Kumasi Asante Kotoko Sporting Club is to set up a fund to support its old players, Mr. Paul Adu-Gyamfi, the Board Chairman, has announced.
Contributions to the fund would come mainly from gate proceeds, player transfers and donations.
He broke the news at a ceremony held to mark the 81st anniversary of the club at its secretariat in Kwadaso, Kumasi.
Mr. Adu-Gyamfi said he found it disheartening the miserable lives some of the old players were living and spoke of the need for things to change – to bring some comfort to them.
He indicated that as trailblazers they worked to bring honour to club and deserved to be rewarded for the hard work, dedication and loyalty that had made Kotoko a dominant force in Africa.
Established in 1935, Kotoko, arguably Ghana’s most successful club, has won the CAF Champions League twice - 1970 and 1983, and five times, runners-up – 1967, 1971, 1973, 1982 and 1993.
It has also won Ghana’s elite league, 24 times, and emerged the FA Cup champions on eight occasions - a feat that has ranked the club as the most successful African club of the century.
The tall list of on-the-field achievements notwithstanding, the club’s financial standing, infrastructure and managerial structure had not been not been the best and these have combined to affect its progress.
The last time the Kotoko claimed continental honours was in 1983, when it won the CAF Champions League.
Mr. Adu-Gyamfi rallied all stakeholders to pull together to return Kotoko to its once fearsome – all conquering side.
Mr. Samuel Opoku-Nti, the acting General Manager of Kotoko, and scorer of the winning goal that earned the Porcupine Warriors the Champions League trophy in 1983, appealed for corporate sponsorship.
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