Profile: Coach Nana Kwaku Agyemang

The spotlight is now on Nana Kwaku Agyemang and this feature/profile is also for his fans who do not know him personally become inspired.

Whenever one turns on their television set in Ghana to view the best in Sport invariably this leads to a face to face discussion with the one of the current and most compelling Football Guru?s to watch in Ghana. If you have not had the pleasure of meeting him personally, viewing him on the screen creates the impression that this man is a 6ft tower of aggression and technical football information that carries a quality quite different to those commentators that merely provide a good historical contextual analysis.

If you haven not guessed it by now, I am talking about the one and only Nana Kwaku Agyemang. Sporting his Rastafarian hair style, his vivid imagination and knowledge coupled with his articulate expression provides a unique lesson for all viewers whenever he is on the screen.

Comprehensive analysis of local and international football remains his trademark even though he has not been able to penetrate the local scene on the Pitch. Four years ago he established himself with Okwawu United and after decrying the pedigree of Hearts of Oak went on to secure a draw against the mighty ?oak tree? against all the odds after taking a first minute lead and even having a legitimate goal denied them in the second half!

It seemed as if Nana Agyemang provided the perfect formula that would turn around the fortunes of Okwawu but it was not to be. Without been given the necessary time required to continue to build a winsome team Nana left the Club in a cloud of acrimony and discontent claiming that the Club owed him in excess of forty million cedis, a matter that is now with the Courts.

His season long romance with Swedru All Blacks has paid dividends as they have now qualified to the Ghana Telecom Premiership after five years in the wilderness. The irony of their qualification was that they had to face Okwawu United in the play-offs which All Blacks won on penalties. The big question on every ones lips now is will Nana Agyemang lead the All Blacks in the Premiership this season?

Nana Agyemang now hosts and continues to appear on a number of television programmes dedicated to football. One of the most popular programmes is ?Off the Pitch? a television series with a difference. The focus is on local talent as they work rest and play! The inside stories, aspirations and fears are covered in this programme that features Father, Mother, Brothers Sisters, Wives and indeed the entire family. So far players such as Don Bortey, Charles Taylor, Aziz Ansah have provided a unique insight into their lives. Other television programmes include; World Cup Countdown, now being shown on GTV. Appearing on other TV shows as a Guest include; Soccernite, One Touch Top Four Round-Up, Sports Station and Agenda.

Furthermore, Nana Agyemang hosts the ?Final Whistle? on Citi FM every Saturday and writes a weekly column in the All Sports Newspaper for which he recently received a National Award for the Best Sports Columnist of the Year.

Nana?s football knowledge and analysis sometime appears to be unrivalled but it has also cost him dearly as well as he has yet to secure any further significant coaching post in Ghana, despite having the credentials to fulfil the role and so remains currently unemployed once again in this field.

Whilst disappointed he still remains optimistic about the future and pledges to continue to commit his knowledge and experience to the development of the Ghanaian game.

SPORTS ACCREDITATION

Name: Nana Kwaku Agyemang

D.O.B: 22nd November 1961

Nationality British Ghanaian

Address: H/N 366 Gomoa-Fetteh, Central Region, Ghana

E-mail: kwakuagyemang@hotmail.com

Tel: 0044 7635 8804/0044 207 2776390/Gh: 024 264 221

1986 BRISTOL ROVERS FOOTBALL CLUB

After successful trials, I played for the Reserve Team in this Club. I also had trials for Bristol City Football Club, which also played in the third division at the time. I have played for numerous Non-League Clubs since then but due to a serious knee injury was forced to retire from serious competitive football.

1993 FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION AWARD

I qualified as a Class 1 Football Referee after refereeing over an eight-year period. Since qualification, I have refereed at all levels of the game.

Invited by the Football Association to begin participating in the semi-professional and professional game, I officiated in the Isthmian Football League and the Spartan League as well as in FA Cup preliminaries. I have been the official at numerous prestigious cup finals and have since through injury begun a new role of assessing Referees and also coaching.

1995 CRYSTAL PALACE FOOTBALL CLUB

I also became involve in working at Crystal Palace Football Club as a coach within the Lambeth Council Football in the Community Scheme.

