The Football Association has officially launched the 2026/27 Colts Football Season, reaffirming its commitment to strengthening grassroots football and creating a sustainable pathway for young talents across the country.
The colourful and well-attended launch ceremony took place on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram, bringing together members of the GFA Executive Council, Regional Football Association (RFA) Chairmen, Colts club owners and administrators, former Colts stars, partners and sponsors, as well as other key stakeholders in youth football.
The new season marks the sixth consecutive year of Colts football since the system was resuscitated and restructured by the GFA in 2020.
Addressing the gathering, GFA President Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku described the occasion as a celebration of children, clubs, volunteers and the wider colts football ecosystem, while reflecting on the progress made since the revival of the Colts system.
“It is a day to celebrate our children, to celebrate our clubs, to celebrate the men and women who continue to dedicate their time and resources to nurturing young talent, and, above all, to celebrate a football development system that has once again become an important part of the Ghanaian football landscape.”
President Simeon-Okraku said the decision to revive Colts football six years ago was not merely about restarting a competition, but about rebuilding a comprehensive development pathway for young Ghanaian footballers.
“Six years may appear modest when measured against the long history of Ghana football. But what we have achieved in these six years is significant.”
He said the ultimate objective was to establish a clear route through which talented youngsters could progress from community football to the regional level, elite development, professional football and the national teams.
“We knew that we were not simply restarting a competition. We were rebuilding a pathway. A pathway from the community to the regional level. From the regional level to elite development. And ultimately, from grassroots football to our national teams and the professional game.”
859 Clubs power Colts
The scale of the revival is reflected in the number of active clubs participating across the country. According to the President, 859 Colts clubs are currently active across Ghana’s ten football regions.
The Ashanti Region leads the national table with 245 clubs, followed by Greater Accra with 216. Brong Ahafo and Northern each have 98 clubs, while Central has 90 and Western 50. Eastern has 26 clubs, Upper East 15, Upper West 11, and Volta 10.
The figures, President Simeon-Okraku said, demonstrate how deeply rooted Colts football has become in communities across Ghana.
Investing in Coaches who shape the future
A major component of the GFA’s grassroots development strategy has been the training and professional development of Colts coaches.
Over the past two seasons, the Football Association has invested GHS 1.8 million to train 600 Colts coaches through the GFA-funded CAF Licence D Coaching Programme. The three-year initiative targets 900 coaches, with the final phase scheduled for this year.
President Simeon-Okraku stressed that the investment goes beyond coaching badges, highlighting the responsibility coaches have in shaping the lives of young players.
“It is about ensuring that the young player who walks onto a Colts pitch encounters a coach who understands technique, player development, safeguarding, discipline and the responsibility that comes with shaping a child’s future.”
The GFA has also invested US$100,000 annually over the past three years in the purchase of footballs for Colts clubs.
Catching Young Referees and Developing future Officials
The FA’s Colts strategy also extends to refereeing through the Catch Them Young Refereeing Programme, which seeks to identify and nurture young officials from an early age.
The GFA has committed GHS 1.5 million over the coming years towards educational support and allowances for young referees, including an annual investment of GHS 300,000.
A further GHS 270,000 annually is being invested in uniforms and logistics for the programme.
The initiative is expected to provide Ghana with a sustainable pipeline of refereeing talent while giving young people an opportunity to develop both on and off the field.
Taking talent delivery to where the talent lives
President Simeon-Okraku also highlighted the GFA’s talent identification and elite academy programmes, stressing the need to discover promising footballers beyond Ghana’s traditional football centres.
“We want to find talent where the talent lives.”
The GFA currently has 155 young footballers — 117 boys and 38 girls — in its three Elite Academies.
The Bolgatanga Academy has 101 players, comprising 64 boys and 37 girls. Prempeh College has 33 boys, while Achimota School has 21 players, including 20 boys and one girl.
According to the President, the academies are designed to provide young footballers with structured environments in which football development goes hand in hand with education and personal growth.
New U-17 Championship joins the Colts calendar
The 2026/27 season will also introduce a new competition aimed at giving young players another platform to compete and develop.
President Simeon-Okraku reiterated the KIVO/JLAB U-17 Colts Inter-Club Championship as a new addition to the Colts calendar.
The competition is expected to enhance competitive opportunities for emerging players while further strengthening the connection between grassroots and elite youth football.
GFA introduces first-ever Colts Awards
Another major highlight of the new season will be the introduction of the first-ever GFA Colts Awards.
The awards are expected to provide recognition for outstanding players, coaches, clubs, officials and other contributors whose efforts continue to drive the development of grassroots football.
The initiative represents another step towards giving Colts football greater visibility and recognising those who work behind the scenes to sustain the system.
From Colts to the National stage
The 2nd CAF Vice-President said the revival of Colts football will only achieve its full purpose if it creates a bridge to the professional game.
He called for stronger connections between Colts football, the Ghana Premier League, Division One League, Division Two and the national teams.
“Our Colts system must not exist in isolation. There must be a clear connection between grassroots football and the professional game.”
He urged clubs at the highest level to view the Colts system as an important source of emerging talent and encouraged young players to see grassroots football as the beginning of a much bigger journey.
“The journey should take them further — to professional football, to national team selection and, for the very best, to the international stage.”
Honouring the legends who blazed the trail
President Simeon-Okraku also took the gathering down memory lane, highlighting the contribution of the Colts system to the development of some of Ghana’s most celebrated footballers.
He paid tribute to a long list of former Colts players who went on to become stars for club and country, including Asamoah Gyan, Stephen Appiah, Sulley Muntari, Sammy Kuffour, Anthony Yeboah, Nii Odartey Lamptey, Sam Johnson, Yaw Preko, Laryea Kingston, Godwin Attram, Michael Essien, Ishmael Addo, Thomas Partey, John Boye, Yusif Chibsah, Shilla Illiasu and Mohammed Gargo, among others.
Their stories, he suggested, provide powerful evidence of what a functioning grassroots pathway can produce when talent is identified, nurtured and given the opportunity to progress.
A call to protect the Colts vision
The GFA President also had messages for the legends who pioneered Ghana’s football development, Colts club owners and CEOs, and the Regional Football Associations.
He urged stakeholders to protect the integrity of the system and ensure that scarce resources allocated to grassroots football are used for their intended purposes.
With 859 active clubs, increased investment in coaching and refereeing, expanded talent identification programmes, new competitions and the introduction of the GFA Colts Awards, the Football Association believes the 2026/27 season can further consolidate the gains made since the 2020 revival.
The challenge now, President Simeon-Okraku emphasised, is to ensure that the renewed Colts movement continues to produce opportunities – and, ultimately, the next generation of Ghanaian football stars.
