# Dreams F.C.

Dreams Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club founded in 2009 and based in Dawu in the country's Eastern Region that competes in the Ghana Premier League. On 18 June 2023, they won the FA Cup to gain entry into the CAF Confederation Cup for the first time in their history.

## History

Dreams Football Club was founded in 2009 in Kweiman by the current president of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Okraku, and changed base locations twice; Madina and currently at Dawu.
On 6 January 2017, former Bechem United coach Manuel Zacharias was appointed technical director of the club
Abdul-Karim Zito has been club's manager since the 2022–23 season, serving for the second time having previously managed them from 2018 to 2020. He also previously managed rival league club Asante Kotoko and the Ghana U-20 team, the latter with which he won the 2021 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
Having been below the Ghanaian top-flight since formation, including two seasons in the Division One League, Dreams FC were promoted to the Ghana Premier League for the first time in their history for the 2016 season. However, the Ghana Football Association demoted the club back to Division One in late 2016 after its the Disciplinary Committee found an anomaly with the registration of a player. On 18 June 2023, they beat King Faisal won the Ghanaian FA Cup to gain entry into the CAF Confederation Cup for the first time in their history.

### Debut continental campaign

Having gained entry to the CAF Confederation Cup with their FA Cup win, executives within the club expressed worries and personal frustrations about financial constraints heading into and throughout their inaugural African campaign which have been publicized. Nevertheless, Dreams F.C. were drawn to play Guinean club Milo FC in the first preliminary round and the winners of AS Douanes of Niger and Kallon FC of Sierra Leone in the second preliminary round for a place in the group stages on 25 July 2023. Dreams beat Milo FC 3–2 on aggregate (1–1 draw at the General Lansana Conté Stadium in Conakry and 2–1 at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, where their CAF campaign would be based). They secured a 3–2 win on aggregate against Kallon, whose first qualifying round opponents AS Douanes withdrew due to the Niger conflict, 2–1 at home and a 1–1 draw away at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex stadium in Paynesville, Liberia to confirm their place in the group stages.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Dreams FC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Rivers United | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Club Africain | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 10 | |
| 4 | Académica do Lobito | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 17 | −11 | 1 | |
* 1 2 Ranked on goal difference: Dreams FC +4, Rivers United +2.
In the knockout stages, Dreams FC were drawn with Malian side Stade Malien and the winner of Egyptian teams Zamalek SC and Modern Future FC for a place in the final. The defeated Stade Malien 3–2 on aggregate (2–1 away at the Stade du 26 Mars and 1–1 at home) to secure their semi-final spot and receive $750,000. Their journey would however come to an end with Zamalek eliminating them and Modern Future on aggregate; in the case of Dreams a 3–0 away win in Kumasi despite Dreams holding them to a goaless first-leg draw in the first-leg. Overall, their cash flow from their participation amounted to $1.2 million (GHS21 million) and their participant points acumulation coupled with Medeama SC's qualification for the group stage of the CAF Champions League raised Ghana's CAF club ranking from 27th to 14th, just 2 places shy of 12th, where the country could have entered two teams in those CAF club competitions. Their run as defending champions in the FA Cup was brought to an end by Bofoakwa Tano as they defeated them 2–1 at the semi-finals.

## Kit sponsor

On 7 October 2016, Dreams FC signed a 3-year kit sponsored deal with Nike ahead of the 2016 Ghanaian Premier League season. Since the 2020–21 season, the team is sported with jerseys and kits manufactured by Mayniak Sports Wear.

## Roster
### First team

    As of 26 September 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GHA | Godfred Amoah |
| 5 | DF | GHA | Kingsley Owusu |
| 6 | MF | GHA | Victor Oduro |
| 7 | FW | GHA | Adamu Amadu |
| 8 | MF | THA | Farhadu Suleiman |
| 9 | FW | GHA | Kwaku Karikari |
| 10 | MF | GHA | Abdul Fatawu Issahaku |
| 11 | FW | GHA | Agyenim Boateng Mensah |
| 12 | FW | GHA | Ibrahim Issah |
| 14 | DF | GHA | Abdulai Ibrahim |
| 16 | GK | GHA | Solomon Agbesi |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | DF | GHA | Habib Mohammed |
| 18 | GK | GHA | Augustine Koomson |
| 19 | FW | GHA | Huzaf Ali |
| 20 | MF | GHA | Simba Sylvester |
| 21 | DF | GHA | Abdul Jalilu (captain) |
| 23 | DF | GHA | Maxwell Arthur |
| 24 | FW | GHA | Musibau Aziz |
| 25 | DF | GHA | Issah Yakubu |
| 31 | DF | GHA | Abednego Asafo |
| 32 | MF | GHA | Sadat Mohammed |
| 32 | FW | GHA | Abdul Aziz Issah |

### Coaching staff

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Abdul-Karim Zito |
| Assistant manager | Winfred Dormon |
| Team manager | Kofi Akosa Agyei-Aygeman |
| Goalkeeping coach | Raymond Faney |
| Physiotherapy | Jibril Uthman |
| Masseur | Haruna Seidu |

#### Managerial history

| Dates | Name |
| 2018–2020 | Abdul-Karim Zito |
| 2020–2021 | Winfred Dormon |
| 2021–2022 | Vladislav Virić |
| 2022 | Ignatius Osei-Fosu |
| 2022–present | Abdul-Karim Zito |

### Management

| Position | Name |
| President | Mohammed Jiji Alifoe |
| Vice-president | Prince Abdul Hamid |
| Administrative Manager | Ameenu Shardow |
| General Manager | Ameenu Shardow |
| Deputy General Manager | Enoch Agyare Addo |
| Substative Manager | Winfred Dormon |
| Head, Dreams Media | Derrick A. Okraku |
| Community and Supporters Relations Manager | Alhaji Yussif ‘Cliff’ Iddrisu |
| Finance officer | Theresa Nelly Slippi- Mensah |
| Administrative Secretary | Augustina Afful |

### Youth team players

The youth team section of Dreams F.C. has produced players such as:
* John Antwi, currently a first-team regular at Dreams FC.
* Baba Rahman of Chelsea and Reading on loan in England, now playing for PAOK of Greece
* Benjamin Tetteh, previously of Sparta Prague in the Czech First League, now at French club Metz.
* Leonard Owusu of Vancouver Whitecaps in the Major League Soccer.
* Montari Kamaheni of Ashdod in the Israeli Premier League.
* Emmanuel Lomotey, formerly of Villarreal B and on loan at defunct club Extremadura of Spain, now at Malmo FF in Sweden, playing on loan at Ethnikos Achna of Cyprus
* Lawson Bekui, previously played for AC Kajaani in Finland, now at Al-Entesar Club in Saudi Arabia.
* Samuel Alabi, previously of Ashdod in the Israeli Premier League, now at Luzern, playing on loan at Baden in the Swiss Super League
* Emmanuel Sowah Adjei, previously played at Anderlecht in the Belgian Pro League.
* Abdul Aziz Issah, currently on loan at FC Barcelona Atlètic, the feeder or second team of FC Barcelona