President's Cup (Ghana)

The President's Cup is an annual one-off game, featuring two selected clubs at the end of the season. The cup is called the GHALCA President's Cup because it is organized by Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) and played in honour of the sitting President of Ghana.[1] The game was also known as the Republic Day Celebrations Cup and is usually played in July of each year to mark Ghana's Republic Day celebrations which falls on the 1 July.

GHALCA President's Cup
Organising bodyGhana League Clubs Association (GHALCA)
Founded1969 (1969)
Region Ghana
Number of teams2
Current championsHearts of Oak
Most successful club(s)Asante Kotoko (8 titles)
Television broadcastersGTV

The current holders are Accra Hearts of Oak, who defeated rivals Asante Kotoko 1–0 in the 2023 match.[2][3][4]Asante Kotoko holds the record for most wins with eight titles.

History

Between 1969 and 1984, the cup was being played to honour the sitting president but was branded based on the sitting president at the time. The 1969 edition was known as the Busia Cup in honour of the then Prime Minister Abrefa Busia whilst the 1973 edition was known as the Acheampong Cup in honour of then head of state Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.

In 2003, after long layoff to the competition from 1985 to 2002, the competition was rebranded as the President's Cup and was instituted through the Ghana League Clubs Association and the National Sports Authority to serve a competition to honour the sitting president on every Republic Day Celebration.[1][5][6] The first edition was played between Hearts of Oak and rivals Great Olympics, which Hearts won by 2–0.

List of finals

Source: [7][8]

Year Winners Score Runners up
1969 Ebusua Dwarfs 1–0 Asante Kotoko
1973 Asante Kotoko 1–0 Hearts of Oak
1984 Asante Kotoko 1–1 (agg.) (a) Hearts of Oak
2003 Hearts of Oak 2–0 Great Olympics
2004 Asante Kotoko 1–0 Liberty Professionals
2005 Asante Kotoko 1–0 Hearts of Oak
2008[9] Asante Kotoko 2–2 (4–3 p) Heart of Lions
2009[10] Hearts of Oak 1–1 (5–4 p) Eleven Wise
2011[11] Berekum Chelsea 2–2 (8–7 p) Asante Kotoko
2012[12] Berekum Chelsea 2–1 Asante Kotoko
2013[13] Hearts of Oak 2–0 Medeama
2015[14] Hearts of Oak 0–0 (5–4 p) Asante Kotoko
2016[15] Asante Kotoko 0–0 (3–2 p) Hearts of Oak
2017[16] Asante Kotoko 0–0 (4–1p) Hearts of Oak
2019[17] Asante Kotoko 2–1 Hearts of Oak
2020–2021 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022[2] Hearts of Oak 2–1 Asante Kotoko
2023[18] Hearts of Oak 1–0 Asante Kotoko

Performance by club
Club Winners Winning Years
Asante Kotoko 8 1973, 1984, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2019
Hearts of Oak 6 2003, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2022, 2023
Berekum Chelsea 2 2011, 2012

See also

References
  1. Kenu, Daniel (23 December 2019). "Keita wins President's Cup for Kotoko; Beat Hearts 2-1". Graphic Online. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  2. Osei, Bernard Esar Ebo (4 March 2022). "Late Patrick Razak goal clinches President's Cup for Hearts against Kotoko". Citi Sports Online. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  3. Lawrence, Kweku (4 March 2022). "Patrick Razak scores late to secure President's Cup for Hearts of Oak". My Joy Online. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  4. "Konadu Yiadom's header settles 2023 President's Cup between Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko - MyJoyOnline.com". www.myjoyonline.com. 2023-03-05. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  5. "Kotoko claim President's Cup". Ghanafa. Ghana Football Association. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  6. "VIDEO: Kotoko beat Hearts on penalties to win pulsating 2016 President's Cup". My Joy Online. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  7. Yeboah, Thomas Freeman (8 September 2019). "Previous winners of the President's Cup". Pulse Ghana. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  8. Yeboah, Thomas Freeman (8 September 2019). "President's Cup: Kotoko vs Hearts in numbers". Pulse Ghana. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  9. "Kotoko win President's Cup". Modern Ghana. My Joy Online. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  10. "Hearts wins President's Cup". GhanaWeb. Ghana News Agency. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  11. "Berekum Chelsea beat Kotoko to win President's Cup". GhanaWeb. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  12. Dogbevi, Emmanuel (2 July 2012). "Berekum Chelsea beats Kotoko to retain President's Cup". Ghana Business News. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  13. Ansah, Joshua (1 July 2013). "Hearts of Oak 2-0 Medeama: Phobians lift 2013 President's Cup". Goal. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  14. Kobo, Kingsley (1 July 2015). "Hearts of Oak beat Kotoko to lift President's Cup". Goal. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  15. Acheampong, Afia (1 July 2016). "Kotoko beat Hearts to win 2016 President's Cup". Footy-GHANA. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  16. "2017 President's Cup: Kotoko lifts flag high". News Ghana. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  17. Teye, Prince Narkortu (22 December 2019). "Asante Kotoko down Hearts of Oak to win Ghana President's Cup". Goal. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  18. "Watch how Hearts of Oak defeated Asante Kotoko in-front of Akufo-Addo". GhanaWeb. 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
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