Accra's Derby of the Landlords
Hearts of Oak and Great Olympics are part of a relatively rare global footballing phenomenon: rivals that share a stadium. Much like Milan’s Derby della Madonnina at the Stadio San Siro, the Derby of the Landlords makes ‘possession’ of the Accra Sports Stadium the centre of bragging rights for the city’s rival clubs. Another unusual aspect of this Accra derby is how its intensity has remained, despite the varying fortunes of the two clubs. This is perhaps explained by the fact that, in the multi cultural and multi ethnic setup of Ghana (a nation with borders invented by colonising forces), both teams play a central part in celebrating Ga identity.
Accra’s Hearts of Oak are one of the African continent’s most recognisable clubs, having twice been African Cup of Champions finalists runners up before lifting the trophy in 2000. The club was formed in 1911 by Christopher Brandford Nettey ((later Asafoatse Nettey) and, in an era of colonial football often being led by white Europeans occupying African nations, the origins of Hearts of Oak side lay in young men from the Ga State.
Domestically, The Phobians have won the league twenty one times, whilst this is fewer than Asante Kotoko, cup wins and continental success make the Accra club side the most decorated in Ghana.
Whilst Great Olympics don’t quite have the lengthy history of their Accra rivals, having been established in 1954, they inspired some of the most feverish support in the capital and also were Ghanian trailblazers in the African Cup of Champions, reaching the semi finals in 1971. The 1970’s were the heyday of Oly Dade (Olympic Metal) when they won their first league titles in 1970 and 1974 as well as the FA Cup in 1975. During this period, they often went toe-to-toe with Hearts of Oak and the Accra Sports Stadium, shared by both clubs, was the site of legendary atmospheres that are still spoken about in revered tones. Great Olympics haven’t won major silverware since a domestic cup win in 1995 and this have served to increase the importance of the inter-city derby, the most important date in any self-respecting Oly Dade fan’s diary.
The only way to tell true the story of rivalries such as Hearts of Oak and Great Olympics is through the eyes of the fans and below, Nii Kwartelai Quartey and Collins Seymah Smith talk us through their relationship with the clubs. Despite being on opposing sides of the Accra footballing divide, Nii and Collins have been friends since they were five years old and have run the community theatre company, Act For Change since 2011 out of a former boxing gym in Jamestown, Accra. Act for Change is a youth-led NGO which uses discussion, fora, popular theatre and other participatory methods to improve young people's quality of life.
Nii and Collins might work together for most of the year, but when they don their teams’ shirts, the friendship and collegiality goes out of the window - they tell Mito Football their footballing story below.
Tell us about why you are fan of your team.
Nii: I come from a footballing family. My paternal grandfather played for a defunct football team called Standfast. From this, Great Olympics was formed as a breakaway club where my great uncle played. Naturally, this brought fierce rivalry between these two teams within my immediate family. Gradually, Standfast died and almost all their supporters left to join Hearts of Oaks. Even though I did not meet my grandfather, I met my great uncle who told me a lot of stories about the footballing skills of his cousin (my grandfather) and their exploits playing against each other. My great uncle would take me to the Accra Sports Stadium to watch matches of the Great Olympics and seeing most people supporting Hearts, I thought I could be different and join the team with fewer supporters.
Collins: Supporting Hearts of Oak came naturally, as I grew up with people who supported Hearts of Oak in the same compound and I also like the team slogan, “Never Say Die Until the Bones are Rotten”. My mom was a die hard fan as well.
How would you describe your team to someone who didn’t know anything about Ghanaian football?
Nii: ‘’The Invincible of Ghana’’; the first football team in Ghana to win the league unbeaten. It has more nicknames than any other football team in the world
‘’Oly dade’’ - The official nickname
‘’Oly gbogbo’’ - Olympic solid wall
‘’Oly woo pioto’’ - to wit ‘’ Olympic naked without pants
‘’Oly konsorkonsor’’ - to wit ‘’Olympic Chains or shackles'’
‘’Oly aworshia’’ - to wit ‘’Olympic that doesn't sleep in the house’’
‘’Oly Rosalinda'’ - to wit ‘’Olympic Rosalinda'’ title of popular Mexican soap opera (telenovela) series in Ghana
… and the list goes on and on…
Like Shakespeare says ‘’ [Oly] Rose[linda] by any other name will smell as sweet.
Collins: We are the oldest football club and the first to win the league. It's one of the successful traditional teams with the largest fan base in the capital city of Ghana.
What is the derby between the two teams like for you but… also the city?
Nii: The whole city of Accra becomes a live theatre with multiple stages. In this theatre, the proscenium is no more, the role of the performer and audience are redefined, people give and take focus, the landscape and soundscape mimic the colour of the two teams; sky azure blue and white with a beam of rainbow…bow of hope.
Collins: I don't see Great Olympics as competition at all, because they are not our equal in any way in terms of trophies and achievements. We always silence them in the derby. The interesting thing is that both teams come from the capital, so you can just imagine when there's a derby. The city is always charged with arguments, noise making and colourful paraphernalia (courtesy of us because we are Rainbow Boys, very colourful) from both sides.
You are friends and you run the theatre company, Act for Change together. How do you negotiate all of this whilst supporting rival clubs?!
Nii: Life and living is far bigger than football. Like theatre, football is just a game where the joy is in the participation not necessarily in the result at the end of it. It’s a principle that has guided and served us well.
Collins: Supporting rival football clubs doesn't interfere with our work (Act for Change) as we both have been working together for more than 15 years and have enjoyed every bit of it. We also believe in the power of theatre as an advocacy tool for developmental and social change
Your theatre company focuses on working with all sorts of people in the community of Jamestown, Accra, what have these professional experiences taught you about football and being a fan of your club?
Nii: When people come together, they can do amazing things because the process of team building is as exciting as the end product.
Collins: These experiences has taught me to respect differences and choices that people make.
Tell us about your favourite experience of a derby
Nii: It was sunny, as Sundays tend to be. But the sun particularly beamed on the Accra Sports Stadium. In there, the red, yellow and blue colours of the Phobians had interwoven beautifully with the blue and white colours of the Oly Dade boys; it was the 'Mantse Derby' and the whole of Accra was in suspense. This is the annual friendly football match between the two oldest clubs in Accra to commemorate the celebration of the 'Homowo' festival of the indigenous Ga people of Ghana. The word 'Mantse' means 'the king' thus the Ga king offers a cup as a trophy for the winner. Accra Great Olympics took the lead in the game and subsequently took the game to the Phobians. When the Phobians realised they'd no way of winning the game, their fans took advantage of an infringement whilstled against them and invaded the pitch to feign a protest against officiating. They did this so that they can say later that the match didn't come to an end officially. This defeat against them was a day of shame for them, but a day of joy for us at Great Olympics.
Collins: it was during the 2009/10 league season where we beat them home and away and a few years later, they were relegated for 2010/11. During our home match with them, they were making all sorts of noise that they will also win this game and humiliate us during our home fixture. We beat them 1-0 and they kept chanting they will equalize untill the match ended in favour of the Phobians.
Anything else you’d like to say about your teams?
Nii: The most friendly and attractive football club, Oly dade, Oly gbogbo
Collins: Phooobia, Masters! Never Say Die, Until the Bones are Rotten!
By Nii Kwartelai Quartey, Collins Seymah Smith and @henrybellcalcio