GPL

The battle for survival has been on for a while now with several teams falling in out of the drop zone, mathematically only the top four teams are safe. The pass mark for assured survival at this point is 41 points which means 12 teams are at risk, but the relegation pall seem to have bottom Inter Allies and bottommost New Edubiase with their respective 28 and 25points in its grip. The two teams are not sitting pretty and are at this point looking like probable relegation candidates.

The much-delayed 2016/17 Ghana Premier League season will be launched on Wednesday February 1, 2017 by the Ghana Football Association at the GFA Secretariat in Accra at 11:00am.

After several months of waiting necessitated in part by the legal tussle between Dreams FC and Tema Youth FC that dates back to the 2014/15 GN Bank Division One Zone 3 league season that the two sides participated in, the start of the 2016/17 Ghana Premier League season is finally upon us after the former accepted their fault and took a demotion to the Division One scene where they rightfully belong. Thus, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Ghana Premier League will roar back to life this weekend, February 11th, 2017.

 Match Day 2 of the Ghana Premier League kicked off this past Friday at the Len Clay stadium with New Edubiase FC righting their PL season with a lone goal victory over visiting PL returnee side Ebusua Dwarfs who have now gone 0 and 2 in their first 2 PL games of the campaign.

The young GPL season will continue as scheduled on Saturday, 5^th of March, at the Obuasi Len Clay Stadium with Reigning Champions AshGold set to bounce back from their short-lived CAF Champions League journey, following their early exit as they host Berekum Chelsea on Saturday in the first fixture of Match Day 3.

 Reigning GPL champions, AshantiGold, failed to bounce back with a victory following their preliminary round exit from the 2016 CAF Champions League as they were forced to settle for a goalless tie by visiting Berekum Chelsea at the Obuasi Len Clay Stadium in the opening game of Match Day 3 played on Saturday.

A lot was said and written about Hearts of Oak, many completely wrote them off and did not give the twenty times PL Champions a shot at winning the title prior to the start of the season, but the chorus has changed after four games with Kenichi Yatsuhashi's men earning plaudits from all and sundry for their stellar start.

Match Day 5 of the Ghana Premier League season kicked off on a rare Friday night schedule that saw the fifth time being the charm for preseason title favorites - Asante kotoko - as they finally won their first game of the season on their fifth attempt, a lone goal victory over Hasaacas, courtesy of Kwame Boateng's second half strike to give their teaming fans something to celebrate after a dismal start to the season (2L, 2D).

Several of the nation’s premier league teams marked the weekend with thrilling matches that boosted the appetite of starving local fans as they continue to await the start of the 2015/16 GPL season set for February 20^th.

As expected, the highly anticipated 2019/20 Ghana Premier League season kicked off yesterday with several teams and players showing no effects of the long layoff and pulling some incredible feats away from home.

Following a mixed bag of results this past weekend on the opening day of the 2019/20 Ghana Premier League season that led to heightened drama in the camp of Accra Hearts of Oak, and the subsequent firing of their head coach, Kim Grant, and the coaches of Karela FC and Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs jumping on to the hot seat immediately following losses at home, the pairings for this weekend have the promise of piling up the pressure on several teams as they look to make amends and forestall a 0-2 start to the young season.

There were a couple of changes at the helm of the Ghana Premier League table as the third week of the competition concluded with preseason favorites Aduana Stars and AshantiGold making it a perfect 3-0 start to the season with victories at home over King Faisal and Techiman XI Wonders respectively for the first and second spot on Sunday.

The Ghana Premier League will enter Week 26 this weekend with the race for the top spot far from decided and no runaway winner in sight as the top four teams with just 1 and 2points separation between them all played to a pulsating draw in a rare midweek top four clash that had title hopes on the line. And, with the race for survival in the PL also far from over; New Edubiase breathing new life into their still ailing campaign, Inter Allies unable to generate enough steam to move up, Hasaacas sliding in out of drop zone consciousness, Liberty Professionals and Techiman City plummeting into the relegation fray with just 2points cushioning them from the first relegation spot, the schedule takes an attention-grabbing turn as it pits two of the top four teams against two of the bottommost teams with huge stakes on the line.

Ghana Premier League leaders – Wa All Stars – on Sunday afternoon stayed the course of annexing their first PL title in club history with a 3-1 trouncing of Dreams FC to open a 3point differential at the summit over the pursuing 2010 PL winners - Aduana Stars - who were unlucky to escape with victory at the dreaded Red Bulls Arena in Sogakope where they forced the fancied home favorites – WAFA – to climb back into the game from a goal down to restore parity for a share of the spoils.

