Kurt Okraku: The Man Who Brought Professionalism To Ghana Football

The past few years have seen Ghana football in the limelight due to good branding, advertising, extensive media coverage and others which has taken the globular leather in the West African country far.

In an era where football is growing around the globe, the Ghanaian game was still in tatters, the nation had endured terrible years of being in the dark, our clubs could not market their players well unless they are in the national teams for tournaments, no proper hype around games and others.

However, in the past decade, things have changed thanks to the vision of one football guru, Kurt ES Okraku. Many clubs and football administrators have taken note and are now following in due course to do things professionally.

Certainly, the name Kurt ES Okraku has been synonymous with football since infancy. The University of Liverpool Masters in Football Management Degree holder is Ghana’s best football administration weapon.

After completing the Ghana Institute of Journalism and University of Ghana, Kurt left for England for further studies having worked in the Ghanaian media for some time. He enrolled at Manchester Trinity College to Study Hospitality Management before continuing at Emile Woolf College to get a certificate in CIM Marketing after which he enrolled at the prestigious University of Liverpool to study for a Masters Degree in Football Management.

Well equipped in all related fields, Kurt arrived in Ghana in 2007, he worked as the General Secretary of the Ghana League Club Association (GHALCA) before taking over as General Manager of Wassaman Football Club.

In 2009, Kurt formed his own club Dreams FC and the dream has been big as he has single-handedly transformed Ghana football.

From the club’s humble beginnings in the Ghanaian second division league at Ashale Botwe, Newtown, a noisy suburb of Madina through to its second-tier days at Kweiman, a sleepy cool environment down the Aburi Mountains and later the Premier League at Dawu which is high on the Akwapim mountains, Kurt has made the club the cynosure of all eyes.

Through Kurt Okraku, a proper unveiling of players have come to stay in Ghana Football. Dreams FC always outdoor their new signings in the European style, with great signing on pictures, interviews (First Words, Videos and others).

Moreover, internal Pre-match and post-match press interviews have been effective in Ghana football due to Kurt. Is a must for his Dreams FC team to do that in every game and they located a special press room for that at Theatre of Dreams, Dawu. Now many clubs have adopted the routine.

Again, until the coming of Kurt ES Okraku into the Ghanaian game, there was less branding. He was able to brand his club well for it to attract foreign clubs and investors when they were even in the Ghanaian second Division. They had a partnership with the Bundesliga side Greuther Furth due to how they portrayed the club. Numerous sponsors also came on board and the club has appeared on a documentary on Deutsche Welle and other international media networks over the years.

Kurt transferred his knowledge and professionalism to the MTN FA Cup Committee when he was brought on board. He secured the MTN Sponsorship for the competition and all the clubs from premier to the second division have benefited immensely.

Also, as Chairman of the Committee, he has been able to make it the most attractive and patronized football competition in Ghana. He was also very instrumental in the securing of the StarTimes TV rights.

Through Kurt Okraku’s serious marketing strategies and good foresight, Dreams FC products are currently the most sought-after in the country. Talismanic Baba Rahman was sold to Greuther Furth when the club was in the second division and as at now, the Dreams have thirteen players in Europe with other three playing for big clubs on the African continent.

There is no football administrator in Ghana with the vision and brains of Kurt Okraku and no one can refute his contributions to the game. In Modern football administration, Kurt ES Okraku is a don and one of the standing pillars of the Ghana football empire.