1997 FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION COACHING CERTIFICATE

I received my Football Association Coaching Certificate qualification whilst coaching at Crystal Palace and after taking over the coaching of a youth team.

2000 FULHAM FOOTBALL CLUB

I began working with Fulham Football Club as a coach responsible for developing the U/17?s within the Lambeth Community.

2001 FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION AWARD

I received my Football Association Coaching License.

2002 FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION LEVEL ONE COACH EDUCATOR AWARD

I received the Football Association Level One Coach Educators Certificate. Because of this award, when in the UK, I now also work on behalf of the Football Association conducting Level One Coaching Courses.

To-date, I have run five of these courses, three of which were conducted at the Cape Coast and the El Wak stadium in Ghana as part of a joint development programme.

2002-03 OKWAWU UTD FC

I was appointed as the Head Coach of Okwawu Utd FC, a club participating in the Ghanaian Premiership, which was my first major appointment in Ghana. After taking them through pre-season matches and the first quarter of the season, I was promoted to Technical Director. I eventually tendered my resignation before the season ended as the Management failed to take on board the technical advice I was advising them to apply.

2003-04 FETTEH FEYENOORD FOOTBALL ACADEMY

I was invited to join the Academy by the Technical Director, Coach Sam Arday, where I worked on a daily basis. I assisted in coaching the 1st generation side that eventually qualified to the Kinapharma Premier Division.

2004-05 CLAPTON FC (London)

I was the Head Coach of this semi-professional team, which plays in the Rymans Football League. I took over this position since my return to the UK in January 2004.

They were struggling to find form all season and were languishing at the foot of the table with only seven games left. My main aim was to raise their performance with the view to avoiding relegation with only seven games of the season left. I, was successful in this endeavour and lead the club to win six out of the remaining seven matches.

Whilst in London I have registered to take my final Coaching License, (EUFA A) as well as complete my Generic Coaching Tutor qualifications. These will take place later on this year. I am also a Class 1 Referee, but have ceased to continue with the practice due to my injury and my desire to become an experienced coaching practitioner.

2005-2006 GAMBA ALL BLACKS FC (Ghana)

I was the Technical Director of this Professional First Division Football Club. Formerly in the Premiership, this club was relegated several years ago and have not been able to recover to join the elite once again.

My main aim is to ?break the jinx? in one season and return this club to its former days of glory as a formidable premiership team. We currently occupy the send spot on the league table with just five matches remaining. The first two clubs will go forward for local middle league encounters before competing nationally for a Premiership place.

I qualified this Club to the Sub-Middle League before taking up other duties and as a result the Club finally qualified to the Ghana Telecom Premier League defeating Okwawu United in the Premiership Play-Off game on penalties.

MEDIA ACCREDITION

2000-04 JOY FM

A weekly sports analyst on this established station I joined the Joy Fm Sports Team every Saturday to analyse the weekly events in the Premier League and/or the African Champions League, providing a preview of the forthcoming events too.

2004-06 ALL SPORTS NEWSPAPER

I write a weekly column in this paper which examines and provides a critical analysis of the progress being made by the Ghana Football Association and its Club membership (Premiership and lower division based Clubs). My Column also focuses on the Local Organising Committee of CAN 2008 amongst other pertinent issues.

I have been nominated and awarded ?2005 Sports Columnist of the Year?

2000-06 TV3 TELEVISION

I have been working initially as a resource person on this National Television Station, before presenting some other major sports programmes. These have included, Sports Station an omnibus of the weeks sporting events. The Coca Cola Top Four Competition, featuring the ?top four? Clubs in the country and the Ghana Black Stars World Cup Qualifiers.

I am currently still a resource person and presenter on this Television Station. The majority of my appearances have been live.

I am also presenting the ?World Cup Countdown? on Ghana Television (GTV) which has a wider network than its competitor TV3. This is a new production scheduled for three months and is pre recorded.

2005-06 CITI FM

I am also currently at Citi FM where as well as providing a resource content to my co-sports presenters I host my own sports show entitled ?The Final Whistle? I take a critical look at the sporting issues of the week. I invite prominent sporting personalities and decision makers into the studio to discuss the issues that matter.

2005-06 Recently awarded the National Sports Journalist Awards for Columns written in the All Sports Newspaper.