Bibiani Gold Stars have won the Ghana Premier League for the first time in their history.
They are the seventh different club not named Hearts of Oak or Asante Kotoko, to have won the league since 2000.
Gold Stars successes also mean that for the third straight season, the Ghana Premier League is heading to the Western Region, after Medeama (2023) and F.C. Samartex (2024) won it previously.
But who else is worth mentioning?
Coach of the season
Last year, Ronald Frimpong was shipped out as one of the sellable assets of relegated Real Tamale United.
Six months before RTU decided to move him on, Samuel Atta Kumi was also deemed as surplus to requirement by relegation-threatened Karela United.
Before the pair put pen to paper, Gold Stars took a calculated risk on Vincent Atinga; a center back who was widely believed to be past his sell-by date by Medeama S.C. It did not matter that he had just won the league them a year ago.
Perhaps the most complicated transfer was Amond Kotei. His quality was not in doubt but was seen as a rotten apple because of his past indiscretions.
Eight months later, all of that is forgotten.
They are no longer damaged goods.
They are the heroes who delivered a historic first league title for Bibiani Gold Stars.
One man deserves credit for that: coach Frimpong Manso.
He has produced quite possibly the greatest recycling project since the turn of the millennium.
His brilliant squad management is the reason Atinga, who made his league debut over a decade ago, has remained fresh and fit (contributing a total of 18 matches).
The football has been surprisingly good, too. Manso’s teams are notoriously skint with possession. This season, however, he has coached out of his mind to produce football that is easy on the eye and gets results too.
What’s more, the Miners won eight points out of a possible twelve against their closest rivals and had a better head-to-head than all of them (Nations F.C and Heart of Lions).
For that, and brilliant in-game adjustments that won them the league, Frimpong Manso is the coach of the season.
Player of the season
Samuel Atta Kumi.
He was the flagbearer of the Frimpong Manso rehabilitation project.
Discarded just a year ago, Atta Kumi channeled the disappointment into a righteous rage. When he stepped onto the pitch, opponents bore the brunt of his fury.
Kumi’s game is mostly substance over style. He is the kind of forward who would pass the ball to a teammate and preserve his energy so that he can make that 10-yard dash and finish off a chance before the attacking sequence ends.
What cemented his status as the best player in the division, were his performances in the big matches. Particularly against fellow title contenders.
While others were overwhelmed by the sense of occasion, Kumi thrived in them. In each of those matches, he was the best player on the pitch. Often, by some distance too.
Of course, when he capped those performances with goals or assists, the country paid attention.
In all he scored 10 goals and was involved in a dozen more.
In a league where signings hardly work out, Kumi’s grass-to-glory tale is a refreshing break from the norm.
Flop of the season
Aboubakar Ouattara and Prosper Ogum
Why Ouattara? Let’s see.
Poor in-game management.
Terrible football.
Poor communication skills.
He failed to add value to the players he inherited and the new ones he signed.
Ouattara’s team managed a face-saving 1-0 win over Samartex on the final day of the season
Ogum?
Ogum promised a lot and delivered more words than on field success.
He is the only coach in the division who had absolute transfer autonomy for two seasons.
What did he do with it?
He discarded more than half of his own signings after the first season after a horrible campaign.
This season (his second season since returning), he signed sixteen new players.
Result? More of the same.
Three months into the season, Ogum’s team went on a run of five consecutive matches in the league without a win.
From October 27, 2024 to November 11, 2024, Kotoko lost four of five league matches; 2-1 to Legon Cities, a 1-0 home loss to Heart of Lions, 1-0 away to Bechem United before another 2-0 home loss to Nations F.C. The only respite was a 0-0 draw at newly promoted side, Basake Holy Stars.
Those problems resurfaced when a run of four winless games in March sealed his fate.
Former Kotoko coach Prosper Ogum was sacked in April, 2025 after a poor run
By the time Ogum was fired, his team had scored 28 goals and had let in 21.
Team of the season
Bibiani Gold Stars.
Street-wise, consistent and in the end likeable.
Gold Stars did not concede a lot of chances and had a clear, reliable, path to goal. Even if predictable.
Predictable but what they did so well, was speed with which they moved the ball from one end of the pitch, and the variety of chances they could create.
Atta Kumi’s contribution to that cannot be understated.
Most forwards would rather stay upfield and wait for the chance to finish. Kumi happens to be among the select few who enjoy the being involved in the build-up as much as they do the finish. And he is very good at both too.
It was also refreshing to, for once, focus on right back Amon Kotey’s skillset rather than his attitude. Free from the prejudiced views and self-destructive conducts, Kotey repaid the faith of his employers with brilliance after brilliance.
What they did seemed easy but against their title rivals, they did not lose a match – winning four points out of a possible six against Heart of Lions and another four out of six against Nations F.C.
Ultimately, that impressive head to head is what won them the league.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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