By Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng
Accra, Ghana//-Once upon a time, I was C.K. Gyamfi. I have the little scar on my left little toe as a reminder of that impetuosity. I was not alone.
Most boys growing up in the early years after independence imagined themselves to be a celebrity footballer, and we were spoilt for choice. You could be Baba Yara, Edward Acquah, Dogo Moro, or Ofei Doodo – depending on your playing position.
But the prized choice of them all was the one and only C.K. Gyamfi. Indeed, it was not even necessary to add the Gyamfi. There was only one C.K.
Ahead of writing this piece, I have struggled with how to convey the status and talent of C.K. Gyamfi to today’s audience. It is no exaggeration to say that to truly get the measure of the man, you have to combine the scoring instincts of Asamoah Gyan or Tony Yeboah, the football sense of Stephen Appiah, the guile of Abedi Pele, the tenacity of Michael Essien, and the combativeness of Sule Muntari. Add to that the stubborn gentility of Kwesi Appiah. All rolled into one. That was C.K.
Next Thursday, May 19, the life of C.K. Gyamfi will be revealed in all its glory at the launch of his autobiography simply titled: The Black Star.
The title is both appropriate and historically deserving. C.K. Gyamfi was not only the first captain of the Black Stars but also the only coach to have won three continental titles for Ghana’s Black Stars. He was Ghana’s Black Star.
My friend the veteran sportswriter Ken Bediako paid glowing tribute to CK when he passed away in 2015. I reproduce here a portion of his write-up because it sums up the life of the man we would be celebrating posthumously on Thursday.
Ken writes: Charles Kumi Gyamfi was a stubborn personality, positively stubborn if you like. And it was this positive stubbornness that propelled him to mature his football talents.
He started playing football at a very tender age at Okorase Primary school in the Eastern Region. He found goalkeeping very dull and he stubbornly decided to play up front, and he wasn’t doing badly at all.
He left Okorase for Accra in 1941 and as related by Ken Bediako, “One afternoon young CK went to the Accra Royal School at Korle Gonno to watch a football match between the school’s junior team and the seniors.
After watching the game for a while C.K. went straight to the sports master Mr Lamptey Bruce and stubbornly asked to be fielded because he realised he could play far better than most of the players.
The sports master felt the small boy from “the bush” was being petulant and initially ignored him but since C.K. stubbornly insisted, he gave him the chance.
Lo and behold C.K dazzled and scored two beautiful goals for the juniors. He became an instant hero and was carried shoulder-high by the elated spectators. The school immediately enrolled him as a pupil.
From that impetuous start, CK went on to become the most complete football personality our country has ever produced. He was in the Gold Coast XI that toured Britain in 1951 and played barefooted in winter. He was a member and captain of the Black Stars at their imperious pomp when they run riot over many African teams, but especially Nigeria.
He played for both glamour teams in Ghana – Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak; in between, he founded and played for Kumasi Greater Ashantis. Ken Bediako has this to say about the event that led to CK’s departure from Kotoko. “…it was his typical stubbornness that caused a major change in his brilliant football career in 1954.
Then skipper of fabulous Kumasi Asante Kotoko, C.K. was accused of taking a team supposedly in the name of Kotoko to honour a special friendly Easter Day match at Abetifi Kwahu”. The full report of what happened at that Easter match is worth the price of the book.
Of course, as said earlier, he formed a rival team, Great Ashantis in Kumasi but after a couple of years left Kumasi for Accra where he joined Kotoko’s greatest rival, Accra Hearts of Oak. As recounted by Ken, “he really made his mark as a great footballer (with Hearts) until he left for Germany in 1960 to play professional football with Fortuna Dusseldorf”.
C.K. became the toast of Dusseldorf fans and a football sensation across then-West Germany but gave it all up to return to Ghana to honour his contract with the Central Organisation of Sports and the Ghana Amateur Football Association, which had sponsored his trip.
He returned as a trainer and coach for various Ghana national teams, especially the Black Stars for most of his career. He also trained in Brazil as part of his preparation for national duties.
K. Gyamfi and the national team were so successful that many African countries invited them to play football as part of their independence celebrations. Usually, the Black Stars triumphed over their hosts, but the result was beside the point; seeing the Black Stars in action was the reward.
As a coach, CK took Ghana to three of our four gold medals in Africa’s most prestigious championship, the Africa Cup of Nations. With him in charge, Ghana won at home in 1963, retained the title in Tunisia two years later, and won for the last time in Libya in 1982. The saga of the Libya victory is a major story deserving the full narration readers will encounter in the book.
What kind of person was this icon of soccer, Ghana’s first undoubted football superstar? We have heard from Ken Bediako, who had known him for nearly half a decade that CK was “positively stubborn”. That comes out clearly in this book in which he narrates the many hurdles he had to jump in order to get to the pinnacle of his profession.
However, there is no shortage of adjectives to describe this man whose roots came from Larteh Akuapem where he was later enstooled as a chief. My choice of description would be “patriotic”. Over and above every sentiment, Ghana was the abiding reason and motivation for his every action.
He was also generous. He played alongside some of the best footballers Africa could parade at the time. Their names sit at the apex of our football pantheon.
Players like Chris Briant, the first captain of the national team, Baba Yara, Edward Acquah, Wilberforce Mfum, Mohammed Salisu, Dogo Moro, Ofei Doodo, Osei Kofi, to name just a few, played alongside him and he acknowledges their genius and contribution throughout the book.
He also reserves special praise for Ohene Djan, the man appointed by President Nkrumah to organise and oversee sports development in the country.
There is a small but important episode in the book that highlights the importance Nkrumah attached to sports in his time. On one occasion, Gyamfi recalls, Nkrumah summoned Ohene Djan and himself to the Flagstaff House without disclosing the purpose of the meeting.
The President kept them waiting while dealing with other visitors. Eventually, he called them in but kept them standing while he made notes at his desk. He looked up at them and in considerable annoyance told them that he was not happy with their recent results and showed them statistics and graphs to demonstrate his concern.
President Nkrumah, Ohene Djan and Gyamfi himself knew that, as now, football was the passion of the nation and CK controlled the nation’s heartbeat whether as a player, captain, or coach.
Apart from the information in the book, Gyamfi’s autobiography triumphs as literature. His collaborator, Fiifi Anaman is a young award-winning journalist whose skills bring the story to light but the words and every bit of the narrative belong to CK. Every boy of my generation wanted to be CK.
This book brings him to the attention of a whole new generation and for that, I consider the coming book launch as a national event and an opportunity to pay homage to the great CK Gyamfi and his generation of selfless and patriotic Ghanaian footballers and coaches.
Book launch on Thursday April 19, 2022
Time 4pm
Publisher: Digibooks
First published in the Mirror
