Barcelona is branching out into Ghana, even if they don’t know it.
Yesterday we introduced Keta Sandlanders. Today we bring you our exchange with the Sandlanders team, specifically Sandlanders Chairman and Founder Frank Cole and Vice-Chairman Paul Jones. We covered everything from the club to Barcelona, development, a young Fabregas/Pienaar, and the upcoming World Cup.
Enjoy …
Several major international newspapers have reported on Keta Sandlanders’ unique model in the African game (The Guardian (UK) and Financial Times). What’s makes your approach in Ghanaian/African football unique? What was the inspiration for the development of the Keta Sandlanders’ club model?
The model is unique in Ghanaian/African football as we will be giving everyone in the local community the opportunity to get involved in the running of the club and any profits made will be reinvested into the club and local community in line with our constitution. Too often in African football (as in other aspects of society) supporters feel detached from management/ownership and there is a lack of support for clubs because supporters don’t trust the owners. The co-operative structure is completely transparent and democratic and we hope to build a big fan base by allowing people to take a share in the club on a ‘one member one vote’ basis. We are promoting the club through our website to get international fans involved and in the long term we will encourage these fans to support development projects that go beyond football. The inspiration was Barcelona’s motto that it is ‘more than a club’ and the Sandlanders’ aim to become a vibrant social and economic community in Keta.
I like the spirit of the Barcelona ethos. How has the community in Keta taken to the community-oriented approach to the club?
We are still in the early stages of raising community awareness of the co-operative. The last couple of years have been spent building a team and setting the co-operative up and the next few will be spent working to promote the co-op and engaging members. As the organization matures we will begin our own development projects in the area which will be decided upon and run by the local supporters.
How do the Sandlanders compare to other First and Second Division sides in Ghana?
There are many teams competing in Ghana’s lower divisions and in general terms the quality is good but the infrastructure of the clubs is poor. Teams often run for one season investing everything they have before folding and sustainable structures are rare. We hope to boost our fundraising potential through website revenue and a mixture of public funding and commercial sponsorships to develop our infrastructure (training facilities, ground etc).
What has the response been in the rest of Ghana to the Sandlanders’ model? To your knowledge, is this a model that other clubs are considering?
Everyone we have come across likes the idea but it will take a lot of hard work to make our model successful to encourage other clubs to run in a similar fashion. We aim to show that lots of people working together is more effective than working in isolation.
It’s surprising that we still have to prove that working together is more effective than working in isolation. What projects are underway at the club, and how has the local community responded to the club’s initiatives? Going forward what projects are in the pipeline?
Our main efforts at the moment are on developing the co-operative. In the next year we will have an office for the co-operative where people can register with the club and we are also working on funding to develop a community pitch on the site of a former sports park in the town which is in a beautiful location on the coast but has fallen into disrepair since it was last used in the 1960s.
Why did you decide that a soccer club was in the right position to take on development projects in the community, rather than local or international NGOs?
Soccer clubs are very well placed to get the attention of the local community. They are a popular cause and people will often be more likely to join a football community than say an agricultural community. Once we have this attention, the club will be able to work with other NGOs in the local area who may have different areas of expertise. A profitable football club can invest in local businesses to make itself more sustainable and can work with other NGOs to start its own development projects. The most important thing is that the popular appeal is used responsibly.
Well said. So let’s look back a little bit so that we can project forward. The club was founded in 2002. Given the progress that has been made in the past eight years, where do you realistically see the club in five years?
The last 2 seasons have been spent stabilizing the club so that we can compete effectively in Ghana’s Division 2 and we have made a good start to this season. In the next 5 years, our main aims centre around developing the co-operative, our infrastructure and our community links. We believe that a more successful team on the pitch will follow these off-field improvements. If we are playing in Ghana’s Premiership in 5 years with a community pitch of our own and a popular, active co-operative running the club that would be a real achievement!
Let’s turn to players. Are most of the players local lads with ties to the community?
There is a good mix of local players and players from elsewhere in Ghana. In the past we have had players from as far away as Togo, Nigeria and Ivory Coast but the main focus will be on developing players from the Keta area.
Are there any young players at Keta Sandlanders who should be on our radar? What are their attributes and what players would you compare them to?
The club’s stand-out young player is a midfielder called Charles Abotsi. He is 17 and has been played at Ghana’s regional trials (the pool of players from which Ghana’s U-17 team is drawn). He is a small player but has terrific control, passing and movement and is a little like a Fabregas or Everton’s Steven Pienaar.
Being a little like Fabregas or Pienaar isn’t a bad thing to be. Raising these two names provides a nice segue into my final question. Obviously all of Ghana is eagerly awaiting the first World Cup in Africa. Give us a prediction. How far will Ghana go in the tournament?
Ghana have a tough group but they have also developed a real winning mentality in the last year and had a good African Nations Cup powered by several youngsters who won the U-20 World Cup. With these young players and a fit Essien and Muntari, Ghana should make the last 16 at least.
And there you have it. Click here to learn more information about Keta Sandlanders and join the movement. For the price of a pint (at least in New York City or London), you can be an owner of one of the coolest clubs around and do some good. It’s that simple!
