By: Isaac Oduro Boateng, Kumasi

As a Kotoko supporter and a keen observer of activities and events in the club, there are so many interesting things that I see about supporters of our dear club every time I watch the team’s matches at the stadium.

To start with, it is estimated that Kumasi Asante Kotoko has about 8 million supporters within Ghana alone.

There are those who even assume that Kotoko has more than 8 million supporters in the country although no scientific survey has been conducted to confirm that thinking.

Technically, to support means to help, encourage or approve of somebody or something. Looking at the above definition in relation to my observation concerning some supporters of Asante Kotoko FC, the question that arises is whether Kotoko have supporters or spectators.

Spectators are people who watch a game or an event, and really fail to offer support or contribution of any sort. By extension, if one watches a team in a football match at the stadium, without showing support, one cannot be viewed as a supporter but rather a spectator.

The scenario as described above is exactly what I have seen of some Kotoko supporters in recent times. Some of the things that need to be taken upon as supporters of Kumasi Asante Kotoko include paying money to watch the team at the stadium in order to cheer the players and their technical handlers to victory. Out of the 8 million presumed supporters Kotoko, it is interesting and in fact worrying to note that the Baba Yara Sports Stadium which cannot take 100,000 supporters cannot be filled to capacity when the team is playing there.

I have observed that some of the presumed supporters go to the stadium without paying with funny claims of how they are related to a former Kotoko leader or player.

Others also get there through corrupt means by paying little amount to ticket vendors who benefit at the expense of the club.

I was happy when Dr. K. K. Sarpong talked about this issue last week in one of his media interviews in Kumasi.

For example, instead of paying three Ghana Cedis for a ticket, these supporters pay less to the ticket vendors and enter the stadium.

These ticket vendors put the money into their pockets and at the end of the day the team loses greatly.

How can we call ourselves supporters when we behave like this?

Why would we not want to contribute to the club?

Supporters are supposed to help and not deprive their clubs of the very resources managers of the clubs need.

As supporters we must at all cost pay to get to the stadium to sing, clap, chant and play drums and do everything acceptable to intimidate the opposing team.

Our opponents must not feel at ease when they play at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. We have to intimidate them with the vuvuzelas and the whistles, drums and every musical instrument we can take to the stadium.

When our players see us cheering them, they are empowered, in fact strengthened to go all out and get the right result.

It is not for nothing that some pundits of the game see supporters – indeed a large group of supporters as the number 12th man on the pitch. If we go to the stadium as supporters of Kotoko, we should be seen supporting the team in every legitimate way.

We should not go to the stadium, sit comfortably on the seats to watch the players and insult them at the least chance. We have to cheer them on. We have to applaud their efforts and encourage them to do more.

How will our players get the best result for us when they are verbally attacked and for that matter discouraged on the field of play? Criticisms are good but we should desist from the unproductive one.

It should not be that the only time you would see Kotoko supporters singing and clapping is when there is a goal! That is wrong. We are supporters; not spectators! Therefore, we should cheer the team even when things are not going well.

Another observation is how some of us insult our management members when things go wrong. Supporters who use the opportunity offered by the media to insult the leadership of the club should understand that they are not doing the club any good service.

Again, there are those who decide not to go to the stadium when the team loses and interestingly they still claim to be supporters of Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

In addition, I have often wondered why some of us do not feel proud to wear Kotoko replica jerseys when the team loses but rather feel so encouraged wearing the replica jerseys of the Chelseas, Manchester Uniteds and the Liverpools when these clubs lose in the English Premiership.

We even argue about how they performed and how they may recover from any upset but are unwilling to do same for Kotoko.

When fixtures of the English Premier League coincide with the matches of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, there are so-called Kotoko supporters who prefer watching those matches via DSTV.

How then can we expect Kotoko to perform when we are willing to stay at home and watch foreign clubs instead of the team we profess to love?

How many supporters follow the team to other league centres when they are playing away matches?

Can we say that our attitude reflect the club’s slogan, Wo Kum Apem A, Apem Beba?

Where is that ‘Kum Apem’ spirit? Where is that pride that supporters exhibited while going to the stadium early to prevent a rush at the gates?

Some people who claim to be supporters of the club sometimes threaten to beat up the players and I wonder whether these people are genuine supporters of Kotoko.

As I end this article, my advice to fellow Kotoko supporters is that, we should learn to give our best to the club no matter what happens.

The writer of this article is a final year Student Journalist at the Institute of Business Management & Journalism, Kumasi.