In September 1952, Governor Charles Arden-Clarke opened a new Sports Stadium for Accra an occasion which lifted the spirits of many citizens of the Gold Coast.
The architect behind the edifice was a woman Mrs. Lomax who unfortunately could not be available to witness the commissioning of the facility.
Until this landmark development, Accra – and for that matter the Gold Coast – did not have a stadium to host sporting activities.
Records I chanced upon have it that the occasion was marked by the hosting at the facility of a hockey match between the Gold Coast and Nigeria.
The main speech at the event was delivered by Sir Leslie M’Carthy, Chairman of the Gold Coast Amateur Sports Council who paid tribute to those who contributed towards the construction of what was the largest stadium in West Africa at the time according to a September 1952 edition of the Daily Graphic.
“We hope and believe that this stadium will lead to the raising of standards, and to an abundance of the healthy enjoyment that comes from games played in the right spirit,” Sir Leslie said adding “we are grateful to the government for its generous financial assistance without which we could not have built this stadium”.
His gratitude did not go only to those who provided the funds but to individuals who through diverse ways played various roles in making the realization of the project possible.
Such individuals were in government services, Army, Missions and other public bodies as well as firms and private persons.
Sir Leslie expressed regret that Sir Sidney and Lady Abrahams on the occasion as the two persons who were responsible for the construction of the stadium and establishment of the Sports Council.
He also wished the architect, Mrs. Lomax now in England, was available on the occasion. She was represented however by Mrs. Starratt another architect who acted on behalf of Mrs. Lomax for many months. “Similarly, I regret the absence of Mr. Walter Loeb, and we are glad to have Mr. Frize, the contractor’s foreman, who from the start has worked on the job with real enthusiasm” he said.
He also paid tribute to the able and unremitting labours of Mr. A. H. R. Joseph who was now retiring from the post of Organising Secretary which post he said he had held so admirably. His work on the project, he said, had been invaluable and his splendid contribution to sport in the Gold Coast will be long remembered.
Sir Arden Clarke in his response expressed pleasure at the speed with which the project was completed. “It was only three years ago when I attended the Sports Council’s meeting and since then so much had been achieved by the Council within so short a time.”
“Organisation has been a success and this is one of the things which must be appreciated by all,” the governor said.
He said what the Council had achieved should serve as an inspiration to other bodies and paid tribute to the Gold Coast Olympic athletes and all those who contributed financially and by other means to help the team take part in the Olympic games.
He added all the youth of the Gold Coast should aspire to take part in all the games sponsored by the Council and other bodies at the Stadium. The Stadium was an example to inspire other countries he said, adding that in the near future more stadiums would be built in the Gold Coast.
“Every sportsman in this country should hold Mr. A. H.R. Joseph in high esteem and I am glad Mr. Joseph had lived to see the opening of the stadium to which his name should be associated,” he said.
“I have the honour to declare this Sports Stadium open and may it serve well the purpose for which it was built,” concluded the governor.
Earlier in about 1928, the popular sports engaged mainly by Europeans and Gold Coast elites were tennis, golf, polo, cricket and shooting.
Tennis was played in almost every town and at the mining camps which had tennis courts built with cement and swish and Europeans coming to the Gold Coast were advised to bring along a dozen tennis balls.
There were golf courses at Accra, Akuse and Kumasi. Polo was played in Accra and Tamale but unlike in England where it was a game of millionaires, in the Gold Coast it was not.
Cricket which is rarely played in Ghana today was a common game in the Gold Coast in the 1920s. In almost all the big towns there were cricket clubs and it was common to have Europeans play against their African counterparts.
There was a rifle range in Accra which both ladies and gentlemen’s clubs patronized. On the Accra Plains, bush fowls and big games also existed in those days; no longer these days anyway.
By A. R. Gomda
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