Twelve goals were scored on match day 4, 3 less than the previous week. This is perhaps an indication that defences in general have gotten stingier, attackers and strikers are being kept at bay and some teams are just unable to score as well as they do away from home.

The enthusiasm and energy generated in attendance at the various stadiums thus far in the Ghana Premier League has been more than expected but the goals tally has failed to keep pace, perhaps, a case of defenses getting stingier by the match day or a case of our strikers just failing to connect or just plain forgetting that fans just love to see the goals.

Ghana Premier League 2015/16 top-four side, Accra Hearts of Oak, have set their focus on signing Godfred Kwadwo Asamoah of Division One side Heart of Lions.

The 19 year old 5ft 6 inches tall left back and attacking midfielder played 30 out of 30 matches for the Kpando based Lions club who will be spending year two in the Division One league after coming up short in the just ended Division one, Zone three league. He scored 3 goals, assisted with the scoring of 4 and won 5 Most Valuable Player awards in the course of the season. He is an adept left footed player, very aggressive and strong on the ball, with accurate passing skills and fairly capable in front of goal. The Phobians are hoping that his creative skills will boost their defense, midfield as well as create goal scoring opportunities upfront.

The ‘Rainbow Club’ has denied recent media reports of Inter-Allies’ free-kick goal scoring specialist Gockel Ahortor. The club’s search for a permanent coach to take over following the canning of fan favorite coach – Kenichi Yatsuhashi and the unsuccessful tenure of Sergio Traguil also continues with many fans waiting on the sidelines to see who gets the eventual nod for the job.

Felix Addo,Anthony Yerful and Francis Arthur complete 3 years deal each to Elmina Sharks fc. pic.twitter.com/xiTf3hD6bA

— Richmond J. Arthur (@richmondjarthur) October 9, 2016

Newly promoted Division One side, Elmina Sharks, are looking to strengthen the squad that earned them promotion to tier-one soccer and have reportedly signed Liberty Professionals forward Felix Addo and shot stopper Francis Arthur to 3year deals. Free agent Anthony Yerful who last played for AshantiGold has also joined the Elmina based side.

Nduom SPORTS STADIUM PITCH IS RECONSTRUCTING INTO ARTIFICIAL AND THE WORK IS ONGOING AT ELMINA pic.twitter.com/E0FZYftKbu

— Richmond J. Arthur (@richmondjarthur) October 9, 2016

Meanwhile, work on upgrading the pitch to an artificial surface at the Sharks home base - The Nduom Sports Stadium in Elmina, Cape Coast - has commenced with more promises and changes in the pipeline by the team’s owner and financier – Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom – as he looks to strengthen the various units of the team to ensure his team’s permanent stay in the elite division.

New signings and acquisitions this off-season has started slowly for most clubs but an uptick in activity is expected as teams look to prepare for the new season.

Bolga All Stars, Elmina Sharks and Accra Great Olympics are this year’s new entrants to the Premier League division.

Multiple reports from the camp of Kumasi Asante Kotoko seem to indicate that interim Head Coach of the club – Michael Osei – may have his job on the line as the Porcupine Warriors look to rediscover their former glory under newly appointed Executive Chairman, Dr. Kwame Kyei.

Dr. Kwame Kyei, a respected businessman was recently appointed to a three year term by His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, owner and life patron of the club and has been tasked with reshaping the club’s administrative structure and infusing professionalism and competence into all facets of the club’s operation.

In the wake of his appointment, a massive reorganization exercise is expected to hit the club just before the start of the 2016/17 Premier League season as he looks to appoint his own trusted lieutenants who can get the job done.

"I want to develop this club to a high level" he told supporters in Kumasi on Monday.

"I’ve a lot in store for you. You will all marvel at what is to come. I don’t want to reveal all of them but I promise, you will feel proud being here if everything goes as planned"

And the interim head coach of the club could well be a victim as the new management looks to permanently fill the head coaching position following the failure of the last administration to show their full confidence in Michael Osei by offering him the job after the axing of then Head Coach, David Duncan, who had a torrid start to the 2015/16 PL season.

Michael Osei, who has a wealth of coaching experience and strong ties with the club as a former player led Kotoko to a fifth placed finish with a record of 1 win, 1 loss and 3 ties to close out the last five games of the season.

Meanwhile, Michael Osei is guiding the team through the pre-season and has gotten his side off to a good start - a 3-0 win over Bechem Utd - in the ongoing GHALCA 6 (G6) tournament featuring the top six PL teams from last season.

In a related development to the vacant Head Coaching job at Asante Kotoko, multiple media houses have reported that the team is looking to fill the spot with an ideal expatriate coach who has the technical competence to man the team’s activities on and off the field of play.

