The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has said that the 15-year lull period for Asante Kotoko with virtually no enviable honours to show is definitely a matter of concern to Asanteman and the large supporters and sympathizers of the club.
The whole Asanteman, supporters and sympathizers of Kotoko have watched with complete disbelief the dwindling fortunes of the club, the Asantehene, who is life patron of the club said. Otumfuo Osei Tutu was speaking at the launch of a Scratch Card Raffle and the Asante Kotoko Express Newspaper at the Manhyia Palace at the weekend.
The Asantehene remembered with nostalgia the glorious days when the Osei Kofis, Baba Yaras, Robert Mensahs, Abdul Razaks and a host of others brought honour and glory to the club. He said those were the days when Kotoko was a club of marvel and a club whose name put fear into opposing teams adding that those were the days when football was played with patriotism and commitment. What Kotoko requires now is a revived spirit, a spirit that urges the players to die for the team, and a spirit that encourages each supporter to have a big heart and pray for better days to come. The Asantehene said he has been following with keen interest attempts by the present management to introduce new ideas into the club with the view to generating funds to run it efficiently and effectively.
Kotoko cannot be run on the largesse of individuals and companies alone and that there is the urgent need to get more funds for the club if it should regain its past glory. This, he said, could be done through investments and organizing fund-raising activities and added that the launch of the raffle and the newspaper was the first step towards resuscitating the club.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu said Kotoko has begun a journey to regain its past glory and that the journey is going to be an arduous and tortuous one adding that he knows the results will take a couple of years to show. He, therefore, called on all to exercise restraint and show a great deal of support for these laudable ventures.
Mr. Herbert Mensah, Executive Chairman of Kotoko, said the club spends around 10 to 15 million cedis to prepare for every match and regretted that gate proceeds at some league centers do not match the expenditure. He said management, therefore, decided to introduce the scratch raffle to generate funds for the club and also set up the "Kotoko Express" newspaper to serve as the official mouthpiece of the club. Mr. Mensah said management has spent sometime to ensure that the circles were well organized to sell the raffle so that at the end of every month management will be able to know how much the club earns after paying winnings, advertisements and administrative overheads. The Executive Chairman said the major aim of the present administration is to redeem the image of Kotoko which has sunk to its lowest ebb by getting enough money to recruit quality players at any given time. Mr. Mensah presented a copy of the maiden issue of the Kotoko Express to the Asantehene.
