League Champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko are not only counting their blessings for the soon to close 2007/2008 league season, they are also counting the loss of bitterest rivals and dethroned Champions Accra Hearts of Oak.

Asante Kotoko’s Chief Executive Officer, Sylvester Asare Owusu who led a contingent of players, technical and management personnel to the offices of Millicom Ghana Limited, operators of Tigo and title sponsors of the new champions, drew what he said were clearly defining differences between Kotoko and Hearts in the season.

The visit was to express the club’s gratitude to their sponsors and to show them what fruits their union had yielded.

Kotoko ended the season with four cups; the Ghalca Top Four cup, SWAG cup, President’s cup and then the Onetouch Premier League Cup. Hearts had nothing.

And Asare Owusu was all taunts for Accra Hearts of Oak who had found the season too tough and perhaps the worst in its history, explaining that he was putting out the facts for the benefit of Kotoko supporters so they would know what to talk about in arguments with their rivals.

“On behalf of my management, I would want to thank my technical team, the playing body for making this possible. I believe they’ve done a very hard work. To Tigo, we say to them that they should continue to support Kotoko because that is the best club in Ghana.

“Further I would want to use this occasion to educate my supporters about the records that we’ve made for this league so that when they are having arguments with their arch rivals they would know what to talk about. …the record was that in 2003, we set a record, that is, we won the league with eight points. At that time the runners up was our arch rivals, Hearts of Oak. This time round after four years, we have won the league with a difference of 16 points. Unfortunately, this time, the runners-up was not our arch rivals but Heart of Lions.

“For the records again we also want to say that for the first time in the history of our league competition, the difference between Kotoko and our arch rivals is 29 points,” volunteered Asare Owusu, who also revealed that Kotoko made an all time record of GH¢210,000 (2.1 billion old cedis) in gate takings at a single match when they played Hearts of Oak. The previous record was GH¢170,000 (1.7 billion old cedis) in 2003.


Author: Isaac Yeboah