If you have followed Asante Kotoko in the last decade, you would agree that some of the club’s issues are labyrinth — complicated, contentious, and confusing. Far too many foul interests in the club compete for attention and that leaves supporters in a maze, leading to unproductive, unenthusiastic, cynical energy within our ranks.
What brand of kits Kotoko wear is usually a thorny issue resulting from management inconsistencies — the chopping and changing of the club’s leadership. The brand; or the manufacturer changes with the advent of a new leader with news of supposed so-called sponsorship deals that get us on high but then low in replica sales.
Replicas come late, their quality does not receive general fan endorsement, their price is unfriendly or indeed, the club does not get real value. Except Jako, the never dying Jako, who has no official contract with the club now, but their decent caps are always at our top games, I have questioned all our kit sponsors.
Dr. K. K. Sarpong’s era saw the brilliant idea of buying grade puma jerseys. Its use spanned his time. In the 2015/2016, when we went to Marfro, it was an absorbing fanfare but we could not sell replicas. Turkish manufacturer, Barex took over and without any fear of contradiction, I state that, we sold replicas in no good numbers.
Then Strike. When they came, it was the usual pomp but management changes dislodged them. Errea was stable. Their designs were impressive, quality of fabric – not perfect. The spat on one of their beautiful designs was avoidable. Errea’s life at Kotoko was inseparably tied to NYA’s tenure.
Now, we have ‘The Hope Brand’ (THB), a Germany-based firm with Ghanaian ownership. May the hope they bring be real because in my view, the contemporary history of Kotoko’s kits is uncheerful. I have purchased every Kotoko kit since 2015. When I reported for the club, I had no free kits. I bought them and even shared them.
I will buy THB but reading social media feedback on their arrival at Kotoko, I sense pessimism. My interest is not to interrogate that now. For me, and I have held this position for long, we are better off purchasing quality, known brands like Dr. K. K. Sarpong during his reign until we can command decent kit sponsorship.
The hobbling with various brands under the guise of partnership deals only to be saddled with poor replica sale, no material and financial value to the club hurts. In fact, the evidence arising from my observation is, we neither give nor get anything substantial with these deals. I am yet to be convinced. The conundrum with replica sales must end.