By George Ernest Asare, Kumasi
IN his hey days he was called the Chest man. He could effectively control the ball with his chest, and could also do whatever he liked with the ball, confusing his opponents, in the process creating goal-scoring chances for his attackers to score with ease.
His crossings at the wings were superb, and with his rocket-like speed, he mesmerised his opponents and entertained the spectators such that his very presence in a game pulled the crowd to the stands.
He was a member of the formidable Kotoko team of 1971 team, which conquered Africa for the first time in the club’s history in far away Kinshasa.
He also played a meaningful role in the Black Stars, and in one of his games in Togo, he was brutally attacked by security men and players of the Togo national team.
The attack caused severe injuries to his eye, and left a permanent mark that forced him to put on spectacles to reduce the pains, especially when the sun shines.
Today, he is almost a pauper . This is because he was not adequately remunerated during his days with Kotoko and the Blackstars.
Yaw Sam is his name. At 63 and with four children and a wife, he only survives the hardship’s of the present economic situation by depending solely on the benevolence of some of his admirers who have fond memories of his exploits as a soccer icon in the early 60’s and the 70’s.
This was the period Yaw Sam, together with some of his Kotoko team mates like the late Robert Mensah, Ben Kusi, Oliver Acquah, the late Ohene Brenya, Clifford Odame, Ibrahim Sunday, Sulley, Abukari Gariba, Malik Jabir and Ousmanu, conquered every club in the country and extended their prowess to Africa where they annexed the African cup for the first time in far away Kinshasa by beating Englebert 2-1.
It was at this same period in the early 70’s when in one of his performances with the Black Stars in a match against The Hawks of Togo in Lome, he was nearly lynched.
“After outplaying and outscoring the Hawks, they thought we used Juju, so in the second half, the players attempted to retrieve a white handkerchief that Essel Mensah had deposited in the goal post, and this resulted in a fierce struggle.
“The police and soldiers joined the fray, so I immediately went to Essel Mensah to advise him to allow them to take away the handkerchief, but as soon as they saw me, they left Essel and vented their spleen on me, beating me mercilessly until I fell down”, Sam said.
He continued that, “One of the soldiers who was on the field hit me very hard with his boots, opening a deep cut over my eye, and causing me to bleed profusely”.
Sam stated that this was something he did not want to recall because it nearly blinded him for life but the Ghana Football Association never bothered to treat him.
“I had to spend every pesewa I had with me to treat that wound, and to date, it has left a permanent pain in my eye, forcing me to use this sunglass (he showed it to me) to protect my eye against the sun rays all the time,” he said.
Sam, who started as a Colts player with Great Agonas in Kumasi at age 12, later moved to Great Ashantis and after playing for about a year in 1965 with the Kumasi based club, his exploits caught the attention of the Late Ohene Djan who immediately drafted him into the Osagyefo’s Own Club – Great Republicans- where he exhibited abundant stamina, speed and skills as a natural winger and a midfielder.
Barely a year with Republicans, the 1966 coup, which toppled Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s CPP government from power led to the disintegration of the club.
“ From there, I returned to Kumasi to continue my life, but just then, Mr Jack Moro, one of the then Kotoko administrators spotted me and immediately contacted my father to allow me to play for Kotoko “, Sam told Graphic Nsempa.
“ At that time, we played totally amateur players, so there was neither a contract signed nor monetary consideration to entice me to play. They simply took me for free and because of the love I had for Kotoko I immediately agreed to play for the club”, he explained.
“ I was then staying at Ash Town with my father, the only thing that was provided me were jersey, pants and boots” he explained further.
According to Sam, he met outstanding players in Kotoko “ so I had to sit on the bench for three consecutive years, but fortunately or unfortunately Tufour who was playing as a winger where I also played got injured in my third year on the bench, so I was offered the opportunity to take his place, and that marked the beginning of my exploits as a great player”, he revealed.
He said among the players he met at that time were Kofi Anin, Acheampong, Salisu, Dogo Moro, Abukari Gariba, Osei Kofi and Wilberforce Mfum.
“They were all great players by every standard, so when I got that opportunity, I became very serious to enable me to maintain my position and feature regularly. I never joked and took every aspect of my play time very serious”, he noted.
He said it was in 1967 that the team went for a training tour in London where they played against Crystal Palace, Stokes City, Birmingham United and Oxford United “and apart from Crystal Palace I featured against the other three teams”.
“At that time, there was nothing like monthly salary nor winning bonuses, and it was when I.J. Moukarzel aka Mr Life took over as the Chairman of Kotoko that he introduced the payment of winning bonus of ¢10.00 to players,” he recalled.
Sam who was appointed skipper of Kotoko between 1971 and 74 said he was drafted into the national team alongside Kofi Bruce, Robert Folley, Oliver Acquah, Lamptey France, Malik Jabir and Clifford Odame, among others.
He said it was in 1978 that he hanged his boots and went to London returning home a year later to work with the National Sports Council.
“I have attended many coaching courses at Winneba and had coached many division one and two clubs, but because such teams did not generate any revenue from their matches, they were unable to offer any salary to their coaches.
“So for the past three years, I have been unemployed and depends on some friends and sympathisers to survive this harsh economic period”.
He said none of the Kotoko players who won the cup for the club for the first time received any monetary gains “ but it was the government in power who donated a bus to the team “which did not benefit us in any way”.
“ We had wanted to sell the bus and share the money but management disagreed, and today, I have nothing to show for the services I provided the nation”.
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