Unity key in making Oly great again …Board Chairman tells fans
The Board Chairman of Accra Great Olympics Football Club, Major (Rtd) Amarkai Amarteifio, has called for absolute unity among supporters of the club, insisting that “unity among the fans is key in returning the club to the Premier League.”
According to him, any break in the rank and file of the fans could spell doom for the club because the fans remain the base of the club.
“Players would come and some would leave. This applies to both management and board members but the fans remain the same. The supporters are the foundation on which the club stands.”
Mr Amarteifio made the call at a General Meeting held on Saturday at the club’s secretariat in Accra.
The aim was to dialogue and come up with ideas and solutions to some of the challenges the club has faced in recent times, culminating in regular demotions in the last two decades.
It was attended by past and present board and management members, fans, past executives and many others.
According to Ambassador Amarteifio, the club felt let down at some stage of the previous season as fans showed apathy, while opposing fans capitalised on that to encourage their teams to beat us.
“I must tell you that the moment you stop patronising the games, it means our end has come. The pain you go through when we lose matches is exactly what we go through. We all wish the club will do better than what we are seeing but the change we crave for would only happen when we put our hands to the Olympics wheel,” he said.
He said the board and management were ready to float shares to get more individuals or groups including AGOSU to buy to become shareholders and also assured the supporters that management would do the necessary checks to make Teshie its home base.
Mr Oloboi Commodore, a member of the three-man management team appointed to handle the club’s campaign regretted the failure to return to the Premier League immediately, a situation he attributed to injuries to key players and indecision of some key players to quit or stay with the club.
He described the situation as very unfortunate as Olympics commenced the season positively and at a point trailed leaders and eventual winners Hohoe United with just a point.
That notwithstanding, he gave the assurance that Saturday’s meeting marks the beginning of preparations for the next season.
Mr Fritz Baffour, a former Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma South Constituency, urged the board and management to make the processes leading to the shares flotation clearer, and encourage the supporters to show interest to become shareholders.
In an open forum, supporters expressed various concerns ranging from quality of players signed by the club, the decision to move home ground from Tuba, near Kasoa to Teshie, need to reshuffle management to bring new ideas among others.
Also in attendance at the meeting were Messrs Nick Amarteifio, Mr Perry Doku, Samuel Wellington, Ricky Nikoi, Amarh Martinson, Lawyer Amarteifio, Prof. Emmanuel Lamptey and Joseph Boye, the chairman of the Accra Great Olympics Supporters Union (AGOSU) among others.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
