{"id":48243,"date":"2023-03-23T12:30:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T12:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/03\/23\/c-k-gyamfi-celebrating-ghanas-greatest-ever-football-coach\/"},"modified":"2023-03-23T12:30:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T12:30:55","slug":"c-k-gyamfi-celebrating-ghanas-greatest-ever-football-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/03\/23\/c-k-gyamfi-celebrating-ghanas-greatest-ever-football-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"C. K. Gyamfi: Celebrating Ghana\u2019s greatest ever football coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Charles Kumi Gyamfi, popularly called C. K. Gyamfi was a Ghanaian footballer and coach, who as a player became the first African to play in Germany when he joined Fortuna D\u00fcsseldorf in 1960.<\/p>\n

C. K. Gyamfi had his primary school education at the Accra Royal School in James Town.<\/p>\n

He later became the first coach to lead the Ghana national football team to an Africa Cup of Nations victory.<\/p>\n

Born Charles Kumi Gyamfi on December 29, 1929, Gyamfi enjoyed a celebrated playing career, starring as a prolific striker for traditional giants Ebusua Dwarfs, Asante Kotoko, Hearts of Oak, and the Ghana national team. <\/p>\n

During his heyday in the 1950s, he was often hailed by the press as one of the most-complete footballers to emerge from Africa.<\/p>\n

C. K. Gyamfi trained in Germany and Brazil, Gyamfi went on to become the first black coach of the Black Stars in 1962.<\/p>\n

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He coached Africa XI sides in the early 1970s and managed clubs in Somalia and Kenya to league titles in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

Described by CAF as \u201ca huge figure in Ghanaian and continental football folklore\u201d and by FIFA as \u201cone of the most successful coaches in African football\u201d, Gyamfi won a joint-record hat trick of Africa Cup of Nations titles, leading Ghana to victory in 1963, 1965 and 1982.<\/p>\n

His record as a three times consecutive winner of the African Nations Cup stood until Egypt\u2019s Hassan Shehata equaled it.<\/p>\n

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C. K. Gyamfi was also the coach of the Ghana national football team during Ghana\u2019s Olympic debut at the 1964 Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n

After a few years of break, he returned to coach the Olympic team for the 1972 tournament.<\/p>\n

He was a FIFA Technical Study Group member for the 1999 and 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.<\/p>\n

In January 2008 he publicly lamented the modern obsession of players with money rather than the love of the game.<\/p>\n

C. K. Gyamfi died in September 2015.<\/p>\n

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