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Dawu Youngstars F.C.

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Dawu Youngstars are a now defunct Ghanaian association football team from Dawu, a small town in the eastern region of Ghana[2] who were founded in 1987.[3] The club last competed in the Ghanaian Premier League in 2002, but financial problems after relegation that season have meant the club has not since returned to Ghana's top flight.

Dawu Youngstars
Full nameDawu Youngstars FC
Founded1987
GroundDawu Sports Stadium, Dawu
Capacity10,000[1]
ChairmanSeth Yeboah
200215th

History

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Dawu Youngstars was founded in 1987 by Seth Yeboah, a businessman from Dawu.[4] Yeboah became the club's owner,[5] and later built the team the Dawu Sports Stadium to play in, which has a capacity of 10,000.[6] Dawu quickly rose to prominence in the Ghanaian leagues, reaching the Premier League in the 1990/91 season,[7] just three years into the club's existence. Youngstars' success continued with qualification for the 1992 West African Club Championship, although they were later disqualified from the competition. Dawu stayed in the Ghanaian Premier League until 2002, frequently finishing in the top five of the league. However, the club was relegated in the 2002 season after finishing second-bottom in the league.[8]

This relegation ended a 12-year stay in the top flight, and it looks unlikely that the club will return to the Premier League in the near future due to financial difficulties.

Normally, a club relegated from the Ghanaian Premier League would automatically drop into the First Division, but Dawu's financial plight meant they could not raise sufficient funds to compete in the First Division in 2003 and were replaced by Maamobi Mitdyland, with the Youngstars dropping to the Second Division instead.[9]

Dawu have twice had the league's top scorers, namely Ghanaians Abdul Mumuni in 1991/92 and Laud Oscar in 1993/94. However, these are the club's only honours as they have never won the Ghanaian Premier League[10] or Ghanaian FA Cup.[11]

In October 2010, Youngstars founder Seth Yeboah stated that he wanted to revive the club to provide employment for young people in Dawu.[12]

Performance in domestic competitions

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UFOA Cup 1992

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Dawu qualified for the 1992 West African Club Championship just five years after they had been founded. In the 5th round, Dawu came up against Asemap FC of Benin. A 2–0 win in the first leg and a 2–1 win in the second leg[13] gave the Youngstars an aggregate 4–1 win and they should have progressed to the next round. However, Dawu were then disqualified and their place in the quarter-finals was taken by Asemap FC, who went on to reach the semi-finals, only being eliminated on penalties by Hafia FC of Guinea.

Ghanaian Premier League Record 1990/91

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Position Club Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
1 Asante Kotoko 44 18 4 8
2 Hearts of Oak 37 14 7 9
3 Great Olympics 35 12 7 11
4 Real Tamale United 34 12 8 10
5 Dawu Youngstars 33 8 5 17
6 Okwahu United 32 8 6 16
7 Goldfields SC 29 8 9 13
8 Brong Ahafo United 28 10 12 8
9 Afienya United 28 10 12 8
10 VORADEP Ho 28 7 9 14

NB: Table only shows 10/16 teams to focus on Dawu Youngstars

Dawu managed to secure an impressive 5th place[14] in the Ghanaian Premier League just three years after their formation. The club only finished four points behind 2nd-placed Accra Hearts of Oak, the biggest club in the country.

Ghanaian Premier League Record 1991/92

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Position Club Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
1 Asante Kotoko 40 17 3 6
2 Hearts of Oak 37 16 5 5
3 Goldfields SC 33 11 4 11
4 Kumapim Star 29 12 9 5
5 Dawu Youngstars 26 8 8 10
6 Neoplan Star 25 8 9 9
7 Berekum Arsenal United 24 9 11 6
8 Afienya United 24 6 8 12
9 Great Olympics 24 8 10 8
10 Real Tamale United 23 8 11 7

NB: Stats only shown for 10/14 clubs to focus on Dawu Youngstars

Dawu managed to emulate the success of the previous season, again finishing in 5th place.[15] However, if they had won just one game fewer, Dawu would have finished in 10th place, an indication of how close the league was. The club was propelled by the goals of Abdul Mumuni, later to become a Ghanaian international, who was the Ghanaian Premier League's top scorer for the season.

