Stop insulting returnee players - Godwin Attram

Former Ghana youth captain, Godwin Attram, is calling on football fans to stop ridiculing professional returnee footballers.

Some Ghanaian footballers who have plied their trade overseas have opted to return to play for local clubs for varying reasons - some to re-launch their careers and some to serve their final years at home.

But there has been a worrying trend, Attram says, where these players have received harsh critique from fans who question their fitness levels and "overly criticize them."

Attram, who is one of four returnees captured by Accra Great Olympics, is asking fans to exercise some decorum.

"I am pleading with the fans to accept the professional players whenever they are about to retire or even if they are coming to relaunch their careers," he told Joy Sports.

He goes on: "Over the years, the fans have been bullying them and saying that 'you are old' and 'you cannot play'. I am asking them to stop that because football is here in Ghana."

The former U-17 national team captain has travelled widely since leaving Olympics in 1998, featuring for clubs in Holland, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudia Arabia and Oman.

He hopes to help salvage the dim fortunes of Great Olympics in the ongoing First Capital Plus Premier League with his experience garnered over the years.

"Most of the professional players who have gone out there and are returning to the country have learnt a lot. It's so important [that we've gone] out there to learn a lot [about] the tricks in the football and we are coming back to implement and help the inexperienced players."

Great Olympics are currently bottom of the Ghana Premier League log table after getting a paltry six points from a possible 21.