From Kumasi Rainbow FC in 1924 to Asante Kotoko in 1935, the record holders of the Ghana Premier League have had quite a good number of christening.
The same can be said about the nickname of the club as it changed from the initial stages till 1934 when the Asantehene adopted the club as the emblem of the Asante Kingdom during the colonial era.
Nicknames can be given by opposition fans as derogatory names to spite their rival fans but supporters mostly nickname their clubs in order to make them their own.
Every football club in the world including national teams have nicknames.
Unlike their rivals Accra Hearts of Oak who got their nickname Phobians from their vociferous supporters, Asante Kotoko got the Fabulous tag because of their performance in the 1959 Ghana Premier League.
The club got its initial tag as the Porcupine Warriors when the club was renamed from Might Atoms to Asante Kotoko in 1935 because that was the nickname of the warriors of the Kingdom.
But the tag ‘Fabulous’ was given to them by the Ghanaian media because of how they whipped Accra Hearts of Oak both home and away to win the second edition of the Ghana Premier League.
Hearts of Oak after winning the maiden edition of the Ghana Premier League lost the title to their rivals Asante Kotoko in 1959 but they did so without any pride after losing the Super Clash in Accra and Kumasi.
Asante Kotoko beat Accra Hearts of Oak 4-2 in the capital city and 3-2 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium to win the league.
They won the trophy with 22 points in an eight-team league while Accra Hearts of Oak finished third with 17 points behind Kumasi Cornerstone who finished second with 20 points.
And after 63 years, Asante Kotoko fans used the tag Fabulous to identify themselves. Once you respond with “Emu y3 de yie” to the greeting ‘Faaaabuuloous’, then they know you are a Kotoko fan.
Author: Joel Eshun | Â www.ghanaweb.com