Accra Hearts of Oak S.C.

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 traditional colours are red, yellow and blue. Hearts of Oak competes in the Ghana Premier League; the premier division on the Ghanaian football pyramid. The Accra Sports Stadium is the club's home grounds.

Hearts has won the Premier League twenty-one times, Ghanaian FA Cup a record twelve times, Ghana Super Cup a joint record of three times, the President's Cup six times, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.

Accra Hearts of Oak was also ranked the 8th football club in the world in 2000, a year in which the club won a treble, including the CAF Champions League.Accra Hearts of Oak remains the only football club in West Africa to have won a Continental Treble; one of 6 Africa-based clubs, and one of 21 football clubs worldwide to have achieved this feat.

During the colonial period, Hearts of Oak won a combined total of eight football league trophies in the Accra Football League and the Gold Coast Club Competition, both precursors to the Ghana Premier League. In the Accra Football League, Hearts of Oak won the Guggisberg Shield donated by Sir Gordon Guggisberg, then Governor of the Gold Coast in 1922; the competition for Accra-based clubs was played on 12 occasions between 1922 and 1954; Hearts of Oak won the Shield six times, including the final tournament played in 1954.

As of 2020, Accra Hearts of Oak SC is one of the most valuable football clubs from Ghana, valued at $5.3 million.

History

The club was founded on 11 November 1911, in Accra. Hearts of Oak won their first major match in 1922 when Sir Gordon Guggisberg, then Governor of the Gold Coast, founded the Accra Football League. Hearts won 6 out of 12 seasons in this league. The club also won the 1953/54 edition of the Gold Coast Club Competition – the colonial precursor to the Ghana Premier League. In 1956, Hearts joined the Ghanaian Football League and have flourished ever since.

In the year 2000, the Hearts of Oak won the Ghanaian FA cup, the Ghana Premier League and for the first time in their history the CAF Champions League. This was the most successful year in the club's history. The team was led by club captain, Joseph Ansah.

On 9 May 2001, 127 people died in Africa's worst footballing disaster. During a match between rivals, Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko. Trouble started when supporters of Asante Kotoko began ripping out seats in protest at a goal allowed by the referee. The match was officiated by referee J. Wilson Sey, from Cape Coast. Police reacted by firing tear gas into the crowd, it has been suggested that this was an over-reaction. Reports suggest that the gates to the ground were locked and the stadium was not up to FIFA standards. The rush to escape the tear gas was a contributory factor to the death toll. A commission of inquiry, indicted six police officers in its initial report, but they were not convicted as it was deemed that the deaths could have been caused by the stampede instead of the tear gas.

As of 2020, the transfer value of the Accra Hearts of Oak was £2.03 million, the highest of all sports clubs in Ghana.

Grounds

Accra Hearts of Oak play home matches at the Accra Sports Stadium. The Accra Sports Stadium holds an estimated 40,000 seats. Although purchased in the 1980s, the Pobiman Training Ground was only put to use in the summer of 2018. Construction for an expansion of the 19-acre site in the Pobiman neighborhood, is currently in the planning stages way. The club plans to build a state-of-the-art facility.

Rivalries

Accra Hearts of Oak's longest established rivalry is with Asante Kotoko S.C. and their city rivals Accra Great Olympics FC.

Current squad

First team squad

As of 28 March, 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Reference as of 12 March 2021

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Honours

Official trophies (recognised by CAF and FIFA)

Domestic

• Ghana Premier League Champions (21): 1956, 1958, 1961–62, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1989–90, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2020–21
• Ghanaian FA Cup Winners (12): 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1989, 1990 (After winning a protest that declared them winners), 1993–94, 1995–96, 1999, 2000, 2021, 2022 (record)
• Ghana Super Cup Winners (3): 1997, 1998, 2021 (joint record)

International

• CAF Champions League Winners (1): 2000 Runners-up (2): 1977, 1979
• CAF Confederation Cup Winners (1): 2004
• CAF Super Cup: Winners (1): 2001 Runners-up (1): 2005

Other GFA National Titles

• Ghana SWAG Cup: 7

1973, 1974 (shared), 1977 (shared), 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985

• Ghana Telecom Gala: 4
• GHALCA Special Cup: 3
• Ghana Top Four Cup: 3
• Ghana Top Eight Cup: 2
• President's Cup: 6

2003, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2022, 2023

• Independence Cup: 4
• PLB Special Knockout: 1
• June 4 Cup: 3
• 31 December Revolution Cup: 1

Gold Coast

• Inclusive of trophies won in the Accra Football League (Guggisberg Shield) and the Gold Coast Club Competition, both played during the colonial period Champions (8): 1920, 1922, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1933, 1935, 1953–54
• Contributor: Bright Yeboah Taylor (Ghanaian Sports Historian)

Notable players

For all former players with a Wikipedia article see Category:Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players

Club captains

• Mahatma Ottoo (2011–2013)
• Thomas Abbey (−2017)
• Inusah Musah (2018)
• Fatawu Mohammed (2018–present)

Managers

List of managers since 1991

• Romania Petre Gavrilă (1991–95)
• Ghana Cecil Jones Attuquayefio (1998–01)
• Ghana Herbert Addo (2002–03)
• Germany Ernst Middendorp (2004)
• Ghana Cecil Jones Attuquayefio (2004)
• Ghana Archibald Lamptey (2004–05)
• Ghana Emmanuel Ofei Ansah (2005)
• Israel Eyal Lahman (2008)
• Serbia Kosta Papić (2008–09)
• Serbia Nebojša Vučićević (2011–12)
• Ghana Charles Akonnor (2012)
• Ghana David Duncan (2012–13)
• Ghana Mohammed Ahmed (Polo) (Interim) (2014)
• Ghana Herbert Addo (2014–2015)
• JapanKenichi Yatsuhashi (2015–2016)
• PortugalSérgio Traguil (2016 –2016)
• Scotland Frank Nuttall (2017–18)
• Ghana Henry Wellington Lamptey (2018)
• Ghana Seth Hoffmann (2018)
• EnglandGhana Kim Grant (2018–2019)
• Ghana Edward Nii Odoom (2020)
• Serbia Kosta Papić (2020–2021)
• Ghana Samuel Nii Noi (Interim) (2021)
• Ghana Samuel Boadu (2021–2022)
• Serbia Slavko Matic (2022–2023)
• Netherlands Martin Koopman (2023)
• Ivory Coast Aboubakar Ouattara (2023-date)

Seasons

• 2020–21 Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. season