Respect:

Charles Kumi Gyamfi proved his worth quickly, winning the African Cup of Nations at the first attempt in 1963 and again in Tunisia two years later. The Ghaian Director of Sport, Dr Ohene Djan, had faced absurd calls to sack the young coach despite his success in 1963. Some claimed that Gyamfi had merely inherited József Embers team, but the Hungarian had built on Andreas Sjolbergs foundations too.

Djan saw that Gyamfi had the potential to become the greatest African coach ever and stuck by his choice. Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Djan had invested the future in Gyamfi. He was hand-picked to learn the art of coaching abroad, return and pass on his knowledge to others, but also to be the Face of the Football Revolution on merit as well as potential. Their foresight was quickly rewarded.

Gyamfi took the hard decisions. He dropped ageing players and blooded youth and still delivered success. He had laid the foundations for a Ghanaian football dynasty and valued the opportunity that Nkrumah and Djan had given him. They laid the foundations for Ghanaian football to thrive for decades.

Appreciation:

"When Nkrumah came to us, he asked one of the younger ministers to be the Director of Sport – not of coaching – but as the Director of Sport," Nana Kumi Gyamfi I told us exclusively. "That was Ohene Djan. I think you have heard of the name. The stadium is named after him – a very hard working man. He organised the administrative side and he did a lot. He used to tell Kwame a lot and he cared about football, because he could see that we have so much there that he wanted us to develop it to move forward. I remember him very well."

Gyamfi still appreciates the contribution of Osagyefo to African football as well. "To hear my boss, who was then Dr Kwame Nkrumah, tell us what we were capable of inspired us," Gyamfi said. "He talked to us about what we could do totally. He believed in us and in football. He helped me greatly."

They were the African Team of the decade built by Nkrumah: Djan and Gyamfi – but they could have been even greater. Politics robbed them of what should have been their destiny to be the African Team of the Century – perhaps of all time.

Social Project Betrayed:

In February 1966 a military coup deposed Nkrumah as the first President of independent Ghana. Former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda said that Africa has never recovered from his overthrow. Ghanaian football – African even – never recovered either.

Football was not immune from the repercussions. "A lot of things went wrong after he was overthrown," said Gyamfi sadly. "At that time they said they would call me back, but they never call me back. I went away. They wanted to play for money and things went wrong."

The investment and understanding of the power of football ended and the backlash began. Hasaacas returned to Sekondi in triumph and their replacement, Independence, was disbanded. Djan was also Ghanas representative with the Confédération Africaine de Football. He was removed from office after the coup. Although the Football Revolution had strong roots it gathered pace.

Djans achievements were dismantled, but the roots were strong and the decline was masked. Djan had built well. The achievements of the Football Revolution were so secure that the Black Stars reached the next two finals of the African Cup of Nations, losing both to Congo-Kinshasa and Sudan respectively. The decline was complete five years after the Football Revolution as Ghana failed to qualify for the finals of the 1972. It was an utter humiliation – Africas first Social Project in football had been betrayed.

"The step back came then," Gyamfi told us. "It doesn’t matter. We have to move forward. We should have taken the lead so long ago, but there was no interest at that time and we didn’t know how to do it. Training is needed for coaching and administrators – football administrators. You see we will get it. We have seen them go out, go and learn – go abroad and learn how to coach and then come back and coach and that was how we got things started, so from those times we don’t joke. We thought about it, but then we don’t go forward at all for many years.

Gyamfi has a plan to recover the stolen years. "I think that the training made us competitive as well and helped to develop my skills and by doing all those things we would never lose all those years," he told us. "We kept on doing it with skill. As I told you we could have been there long ago: a long time ago with young guys, but it is just late – not too late. There was a step back and we have to deal with it. We have to look at it, find the solution and go forward. We can go forward with them and we will do it. We will go forward."