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History: When the world's biggest football star came to Ghana

By Allsports.com.gh
Sports News History: When the world's biggest football star came to Ghana
SEP 30, 2016 LISTEN

Below is an extract from the upcoming Autobiography of Charles Kumi 'C,K.' Gyamfi (ghost-written by Pulse Ghana's Fiifi Anaman), published with permission of his family. C.K Gyamfi, who died in September last year, was an accomplished footballer who captained Ghana's national team before going on to become the first African to play professionally in Germany. His record of three African Cup of Nations titles (1963, 1965 and 1982) as coach of Ghana makes him one of the most successful black coaches in football history. Below, he recalls when the great English footballer Sir Stanley Matthews visited Ghana, in 1957.

When our club, Hearts of Oak, decided to invite the great Sir Stanley Matthews, everyone wondered how we were going to pull it off. Sir Stanley, 'The Magician', one of his affectionate monikers, was by then the biggest footballer on the globe. The year before, he had been awarded the Balon d'Or, football's biggest individual prize, when UEFA-based journalists voted him ahead of Real Madrid's Alfredo Di Stefano.

Our coach Ken Harrison, himself also an Englishman, had handled the negotiations and correspondence with Sir Stanley's camp. Then playing for Blackpool, Sir Stanley had expressed interest in touring Ghana and indeed had followed it up by giving his word that he would come, but where were we going to find the money to finance the operation? I must admit that most of us were doubtful about it happening.

It took an assurance from our chairman H.P Nyemetei, or Henry, as we simply used to call him, to give an assurance that the club could shoulder the financial burden of such a huge project. He announced that the superstar's ticket and match fees had been guaranteed.

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Sir Stanley descending from his flight on arrival

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