How 2017 claimed the lives of two Ghanaian Coaches

2017 wasn’t a pleasant year for footballer lovers in Ghana as football people were forced to mourn the death of two great Ghanaian coaches.

The two coaches were U-17 World Cup winner Sam Arday and three-time Ghana Premier League Herbert Addo.

As 2017 gets to an end, Ghanacrusader.com look at how the aforementioned tacticians passed on.

Sam Arday – News broke on February 12th that Sam Arday is dead. A lot of people din’t believed the news but his family came out to confirmed it.

Until his death he was West African Football Academy (WAFA) Technical Director. He was well known as the “multi- system man.”

He was the coach of Ghana’s Olympic Bronze Soccer Medal winning team at Barcelona ’92, a feat which made Ghana the first an African country to win an Olympic medal in football.

He then became head coach of the Ghana national under-17 football team, the Black Starlets, who won the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship Trophy in Ecuador[1] and the African Under-17 Championship in Mali.

He also coached the Ghana national under-20 football team and various club sides including Ashgold, Asante Kotoko,

defunct Feyenoord etc.

He was coach of the Black Stars on two occasions – from 1996 to 1997, and again in 2004.

Herbert Addo – On March 24th, Herbert Addo was confirmed dead after battling with illness.

Addo started his coaching career with Armed Forces Team S.S. 74 in the Old Ghana First Division league.

He managed the Black Meteors (U23) (1981-82) and Black Satellites (U20) (1983-84) before graduating to the Black Stars (1983-86/87) and capping it off by winning the SWAG coach of the year award (1987).

Herbert Addo won the Ghana Premier League on five occasions with four different clubs, the only coach to have achieved that feat in the history of the local game.

He won the league title with Asante Kotoko (1988), Goldfields S.C now Ashgold (1994/95 and 1995/96), Accra Hearts of Oak (2002), and Aduana Stars (2010).

The 66-year-old had stints with clubs like Accra Great Olympics (twice), Sekondi Hasaacas, Kumasi Cornerstone (where he won the WAFU Champions Cup in 1987), Goldfields (now Ashanti Gold), Asante Kotoko, Accra Hearts of Oak, Ghapoha, Okwahu United, Samartex FC, Gamba All Blacks, Pure Joy, Wassaman, and Inter Allies.

On the continent, guided Shell FC in Gabon to win their domestic cup – and Maranatha FC (Togo), but his most salient achievement in Africa came in the 1996/97 African Clubs Champions League when he led Goldfields to a heartbreaking penalty defeat in the finals.

The experienced coach also had a short stint with the Ghana Local Black Stars leading them in a CHAN tournament in 2010.

Addo rejuvenated his career when he picked up the Inter Allies job in the 2013/14 season and led the club to safety after a poor start.

He also led the debuting Allies to the finals of the FA Cup where he was beaten by his former club Asante Kotoko.

He left Inter Allies to Accra Hearts of Oak, where he led to the penultimate qualifying stage of the CAF Confederation Cup in the 2014/15 season.

The CAF license A coach returned to Inter Allies for the start of the 2016 campaign after parting ways with Accra Hearts of Oak.