Goldfields vision for the future out-doored

Obuasi, July 9, GNA- Obuasi Goldfields' vision for the next 25 years is to become a model club in Ghana and Africa with excellent record of many successes in both local and African Champions League competitions.

At a well-attended press conference at the Len clay stadium on Tuesday to launch the club's 25 years anniversary programme, Captain Andy Sam (rtd), the Chief Executive, stressed, "we hope to be a great club in Ghana and Africa". The anniversary celebration is under the theme, "25 years of success".

He indicated the club's desire and vision to win the premier leagues and go to Africa.

Capt Sam said management is building the foundation for that realisation not only to become the best club in Ghana and Africa but also to create a complete footballer in the country.

"We have started offering life skills courses to our players so as to make them earn comfortable lives even when on retirement", he said. The Chief Executive added that the players nutritional status is also being improved so that wherever they go there would not be a problem for the club.

Capt Sam announced that the supporters of the club would be made to go through some form of transformation while the technical team too will be reshaped to meet the challenges of the new vision.

"We hope to celebrate another 25 years of success and therefore if that vision dies, then we need not do anything again".

Touching on the achievement of the club over the past 25 years, the confident Chief Executive who was flanked by the national supporters chairman, Alhaji Sannie and Mr A.K. Badu, past chairman of Goldfields, said Goldfields on its formation in 1978 got promoted to then Division One in 1985.

"In 1993, Goldfields won its major trophy -the FA cup and became the first club to win the first premier league in 1994 and retained it in 1995 and 1996".

Capt Sam added that Goldfields is the only club in Ghana to have built its own stadium and a soccer academy "and the stadium possesses the best playing surface in Ghana, boasts of a grandstand of 3,000 seats, six spacious and executive air-conditioned boxes, two squash courts with bar and function room, a fully-equipped gymnasium, an electronic scoreboard and a very huge park".

The anniversary programme which has already started will run through to December where the first week would be used to climax the anniversary with picnic, football gala and other fun matches including one between Goldfields old players and Kotoko old players. Other activities will include the unveiling of a monument, dinner dance/awards night and thanksgiving service.

Prominent among the anniversary will be the outdooring of the official anniversary song in August and cutting of the sod to begin work on the construction of phase one of the club's silver jubilee flats in September.