The year 2021 started on a sad note for Ghana Football as Premier League side, WAFA lost their owner, Henri Wientjes in January. The Dutchman played a part in football in Ghana as he also ensured his company, Wienco sponsored Tamale-based side Real Tamale United for over 10 years.

In February, the focus was on Karela United’s 66 games unbeaten record at home before losing to Kumasi Asante Kotoko at the Crosby Awuah Memorial Park in Anyinase. A documentary by Joy Sports’ George Addo Jnr revealed the rich history of River Ankobra and the role it played in Karela’s impeccable five-year unbeaten home run.

After years of seeking a silverware for the country, Ghana’s Black Satellites did the country proud after winning the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in March. The tournament also saw youngster, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku walk away with the Most Valuable Player of the tournament while also going on to receive a maiden call-up into the senior national team. The 17-year-old spoke to Joy sports as he reviewed his performances at the competition while also revealing his reaction to the Black Stars call-up.

March 2021 also saw Benjamin Azamati shatter a 22-year-old national 100m record after running 9.97 seconds in heat 8 of the Texas relays, beating Leonard Myles-Mills’ 9.98 seconds record while also securing qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Reacting to Azamati breaking his 22-year-old record, Myes-Mills told Joy Sports in an interview back in March, “No. I was not expecting anyone to break the record so early… He [Benjamin Azamati] has more in him to come.”

Not too often do we see players from Asia take a turn in their career to play in the Ghana Premier League. Japan’s Jindo Morishita is one of the few to have made such a decision after joining Ebusua Dwarfs. In March, the forward spoke to Joy Sports, where he promised to turn out impressively for the Cape Coast-based side in the second half of last season.

Back in March, Diawise Taylor was the Premier League’s top-scorer as Karela showed title credentials in the first half of last season. The forward went on to score 18 goals in the 2020/21 season before leaving for Egypt at the end of the season.

Another forward who made the news this year was Joseph Esso. The former Hearts of Oak player scored 11 goals for Dreams FC before leaving for Algeria mid-season. Esso in an interview with Joy Sports back in March said that he was proving his critics wrong at the Dawu-based outfit.

In April this year, Amida Brimah became just the second Ghana bred basketball player to hit NBA heights as he joined the Indiana Pacers.

Speaking to Joy Sports during the month of April the story of Emmanuel Gyasi’s heroics in the Italian Serie A was told while the launch of the Thomas Partey Foundation also made the news.

April 2021 also proved to be a good year for Tamale in football as they had Real Tamale United return to the top-flight for the first time since their relegation in the 2012/13 season. The defacing statue of Abedi Pele at Nyohini, in the Volta region, was also given exposure.

Ear-marked by the government as one of the venues to host the 2023 Africa Games, Joy Sports’ Gary Al-Smith did a report from Borteyman in May only to find out about the poor state of the games’ village.

In June, the Multimedia Group confirmed gaining the rights to broadcast the 2020 European Championships, which took place between June and July 2021.

For the Year in Review (II), kindly use this link: https://www.myjoyonline.com/year-in-review-ii-the-biggest-sports-stories-from-2021/