Ghanaian Premier League Record 1992/93

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Position Club Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
1 Asante Kotoko 32 12 2 8
2 Goldields SC 30 12 4 6
3 Dwarfs 24 8 6 8
4 Real Tamale United 23 8 7 7
5 Hearts of Oak 22 6 6 10
6 Dawu Youngstars 22 7 8 7
7 Neoplan Star 20 6 8 8
8 Great Olympics 20 8 10 4
9 Afienya United 20 7 9 6
10 Ghapoha 20 5 7 10

NB: Only 10/12 teams shown to focus on Dawu Youngstars

Dawu slipped to sixth place in the league but still enjoyed a successful season, including keeping 3 consecutive clean sheets between rounds 2–4. Dawu's striker Felix Aboagye was the league's joint-second top-scorer, with 8 goals.

Ghanaian Premier League Record 1993/94

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Position Club Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
5 Dwarfs 25 9 6 7
6 Okwahu United 23 8 7 7
7 Ghapoha 21 5 6 11
8 Dawu Youngstars 21 7 8 7
9 Real Tamale United 21 7 8 7
10 Afineya United 19 6 9 7
11 Neoplan Star 14 6 14 2
12 Mighty Rules 7 3 17 3

Dawu dropped two places from the previous season but despite their low placing, were only six points away from 2nd placed Asante Kotoko.[16]

Ghanaian Premier League Record 1994/95

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Position Club Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
5 Dwarfs 30 7 6 9
6 Great Olympics 29 8 9 5
7 Dawu Youngstars 28 7 8 7
8 Okwahu 28 7 8 7
9 Afienya 26 7 10 5
10 Ghapoha 25 4 5 13

With just four games remaining in the league season, Dawu were in an impressive 3rd place,[17] and could still have won the league. However, they took just one point from their last four matches and slumped to a 7th-placed finish. This poor end-of-season form almost dragged Dawu into the relegation zone, as they finished just four points clear of the two relegated teams.

Ghanaian Premier League Record 1999

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Position Team Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
9 Great Olympics 41 11 11 8
10 Liberty Professionals 39 12 15 3
11 Dawu Youngstars 37 9 11 10
12 Power FC 36 9 12 9
13 Ghapoha Readers 36 8 10 12
14 Tano Bafoakwa 33 10 17 3
15 All Blacks 32 10 15 5
16 Afienya United 14 2 20 8

Dawu finished just four points above the relegation zone in a disappointing season. In a season of mixed results, including a 5–1 win over Ghapoha and a 5-1 reverse at Hearts of Oak, Youngstars saved themselves from relegation with an improved second half of the season, with two wins and a draw from the club's final three games. In the FA Cup, Dawu were eliminated in the first round after losing 6–5 to Corners of Konongo on penalties.[18]

Ghanaian Premier League Record 2000

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Position Team Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
11 Kwaebibirem United 38 11 14 5
12 Great Olympics 37 10 10 10
13 Dawu Youngstars 36 8 11 11
14 Power FC 35 8 11 11
15 Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs 34 8 12 10
16 Brong Ahofu United 27 6 15 9

Dawu very narrowly avoided relegation on the last day of the season. After a poor start to the 2000 campaign, including a 5–0 loss to Asante Kotoko and just one win in their first 11 games,[19] the Youngstars needed a victory over their opponents to ensure survival. However, as if matters were not difficult enough already, Dawu's opponents were none other than league champions Accra Hearts of Oak, the most successful club in Ghana. Incredibly, Hearts failed to show and the three points were awarded to Dawu, the club avoiding a relegation playoff by just one point.

Dawu found success in the 2000 Ghanaian FA Cup, defeating Odupong Heroes, Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs and King Faisal before losing in the semi-finals, although the club was perhaps unlucky to be drawn away from home in three of their four matches. Dawu beat Odupong Heroes thanks to a 2nd-minute penalty from Abdulai Tahiru and second half goals from Awudu Adama and Samuel Tona.[20] The table below shows the Youngstars' FA Cup progress.

