CEO of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Nana Yaw Amponsah
There is a disagreement between the two historic clubs in the country over which one is bigger in terms of brand name recognition.
Kotoko has for long pride itself as the club whose history, fan base and achievement are unmatched in this country.
Officials of the club have always bandied a figure of about eight million as the total number of Ghanaians who have attachments with the club.
These claims have however never been backed by data but only word of mouth.
In his maiden speech as the Chief Executive Officer of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Nana Yaw Amponsah declared the club as the ‘biggest brand’ in the country.
According to him, no brand in this country can run parallel with that of Kotoko. “Asante Kotoko is the biggest brand in Ghana, not even a political party can be compared to this club. None of the two biggest political parties in Ghana can be compared to Kotoko.", Nana Yaw said.
Days after this statement, his counterpart at Hearts of Oak, Frederick Moore stated that their brand is comparable to none in the country. So appealing is the Hearts brand that ‘reputable European marketing giants’ want to sign partnership deals with the club.
Moore says among the Ghanaian clubs, no single one can match the reputation of Hearts of Oak.
“We (Hearts) have the biggest brand of Ghanaian club in Africa. Marketing gurus from Europe call me on regular bases because they’ve done their search. There are companies that want to partner us”, Moore told Asempa FM.
The status of the two clubs as the biggest in the country is without question but the bigger of the two is where opinions strikingly differ.
While Kotoko claim to have eight million supporters which makes them the supreme club in Ghana, Hearts though have failed to state numbers say they are Ghana’s number one club.
On the field, Kotoko have won 23 Ghana Premier League titles, nine FA Cups and two CAF Champions League titles.
Hearts, on the other hand, have 20 league titles, 10 FA Cups, one CAF Champions League trophy and a CAF Confederation Cup title.
