Ahead of their top liner clash against Bechem Stars, Asante Kotoko moved their training grounds from the AJ Centre to the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. The stadium is supposed to host the Fabulous Club in all its home matches this season thus the anticipation and the actual training at the grounds attracted huge media and supporter fanfare.
King Faisal had hosted and defeated WAFA by a lone goal at the same grounds but the homecoming of Kotoko has become a huge topical discussion in football circles.
The National Sports Authority had started cleaning the seats and most parts of the stadium since Monday following the return of Kotoko coming Sunday. The NSA also permitted Kotoko to train at the stadium on Thursday and Friday, with the announcement by Kotoko Management being welcomed by supporters as it will give the players a feel of what they’ve not experienced yet.
Then finally the players who are not on residential camping started arriving at the Stadium, with tight security at the gates in a session closed to supporters and the media. Green Grass Technology boss Frank Boahene and his team were at hand putting finishing touches to the pitch and was seen briefing the Kotoko coach Prosper Ogum and his team on the pitch.
A huge crowd were at the gates and tried to enter the stadium to watch the training session, which was witnessed by four Kotoko Management members led by CEO Nana Yaw Amponsah, but were denied entrance, at least at the beginning.
The team went through the normal drills until the latter part when the technical team supervised a training match of the Possibles versus Propables, which ended 2-1 in favor of the Possibles. Richard Boadu scored for the Probables while Evans Adomako(penalty) and Francis Kumi netted for the Possibles.
The news came round that one of the gates was broken by the supporters trying to enter but it was found to be false. Rather, a police patrol team entered the stadium using the main gate, which the supporters and media chanced on to forcibly enter the stadium. They had the opportunity to witness the last few minutes of the training match, during which the Kotoko Tertiary wing provided Jama music to entertain the players.
The closed-door session thus became accessible to fans most of who kept applauding moves by the players, with greater anticipation of what is to be witnessed on Sunday against Bechem United. Another training session is expected at Baba Yara before the Sunday’s match.
