My First Ever Ghana Premiere League Match Experience

Hello everyone, today I’m here to share with you what I experienced at the stadium in my first ever game of the Ghana Premier League. It was a home game for my hometown club, Real Tamale United against the visiting team Accra Lions*. I’ve never been to any of their games since they made it into the premier league but many people have always talked about it and the experience. Actually it was an unexpected change in plans of my day, a friend of mine came over talked to me about it and how he wanted me to also go and see it so that next time, I can also talk about it.

_{This is how the ticket looks like}

The game was scheduled at 3 pm, and the stadium is about 20 minutes ride from my area so we had to leave the house little over 2:20 pm. On our way, we could see that others were heading to the same direction and I was actually surprised with how much interest people of now shown into football recently.

_{On our way to the stadium}

We got to the stadium just in time for the match to start, got our tickets and made our way into the stadium. I must say, it was quite a hassle getting the tickets alone. Everyone over there was very anxious to get into the stadium and witness this match, I’m told we were even lucky with a less populated environment. When they said that, I couldn’t complain anymore lol.

_{Making our way into the stadium}

Finally, we were inside the stadium… even though it was half filled, you could hear the kind of support from the fans. They came in fully prepared to come cheer their players up, at this point I was sorry for the visiting team because the kind of pressure they were playing under was something different 😅. The match quick started quickly after the first formalities and stuff… it was very exciting to watch as the two teams battle it out.

_{Scenes ahead of kickoff}

Just after 20 minutes of great football from both sides, the home team finally took the lead from a beautiful crossing and great finish by the striker Issah Kuka. And then, the supporters came on with more singing and chants, others playing drums, trumpet and horns. The support was overwhelming and in my mind I was like; is this how fans are always feeling at the games… The away team, kept their cool and tempo, with so much confidence. At the 36th minute, they had an equalizer and I was surprised with the little support they had in the stadium, I don’t know how these players manage to keep up their performances with little performances away from home.

_{Scenes after the first goal}

Then came 3 minutes of added time in the first half, and just when we thought it was all over for the first half, another goal came from the home team in the 40+2 minutes but this time from Abdulai M. Hardi. It was a beautiful strike as well which I think was the last kick for the first half. So the first half ended with a score of 2-1 in favor of the home team.

_{Game quickly restarted after third goal}

We had to go out, buy some water and pray before it was time for the second half. One thing I’ve observed about tamale people is that they don’t joke with their prayers, no matter where they are, they’ll always find the time to pray and continue with what ever they’re doing. Myself and my two friends finished performing ablution and found ourselves a spot to join in with the prayers. We finished with prayers, and headed inside again since it was almost time for the second half to begin.

_{At prayers}

We came in to meet the children, normally called “ball boys” also having a little fun on the pitch while the players were still in the dressing room. After some few minutes, they were out on the field again ready to kickoff with the second half.

_{The kids on the field}

The second half was underway, yet another great performance from both sides, honestly I though for a while that we might lose this game. The away team seemed to be so good on the ball. After some minutes in the second half, there was a penalty awarded for the home team, I was very excited and the support from the fans was incredible as well. The penalty was beautiful slotted by one “Sadat” and that killed the game off, now I was very happy and assured of a win.

_{Penalty being taken (the picture was taken using Snapchat)}

Finally the game was over with a score of 3-1 in favor of Real Tamale United, the home team. The post match interviews were set up for coaches to speak and star players of the match to speak as well. I couldn’t get a more cleared view of the whole thing since I was standing at top, but I knew what was going on. The players also headed to the fans to thank them for their wonderful support.

_{The scenes at full time}

After all that, my friends and I decided to head home since everything was done. Now, I had the full experience and my next one would be to experience a fully packed stadium. We exited the stadium quickly and you could see happy faces all around after the win, which in brought the team to 6th of the league table.

_{Making our way out the stadium}

Just outside the stadium, we saw a place where they sell football boots, very nice ones too but we were in a hurry to go home and I didn’t have a good look. We took our bikes and headed straight home, I think it was just some few minutes after 5.

_{This is where they sold the football boots}

_{Going to take our bikes}

At home, we watched another football match on tv which was the match between Fulham and Chelsea. I was very happy to see another loss from Chelsea 😅. Chelsea fans are really in so much pain right now, I’m so happy with their recent losses. My day couldn’t have ended any better way😂

_{Watching the Chelsea game}

Thank you guys for reading, and I hope to see you on the next one, have a great weekend :)