Prince Polley: Razak helped to develop my career
Former Asante Kotoko and Black Stars forward, Prince Opoku Polley, built a reputation as a prolific player in his hey day. Gifted with speed, ball control and an eye for goals, Polley played a prominent role in Kotoko and the national team before his adventure in Europe.
In the first part of an exclusive interview with the Graphic Sports’ George Ernest Asare, the retired football star spoke about the highs and lows of his playing career. Excerpts.
Graphic Sports (GS): Please walk us through how your career started...
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Prince Opoku Polley (POP): I started playing football at the colts level for Kotoko Babies around 1985 alongside Tony Yeboah, Isaac Kwakye, Michael Osei, Stanley Aborah, Alhassan Yussif, Kwaku Kyere, Anthony Osei Kwadwo and Joe Debrah, among others.
We all played for the junior side of Kotoko until we were promoted to the senior side.
GS: From the Colts level, where was your next stop?
POP: From Kotoko Babies, I was promoted to Anokye Stars which was the grounds of Kotoko because they had the exceptional colts players there.
I was promoted together with Tony Yeboah, but he left to play for Neoplan Stars and later Corners before leaving for Okwawu United. However, I stayed with Anokye Stars before being promoted to the senior side.
GS: How did you get into the senior side of Kotoko?
POP: It was in 1984. It was not easy to be promoted at the time because Kotoko had signed some seasoned players who were also playing for the Black Stars so competing with them for position was not easy.
GS: How difficult was it to break into the first team?
POP: I was consigned to the bench because Kotoko already had good players such as George Arthur, Opoku Sampene, Ebo Mends, Abdul Razak and Sarah Mensah. However, I worked really hard and learnt a lot from the senior players I met and it helped me improve and build up my confidence.
During matches, Abdul Razak took time to tell me about his game plan and his expectations of me, especially when I was holding the ball. Razak was like a coach on the field, he communicated with me through gestures and signs and it paid off very well.
GS: You mean Razak and other senior players imparted a lot to you?
POP: There was something I learnt from Razak off the field which helped me much. I used to join the team bus to training but one dawn while I was at Adum, I spotted Razak, who was far older than I, sweating profusely as he jogged to the stadium just to build his stamina even though he had a posh car. That day I took a firm decision that if Razak undertakes such an extra training before joining the team for our regular training sessions, then I would never join the Kotoko bus for training again.
After that encounter, I started jogging from Bantama to the stadium early in the morning before joining my teammates for the team’s training session. This help me build my stamina and my fitness which helped me to cope with strong defenders such as Addai Kyenkyenhene and Bashiru Gambo at training session.
Also, I learnt a lot from Abedi Pele as far as individual training session was concerned. I noticed that anytime we were at the Black Stars camp, he trained very early in the morning and showered before joining the rest of us. His sharpness, deft touches and stamina were due to that training he had alone.
When I went to play in Europe, I noticed also that it was difficult for defenders to take the ball from me. However, I lacked the speed to hold onto the ball, so I worked hard on my speed to gain advantage over my opponents and it improved my scoring abilities.
GS: Do you remember when you finally broke into the first team?
POP: I often started from the bench, but my first selection into the starting lineup for Kotoko came against Zamalek of Egypt in Kumasi in 1987. It was the second leg quarter-final of the African Clubs Championship (what is now the Champions League). Zamalek had beaten us 2-0 in Egypt but we turned the tide and won the second leg 5-1 and I scored two goals.
GS: Would you say your performance against Zamalek was a statement of your readiness for big challenges...
POP: After the Zamalek encounter, the technical team realised that I had the temperament to play in big matches, so I was offered opportunity to play many of the local and international matches for Kotoko. However, I left for Holland the following year to start my professional career.
GS: What were some of your memorable matches in Kotoko?
POP: It was against Hearts of Oak in a league match in Kumasi which I scored the only goal of the match.
We played very well and it was also my last match for Kotoko before leaving for Holland.
GS: Was it your first match against Hearts as a senior player?
POP: No. We had played against them a year earlier in Accra during the time of the late Shamo Quaye, Ablade Kumah and Ezekiel Alamu. I remember before the match, coach Malik Jabir told me that these three players were very skillful, good dribblers and also quick with the ball so he wanted us to break up the Hearts midfield. He said considering my work-rate, I must always ensure that I break up their attack to prevent them from getting close top our goal area. I had to abandon my role as a striker and chased these players anytime they had the ball and I succeeded in stopping them from having a good day and we won the match 2-1 in Accra.
GS: Who were some of your key playing partners in Kotoko back then?
POP: Sarfo Gyamfi who took me as a young brother. Because we resided at Bantama, we shared things in common and slept in the same room whenever we were in camp. I, therefore, learnt a lot from him. Others were George Arthur and, of course, Abdul Razak, Kofi Abbrey and John Bannerman who were operating from the wings.
Abbrey was very fast and good at pullouts, so anytime he had the ball, I knew where to position myself to be able to connect his pass to score. I learnt a lot from each of these players and it impacted on my football career.
GS: How would you compare your days at Kotoko with the present?
POP: The present generation is not lucky because the players are not benefitting from the experience of matured players as we had during our time. In my time, I was very fortunate to play with Abdul Razak who was almost the same age as my father. Playing with such a mature player in my days played a big role in my development and he motivated me for about three seasons before he faded out.
The same cannot be said for today’s generation. All players in Kotoko are almost in the same age group, so there is little to learn from one another, unlike our time when there were seasoned and mature players who motivated the up-and-coming generation.