Today In History: Accra Hearts of Oak is 112 years today.

The club was formed in Accra on 11th November 1911 by a group of young men led by Christopher Brandford Nettey (later Asafoatse Nettey), a war leader of the Ga State in the colonial times and his other colleagues, Sinon-Okraku brothers (Adolf, Alfred and Wilhelm), J.T .O Ankrah, J.A Aryee, Dodoo Annang, Darku Abbey, Mark Nettey, the Solomon duo (Amponsah and Kwashie), the Bruce-Tagoe brothers (W.W and T.F), Willie Ocran, TF Wilson, JDK Botwe, FD Amoo, Peter Malm and Quarshie Coker, Akom Duncan, all players of the team.

Hearts is officially the oldest club in Ghana football.

Despite being formed in 1911, Hearts had to wait for more than a decade to record their first win in a major tournament in 1922. This could be attributed to the absence of sanctioned football matches in the then British colony.

Their first season in the maiden Ghana Premier League in 1956, Hearts were champions.

The title in 1956 was the first of 20 league titles the Phobians have won in their 109 history. It is second highest to Kumasi Asante Kotoko who have amassed 24 titles.

In the FA Cup, Hearts are joint top winners with 10 trophies. They have two Super Cups.

Hearts have a trophy each in the CAF Confederation Cup and CAF Champions League in 2004 and 2000 respectively.

Hearts were the winners of the maiden edition of the CAF Confed Cup. The ‘virgin cup’ they called it. They also won the 2001 CAF Super Cup.

Hearts is also listed as one of CAF’s club of the 20th century.

Six consecutive Premier League Champions. How about that for a record. Six seasons, six league titles from 1996 to 2002, the Phobians dominated football in Ghana. They won the CAF Champions League in that period and won the Confed Cup four years later.

On February 12, 2001 Hearts of Oak recorded another milestone, when CNN/World Soccer rated them the 8th best club in its weekly chart, rubbing shoulders with giants such as Real Madrid.
They remain the only team in Ghana with that enviable record.

Under a defensively shrewd manager, Hearts went through an entire league campaign without losing a game.

Herbert Addo’s Hearts of Oak tasted no defeat in the 2002/2003 season but could not win the league. They were second.

Ever heard of the all-conquering 64 Battalions squad?
Yeah that team that was assembled by the legendary coach Attuquayefio.

Sammy Adjei, Eben Dida Armah, Jacob Nettey, Amankwah Mireku, Ishmael Addo, Charles Allotey, Dan Quaye were all part of the great team that played scintillating football and won laurels.

In 2009, the Hearts finally decided to swap their traditional status for a corporate one. Togbe Afede bought the highest number of shares thus became the club’s de facto owner.

The flotation of shares was meant to herald the Hearts into a dawn of unprecedented success domestically and on the continental stage.

However, a decade after the move, fans have occasionally agitated and protested the running of the club by Togbe Afede and his cohorts for the club not winning trophies... Things turned around as the club came back to its winning ways; winning the Ghanaian Premier League 2020-21 Season, Ghanaian FA Cup 2021 & 2022 and Ghana Super Cup 2021.

The last three years have however been different with long-term plans being put in place to return Hearts to its status.