Aduana Football Club is a professional
football club, based in
Dormaa Ahenkro,
Bono Region, Ghana.[2] The club is competing in the
Ghanaian Premier League.[3] It made history by winning the Ghana Premier League at their first attempt with 53 points. It became the ninth club to win the Ghana Premier League in its 54-year-old history.[4]
History
Early years
In 1984, four natives of
Dormaa Ahenkro,
Bono Region led by Agya Donkor, a goldsmith and supported by Kofi Boahen, Iddrisa Issaka and one other unnamed person registered to play in the regional division 4 league of Ghana, bringing Aduana Stars Football Club to birth in 1985.[5][6] Due to the decision to adopt the official emblem of the
Aduana clan, the group had to seek for the permission from the Aduanahene (who was a paramount chief of Aboabo no 3), which he accepted.[7]
Aduana Stars went on to play in the division 4 of the Ghana League for two years before gaining promotion to the Division 3 League in 1986. After that promotion, the club declined and didn't see much progress afterward.[7]
Take over by Paramount chief or Omanhene of
Dormaa Ahenkro
Due to financial issues and the retrogressing of the club, led to the decision of the
Omanhene of
Dormaa Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Dr.
Nana Agyeman Badu II who is also a High Court Judge in Tema, to take over the management of the club.[8][7] Subsequent to his take over, the club played in the lower divisions for some years moving up the ladder and finally getting promoted to the Ghana Premier League on 19 August 2009 for the first time in their history,[8][5][6] after
Richard Addai scored the winning goal in their last fixture against Universal Stars to help them to a 2–1 victory at the
Baba Yara Sports Stadium.[5][6][9][3]
2009–2019
Within this period Aduana Stars won the Ghana Premier League title two times, once in 2010[4] and once in 2017. They also won the Ghana Super Cup in 2018 and competed in the CAF Champions League as champions of Ghana on two occasions, in 2011 and 2018.[10][2][11]
2010 (League triumph)
Aduana's first Ghana Premier League goal was scored by
Richard Addai. On 17 October 2009, Aduana Stars won their first top flight in a match against
Heart of Lions at the Agyeman Badu I Park in Dormaa through Richard Addae's 73rd-minute strike.[12]
They first won the title in 2009–10 when the team ended the season as the fewest-scoring side in the League, setting a world record for least productive champions with 19 goals in 30 matches. With an average of 0.6333 goals per match, they broke the record set by
Trabzonspor. The
TurkishSüper Lig side became champions in 1979–80 with 25 goals in 30 matches (average of 0.8333).[13]
In a league of 16 clubs that generated 30 matches, Aduana Stars won 15 matches, drew 8, and lost 7 beating
ObuaseAshanti Gold S.C to the title by the head-to-head margin which had been adopted by the Ghana premier league board (PLB) in case of a tie, after both clubs garnered 53 points from all the 30 matches played at the end of the season.[14][15][13][16]
They were led by Ghanaian coach
Herbert Addo, who helped them set the record of being the first newly promoted team to win the league.[17][15] They also became the first team either than Kumasi-based
Asante Kotoko S.C. or Accra based team
Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. to win the league within the 21st Century and the 9th team to win the Ghana Premier League since its inception 54 years ago in 1956.[17][4]
2017–2018 (League triumph & FA Super Cup)
The second triumph was 2017 after the team had finished as runners-up to
Wa All stars in the previous year.[18] They won the 2017/2018 Ghana Premier League after going undefeated in 15 home matches within the season with one game to spare after a 2–1 victory over
Elmina Sharks at Nana Agyeman Badu Park at Dormaa-Ahenkro.[18][19][20] The team was led by the late Ghanaian coach
Yussif Abubakar who described their triumph at that time as a well hard fought league title victory.[21] They completed the season with a 6-point gap between them and the second place team
West African Football Academy (WAFA), with 16 wins, 9 draws and 6 loses.[22] They were awarded $30,000 equivalent to Ghs 180,000 as prize money for winning the league[23] The team later parted ways with
Herbert Addo in August 2011[24]
2020–present
After several distractions to the Ghana Premier League from 2017 due to the
dissolution of the GFA in June 2018, the
2018 league season was abandoned and the uprising of the deadly
COVID-19 pandemic which also caused the 2019–20 league to be canceled abruptly. Aduana was leading the league before the cancellation with more than half of league matches played. The
2020–21 season started in November 2020.[25] In February 2020, Ghanaian coach
Paa Kwesi Fabin was signed as head coach who resigned midway through the season. In March 2021, the club appointed
Joseph Asare Bediako a former coach of
Berekum Chelsea to finish the season. The club finished the 2020–21 season 4th out of 18 clubs and amassed 54 points.
Ownership of Aduana
Aduana Stars is a traditional club led by the head of the Aduana clan and has a board that comprises chiefs from towns in the
Bono region and other regions like
Kumawu and
Akwamu.
Crest
Former logo
Previous Logo (2014–2020)
Grounds
The club plays their home games at the
Agyeman Badu Stadium in Dormaa Ahenkro in the Bono Region[7]
Current squad
As of 15 April 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under
FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
^
abcEmmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Biiya Mukusah Ali (16 October 2017).
"Aduana are champions". Daily Graphic.
Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2017.