Southampton Football Club is delighted to welcome Kotoko SC, one of the leading professional clubs in Africa, to its growing portfolio of International Club Partners.

Over the course of the partnership, Southampton will support the development of Ghanaian Premier League Kotoko’s strategy both on and off the pitch.

Southampton will share their industry-leading coaching expertise to help Kotoko realise their ambition of building a sustainable Academy and pathway to the first team, with year-round remote support supplemented by regular visits to Ghana throughout the partnership from the club’s International Football Partnership team.

The partnership will include Academy staff exchange visits between the UK and Ghana, as well as opportunities for Kotoko’s young players to attend annual UK Player Development camps and experience the Southampton Academy methodology first-hand, when travel corridors open up and it is safe to travel.

Southampton will also support the development of Kotoko’s commercial and operational strategy through collaborating on key projects.

NANA YAW HAS A CLEAR VISION FOR ASANTE KOTOKO TO BE A SELF-SUSTAINABLE FOOTBALL CLUB, BOTH ON AND OFF THE PITCH

MARK ABRAHAMS
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, SOUTHAMPTON FC
Based in Kumasi, Ashanti Region in Ghana West Africa, Kotoko have been champions of the Premier League a record 23 times, have won the CAF Champions League twice and were named the African club of the century by International Football Federation of History and Statistics (IFFHS).

Kotoko’s CEO, Nana Yaw Amponsah commented: “This partnership enables us to plug Kotoko into Southampton in such a way that Kotoko functions like Southampton. Kotoko would have everything Southampton has but to a level that reflects our different budgets. I believe that with the expertise and resources available at Southampton, we can tap into this and develop our setup to look and feel professional like Saints.”

Mark Abrahams, Director of Business and Community Development commented:
“During these challenging times we’re delighted to have agreed a long-term partnership to work with Kotoko. Nana Yaw has a clear vision for Kotoko to be a self-sustainable football club both on and off the pitch. We look forward to working with him and his team to support their development.”

Kotoko SC becomes Southampton’s first professional club partnership in Africa adding to a range of partners across North America, the Middle East, Australia and Japan.

This is the 4th POTM award he has won since joining Man Utd. There are only 5 players in PL history with more Player of the Month awards than him – Aguero, Gerrard, Kane, Van Persie, and Rooney.

Fernandes scored three goals in six Premier League appearances in December as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side went unbeaten, winning four games and drawing the other two.

The 26-year-old scored twice in Manchester United’s 6-2 drubbing of Leeds and also found the net in the 2-2 Boxing Day draw with Leicester.

Fernandes also provided four assists in December, including a defense-splitting pass for Marcus Rashford’s injury-time winner against Wolves.

The Portugal midfielder has scored 15 goals in 26 games this season across all competitions, helping Manchester United move three points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.

The Aston Villa head coach beat Everton’s Carlo Ancelotti, Burnley’s Sean Dyche and Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to win the accolade after masterminding a five-game unbeaten run.

Smith and his backroom team oversaw three victories and two draws as the club ended 2020 in fifth place.

Adding to the unbeaten run, Smith’s side scored eight goals and conceded just once during the month – keeping a league-high four clean sheets.

Back-to-back 3-0 victories against Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion helped catapult the team up the table.

It’s the third time that the Villa boss has been nominated for the award this season after he was among the nominees in September and November, eventually missing out to Ancelotti to Nuno Espirito Santo respectively.

Smith’s win sees him become just the fourth Villa manager to claim the award, following in the footsteps of Brian Little (Jan 1995), John Gregory (Sep 1998 and Sep 2001) and Martin O’Neill (Apr 2007, Nov 2007, Dec 2008 and April 2010

Just like visiting the Crosby Awuah Memorial Park, the Red Bull Arena in Sogakope is another venue away teams don’t dream of winning over there. Therefore, the celebration for a draw is tantamount to that of a win.

Asante Kotoko will be put to a massive test at Sagakope against West Africa Football Academy(WAFA) tomorrow in match week nine of the ongoing season.

WAFA might be the favourite to win the tie but Kotoko have been impressive in their last two visits though the latter have never won at the venue.

The Reds recorded a 0-0, and 1-1 draw in 2018 and 2020 respectively the last time they faced the Academy boys away. The last time WAFA beat Kotoko at home was in 2017 where they won 2-0.

Tomorrow’s game is apparently not the top liner of the weekend but it has all that it takes to be a must-watch game. Will Kotoko end WAFA’s unbeaten home run? Will Kotoko duo Fabio Gama and Kwame Poku have yet another good game? Who will stop red hot Daniel Lomotey from finding the back of the net in another home game?

Questions that keep all local football enthusiasts in a much-anticipated mood ahead of the game.

WAFA would need a win to keep up their chase for the title as they are two points behind league leaders Ashanti Gold who are on 15 points.

Kotoko on the other hand, have an outstanding game but at the moment are a point behind their opponent tomorrow and would have their eye set for positive results at the end of the game.

Key Players

WAFA 

Daniel Lomotey

Lomotey has scored seven goals this season which all of them came at home. The former Ghana youth star scored four in his last home game against Medeama. Hence will he will be the focus for Kotoko’s backline.

Kotoko

Kwame Poku

Poku has proven to be a reliable goal poacher for the Kotoko, scoring four goals in seven games so far this season. The last time out he had a brace against Liberty on Monday.

Fabio Gama

The Brazilian made his full debut for the Porcupines against Liberty which he had an assist to his name and showed glimpses of a quality playmaker the club have invested in.

Form Guide

WAFA- last five games

W 3, D 0, L 2

Kotoko- last five games

W 3, D 1, L 1

Kick-off: 3 PM/ 13:00 GMT  on January 17.

Bet Tips

• West Africa Football Academy have only won one of their last 5 games against Asante Kotoko FC
• There have been exactly 2 goals in 4 out of 7 Asante Kotoko’s Premier League games this season
• There has been exactly 1 goal in 4 out of 8 WAFA’s Premier League games this season

Double chance WAFA

Both teams to score