Ghana football witnessed great football from some of the finest players produced by the country’s topflight in the 90s and 2000s.

The season opening curtain raiser, the gala, was always keenly contested and once the ABC Premier League kicked off, it was skill on the pitch and passion in the stands.

The era saw the emergence of Goldfields (now AshantiGold) who challenged and broke the Asante Kotoko-Hearts of Oak duopoly and produced some of the league’s best players. They even made it as far as the final of the CAF Champions League, narrowly losing to Raja Casablanca of Morocco.

With players like Princeton Owusu Ansah, Sammy Adjei and his brother Lawrence Adjei, Nana Arhin Dua and foreign imports Nibombe Wake of Togo and Ibrahima Kone of Ivory Coast, the miners challenged Hearts and Kotoko in a manner unseen in Ghana football and won the league consecutively between 1993 and 1996.

Hearts and Kotoko produced top players, some of whom featured regularly for the senior national team, Black Stars. The likes of Oli Rahman, Frimpong Manso, Godwin Ablordey and Prince Adu Poku are among of stars produced by the Porcupine Warriors while the Phobians sparkled with Abalde Kumah, Joe Fameyeh, Jacob Nettey, Yaw Sekyi and Shamo Quaye.

The top quality football witnessed in the 90s was still evident until at least the mid-2000s. Hearts of Oak were the dominant force with a blend of some of their best players from the 90s and some new boys who took the league by storm.

Most notable among them were Charles Taylor, Ishmael Addo and Emmanuel Osei Kuffour. The Phobians won six straight league titles, plus the CAF Champions League in the year 2000.

Kotoko also produced heavyweights such as Stephen Oduro, Yusif Chibsah, Joseph Hendricks and later Eric Bekoe, considered the Ghana Premier League’s last bonafide star.

The question as to which era produced the best players will be answered another day but for now the Joy Sports team have selected eleven of the best from both eras in this mythical matchup.

Who wins this imaginary game of Ghana Premier League greats?

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