately called “the black magicians”. Let’s see whether Olympics can gather the pieces together and pull a fast one on the black magicians. After all Olympics did not get the appellation of’’ wonder club’ for fun. Historians will tell you that the late Director of Sports Mr Ohene Djan conferred this nickname on Olympics in the early sixties when the club saddled with player exodus managed to brilliantly assemble a youthful squad of mainly students to play wonderfully in the league.
At the time Olympics had relied on players from the Ghana Armed Forces and when the Armed Forces decided to form a team and play in the league Olympics were completely left in the cold. In addition two of their national stars full back Emml Oblitey and goalkeeper Dodoo Ankrah had been forcefully recruited into the newly formed state sponsored club Real Republikans.
The incredible performance by the young Olympics team impressed the powerful Director of Sports who was also Executive Secretary of the Ghana Football Association and he coined that special title ‘Wonder Club’ or Accra Great Olympics then reputed to be the best dressed. football club in Ghana. Since then Olympics even though always playing second fiddle to home rivals Hearts of Oak in terms of crowd support have managed to survive in the top division till the end of the 2004 season when they were celebrating their golden jubilee that they spoiled the party by going into relegation. However they quickly performed wonders and returned to the premier division after only one year in exile but it has been rather tough going. And now with relegation threatening them once more having won only four matches in 17 outings the Ghanaian football world is waiting to see whether they can live up to their appellation and perform some wonderful rescue operations to remain in the premier division.
Popular opinion however is that the club has lost the ability to invoke any more wonders but you can never tell.