Hearts of Oak, led by a quintet of Mohammed Polo, Mama Bomber Acquah, Peter Lamptey, Robert Hammond, and Anas Seidu dubbed the fearsome five, were the team to beat the in the late 1970s.

They were unstoppable and dominated their fierce rival Asante Kotoko within the period.

According to Kotoko legend Samuel Opoku Nti, Kotoko general manager Sims Kofi Mensah had to adopt a new recruitment strategy to dethrone Hearts of Oak and their fearsome five.

Opoku Nti told Dan Kwaku Yeboah that Kotoko signed 16 players, including himself, from the country's top teams in order to put together a formidable side.

"If you look at Kotok-Hearts history, if you take a look from 1975 to 1979, the fearsome five of Hearts of Oak would beat Kotoko with just 9 players. They were very tough. Then in the '80s Sims Kofi Mensah bought 16 players from all the top teams. He bought the best player of every club. So when we were put together, we had a strong set...

“One thing that really helped us was that we had a physical trainer called Mr. Lawson, may his soul rest in peace. He took us through physicals and made us train really well. We trained morning and evening, Thursdays were our off day. And everyone was fighting for position so the individuals everyone was fighting for position."

He narrated that Sims strategy paid off after Kotoko thumbed Hearts of Oak 3-0 at the Accra Sports Stadium in the new season.

"So when we started the league, he met Hearts in either the third or second game and we destroyed them. We beat them 3-0 at Accra Sports Stadium. I came in to score from a corner but the referee disallowed it. We would've beaten them four had the referee not disallowed one goal. It was a corner and I nodded it in. There wasn't a foul or offside. Hearts had dominated Kotoko for a long time and all of a sudden they got beaten like that. The fearsome five could not believe it. That was the starting point for the (new) Kotoko.

Sim's Kofi Mensah’s Asante Kotoko went on to win the league four times in a row. They also won the club's second and last African Cup of Champions Clubs now CAF Champions League.

Prior to Kotoko's successful streak of titles, Hearts of Oak led by the fearsome five had won four league titles out of five seasons and lost the African Cup of Champions Clubs final to Al Ahly in 1979.


Watch Opoku Nti's interview below from 39:35 seconds





EE/KPE