History
The foundation of Kumasi Asante Kotoko Sporting Club was laid by 13 young Ashanti boys led by a young driver, Mr. Kwasi Kumah, ably supported by L.Y.Asamoah an electrician. Mr. Kwasi Kumah, a native of Nyankyerenease near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, was a chauffeur to an English colonial military officer, a Colonel Ross. Kwasi Kumah nurtured the idea of forming a football team when he watched an exciting football match.
When Colonel Ross returned home for good, Kumah bought a set of jerseys to start his football team. With co-operation from his good friend, L.Y.Asamoah, he formed the Ashanti United Football Club in 1926. Five years later the team was renamed Kumasi Titanics. The team was really handicapped because most of the players worked in government organizations like the Prisons and Railways and had been transferred from Kumasi. Titanics did not find enough luck in their new name and in 1934 they adopted a more powerful name, Mighty Atoms. Still the club did not see much progress and in 1935, Mr J.S.K. Frimpong, popularly called Teacher Frimpong, then a teacher of the Kumasi Government School who had all the time shown interest in the club, organized some boys from his school and proposed a change of name from Titanics to Kumasi Asante Kotoko Football Club. Permission had to be obtained from the Asantehene (King of Ashanti) because the name "Kotoko", meaning "Porcupine" is the official symbol of the Ashanti nation. The Asantehene, Nana Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II, became the first life patron of the club. Kumasi Asante Kotoko Football Club was subsequently formally founded in 1935.
Asante Kotoko's emblem features the "Porcupine", displaying an inbuilt arsenal of sharp spikes for use when attacked by an enemy.
In July 2011, Asante Kotoko and English Premier League club Sunderland signed a partnership agreement, which will see the Sunderland offering practical support and advice in youth coaching, player development, fitness and medical matters as well as football business strategy to Kotoko.
Read more about this topic: Asante Kotoko F.C.
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