According to information in the Ghanaian media, the Kumasi based club are looking at expatriate coaches who they see as idle and capable of directing the club technically. In line with this, the team has reportedly contacted Danish trainer Tommy Moller Nielsen over the probability of taking over from Michael Osei.

The new kotoko management has allegedly been in touch with him and he is expected to be in the country before the end of this month to sign on with the club.

Unconfirmed reports also have it that, the former three-season tenured Rangers FC first team Coach was in Kumasi last year under the sponsorship of Dr. Kwaku Frimpong, a major backer and financier of the club.

The Danish trainer recently signed up as the Scandinavian scout for Manchester United’s current Boss, Jose Mourinho. His last managerial position was with HB Koge following his succession to Aurelijus Skarbalius in October of 2011 but was relieved of the position in September 2012 following a disastrous start to the 2012-13 season.

Michael Osei’s stay at the club as an assistant given his experience and work with the players is a possibility.

For now, proceedings at the club are expected to be fluid as Dr. Kyei begins work on constituting his new administrative and technical staff.

The long-awaited return of the Ghana Premier League following its suspension in July of 2018 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi is upon us. Come tomorrow, avid soccer fans will have a serving of what the revitalized Ghana FA and Ghana football in general will look like under new boss, Mr. Kurt Okraku, who was recently elected into office to reshape and rebrand an Association that has a lot catching up to do; domestically and internationally.

 With the match between Hearts of Oak and Ebusua Dwarfs scheduled for tomorrow and the match between B. Chelsea and Elmina Sharks postponed, Ghana Premier League leaders, AshantiGold, retained their 2points advantage at the top with a win over Karela FC, and WAFA kept the chase close with their first ever win over defending champions, Aduana Stars.

 Match day 04 of the ongoing Ghana Premier League concluded with a couple of interesting firsts of the season. Leaders, AshantiGold, saw their three-game winning run come to an end, and Elmina Sharks finally defeated WAFA to end their winless start to the season, as well as their two straight game losing run to the Academy Lads, dating back to last season.

With two of the GPL teams engaged in continental assignments on the day and Accra Hearts of Oak set to take on Inter Allies on Monday, the 2016/17 Ghana Premier League season kicked off today as expected with Cape Coast Mysterious Ebusua Dwarfs registering the first goal of the season and eventually overpowering neophytes – Bolga All Stars – by a 3-1 score line for the PL summit.

The Ghana Premier League (GPL) will enter week two this weekend with Defending Champions Wa All Stars and FA Cup Champions Bechem United out of action as they look to go beyond the first round of their respective continental campaign series with return matches abroad against Al Ahly of Tripoli and MC Alger respectively.

Following relegated Accra Gt. Olympics' latest unsuccessful attempt to halt the start of the 2017/18 Ghana Premier League season through the courts, the much-delayed season finally kicked off yesterday, with Inter Allies playing host to Bechem United, and six matches scheduled for today.

The overly delayed 2016/17 GPL football season will kick off this weekend sandwiched between two big CAF inter-club competition matches with GPL Champions - Wa All Stars and MTN FA Cup Champions – Bechem United making their continental debut against Al-Ahly Tripoli and MC Alger respectively.

Week one of the 2017/18 Ghana Premier League kicked off this past Saturday, with Inter Allies handing new boss, Kenichi Yatsuhashi, a perfect start to the season on his return to the Premier League, as they thrashed Bechem United by three goals to nothing on opening day at the Tema Sports Stadium.

Week Two of the he Ghana Premier League will come on as scheduled this weekend with Accra Hearts of Oak playing host to AshGold and Wa All Stars hosting Ebusua Dwarfs at the Cape Coast Stadium, and Wa Park respectively on Saturday.

With six Premier League games scheduled for tomorrow, Accra Hearts of Oak’s title aspirations took a bad turn, as they were handed a 3-1 drubbing by AshantiGold in their first home match of the season at the Cape Coast Stadium today.

The Assistant coach of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Michael Osei's worse fears were confirmed Monday after management of the club reassigned him as the Technical Director of the youth team with immediate effect.

2004 Continental Club Masters – Accra Hearts of Oak – will continue their preparations for the much delayed 2016/17 Ghana Premier League season scheduled to start on Sunday, February 4th, 2017 with a friendly against newly promoted side - Elmina Sharks - at the El Wak Sports Stadium this Sunday.

The scheduled start of the Ghana Premier League slated for this weekend has officially been rescheduled to the 11th and 12th of February, 2017.

The agitation by some Premier League clubs and members of the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) over their share of the StarTimes sponsorship has resulted in the last minute cancellation of this weekend’s gala to usher in the new season.