Accra will come alive on Friday, September 5, 2025, when Hearts of Oak and Great Olympics lock horns at the University of Ghana Stadium in the second edition of the Democracy Cup.
The competition, introduced in 2024 as a celebration of sport and governance, witnessed Asante Kotoko edge the Phobians in the inaugural final.
This year, all eyes are on the capital’s fiercest derby as two traditional giants rekindle their rivalry.
For Hearts of Oak, this is more than just another match, it is about breaking a painful spell.
2025 Democracy Cup: Speaker visits Presidency
The Phobians are winless in their last eight meetings against Great Olympics, a run stretching back to the 2019/20 Ghana Premier League season when they thrashed the “Dade Boys” 4–0.
That season was later truncated, but it remains the last time Hearts managed to defeat their city rivals.
Since then, the Wonder Club have been the bogey side. Olympics have claimed four victories in this unbeaten stretch, including emphatic wins such as the 3–0 triumph in June 2022 and the 2–0 success in January 2021.
The other four encounters ended in draws, recently back-to-back goalless stalemates in December 2023 and June 2024.
In this run, Olympics have scored eight goals and conceded only two, keeping five clean sheets in the process.
Hearts have found the net just twice in eight games, a damning statistic that highlights their struggles in this fixture.
Yet there is a new twist to the tale. Under new head coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani, the Phobians are rediscovering their bite.
Since taking charge, Dramani has guided Hearts through three games without defeat, winning twice and drawing once.
More importantly, his side have scored in every outing under his watch, a sharp contrast to the drought that has haunted them in meetings with Olympics.
With four wins in their last five overall matches, Hearts arrive at the Democracy Cup in buoyant form.
For Olympics, the picture is more complicated. Their recent string of defeats came not in the Premier League, but in the Division One League, where they lost four of their last five matches.
That poor campaign has already triggered change, with the club appointing Sulley Adamu, formerly head coach of their Division One rivals Okwawu United, ahead of the 2025/26 season.
The Wonder Club are banking on Adamu to engineer a turning point and restore their top-flight status.
The Democracy Cup therefore offers him an early stage to test his ideas and perhaps signal the beginning of a new chapter.
And so Friday’s contest carries an extra layer of intrigue. Both Dramani and Adamu will not only be commanding their sides in the first major derby since their appointments, but they also have the opportunity to win their first silverware as managers of their respective clubs.
That alone raises the stakes and ensures the game will be played with intensity and passion befitting Accra’s greatest rivalry.
The showdown therefore hangs delicately on the balance of form versus history.
Can Hearts of Oak, with a revitalised attack under Dramani, finally end their eight-game hoodoo against Great Olympics? Or will the Wonder Club, under Adamu’s fresh stewardship, once again prove that derby day is different, no matter the struggles elsewhere?
One thing is certain: the University of Ghana Stadium will witness another chapter of Accra’s fiercest football rivalry, with the Democracy Cup at stake, bragging rights on the line, and a first taste of silverware awaiting whichever coach triumphs on the night.
FKA/EB
Meanwhile, watch the reactions of Ghanaians after Ghana’s 1-1 draw against Chad in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