Round Opponent Result
4th Round Odupong Heroes (H) Won 3–0
5th Round Cape Coast Ebusua Dwarfs (A) Won 0–2
Quarter Final King Faisal (A) Won 1–2
Semi Final Hearts of Oak (A) Lost 1–0

(H) = Home match (A)= Away match

Ghanaian Premier League Record 2001

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Position Team Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
1 Hearts of Oak 64 19 4 7
2 Asante Kotoko 55 18 8 4
3 Goldfields 45 14 13 3
4 Dawu Youngstars 42 13 14 3
5 Tano Bafoakwa 41 11 11 8
6 Liberty Professionals 40 11 12 7
7 King Faisal Babes 40 11 9 10
8 Great Olympics 39 9 9 12
9 Okwahu United 39 10 11 9
10 Hasaacas 39 11 13 6
11 Arsenals 39 11 13 6
12 Maxbees 37 11 15 4
13 Real Tamale United 35 13 12 5
14 Ghapoha Readers 35 9 13 8
15 Adansiman 35 10 15 5
16 Kwaebibirem United 29 8 17 5

Dawu Youngstars' Awudu Adama was the league's joint second top-scorer, with 9 goals. Dawu were knocked out in the early stages of the 2001 Ghanaian FA Cup and did not reach the quarter-finals of the competition. Adansiman and Kwaebibirem United were relegated to the Ghanaian First Division. Dawu's results in the league included a 4–1 win over Maxbees and a 1–0 win over domestic giants and 2nd placed Asante Kotoko.[21]

Ghanaian Premier League Record 2002

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Position Team Points Games Won Games Lost Games Drawn
1 Hearts of Oak 78 25 2 3
2 Asante Kotoko 73 23 3 4
3 Liberty Professionals 48 13 8 9
4 Great Olympics 44 11 8 11
5 King Faisal Babes 40 10 10 10
6 Real Tamale United 40 11 12 7
7 Goldfields 38 9 10 11
8 Brong Ahofu United 38 10 12 8
9 Hasaacas 37 11 15 4
10 Arsenals 36 10 14 6
11 Prestea Mines Stars 35 10 15 5
12 Tano Bafoatwa 34 7 10 13
13 Okwahu United 32 8 14 8
14 Power FC 31 7 13 10
15 Dawu Youngstars 30 7 14 9
16 Maxbees 22 4 16 10

Dawu and Maxbees were automatically relegated to the Ghana First Division and Power FC joined them after losing the relegation/promotion playoff. The club endured a nightmare start to that season, winning just one of their first 12 games in the 30-round season. Dawu finished just one point away from safety, but still would have had to go through a relegation/promotion play-off if they had finished 14th. The club finished on 30 points, winning 8, drawing 8 and losing 14 games. Dawu Youngstars have not returned to the Ghanaian Premier League since.

In January 2004, Accra Hearts of Oak were made to pay 33 million cedis to Dawu for the transfer of Awudu Adama, which had happened during the 2002 season.[22] Hearts had originally agreed to pay 80 million cedis for Adama but despite reminders from Youngstars had not paid the transfer in full. Dawu's joint top-scorers for the season were Eric Mbroah, Paul Ofori, Issah Ahmed and Mohammed Polo, all with four goals.[23]

References

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  1. ^ World Stadiums – Stadiums in Ghana WorldStadiums.com. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  2. ^ Modern Ghana – Sports. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  3. ^ Okre Akwapim: Dawu Youngsters. Retrieved 27 July 2011
  4. ^ Okre Akwapim, Ghana. Retrieved 27 July 2011
  5. ^ Modern Ghana: Soccer in the Eastern Region. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  6. ^ World Stadiums – Stadiums Ghana Archived 5 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 August 2011
  7. ^ [Modern Ghana. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  8. ^ Ghana Web. Retrieved 26 July 2011
  9. ^ Modern Ghana – Dawu Youngsters to bounce back soon. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  10. ^ Ghana – List of Champions. Retrieved 8 August 2011
  11. ^ Ghana – List of Cup Winners. Retrieved 8 August 2011
  12. ^ National Commission on Culture. Retrieved 8 August 2011
  13. ^ UFOA Cup 1992. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  14. ^ Ghana 1990/91. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  15. ^ Ghana 1991/92. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  16. ^ Ghana 1993/94. Retrieved 8 August 2011
  17. ^ Ghana 1994/95. Retrieved 8 August 2011
  18. ^ Ghana Web. Retrieved 26 July 2011
  19. ^ Ghana Soccer League 2000. Retrieved 8 August 2011
  20. ^ Modern Ghana – Soccer: ABC FA CUP RESULTS. Retrieved 8 August 2011
  21. ^ Ghana Web – Premier League 2001. Retrieved 26 July 2011
  22. ^ Court Orders Hearts to Pay 33 Million to Dawu. Retrieved 7 August 2011
  23. ^ Ghana Web – Leading goal scorers. Retrieved 7 August 2011
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