GPL golden boot award: The history, latest winner and all you need to know
For a league often criticised for its low scoring, the Ghana Premier League continues to deliver some of its most astonishing drama on the final day of the season.
Bibiani Gold Stars striker Atta Kumi produced the latest chapter in that tradition on Sunday, scoring six goals in an extraordinary 8-3 victory over already relegated Eleven Wonders to clinch the league’s top scorer award in dramatic fashion.
Kumi entered the final round with 13 goals, trailing Bechem United forward Augustine Okrah by three. But in one remarkable afternoon, the Gold Stars attacker overturned the deficit completely, finishing the campaign with 19 goals to snatch the Golden Boot at the death.
It is a feat that instantly joins a long list of memorable final-day scoring exploits in Ghanaian football history.
In 2017, Hans Kwofie achieved a similar turnaround for Ashgold. Heading into the final day with 13 goals, one behind Berekum Chelsea striker Stephen Sarfo, Kwofie struck four times in a 4-2 win over champions Aduana Stars to seize the award.
Five years later, in 2022, Yaw Annor also completed a dramatic comeback. The Ashanti Gold forward began the final day one goal behind Asante Kotoko’s Cameroonian striker Frank Mbella Etouga, but a first-half brace against Bibiani Gold Stars pushed him into first place.
Annor’s tally of 22 goals also matched the long-standing record set by Ishmael Addo in 2001.
One of the most iconic examples came in 2007 when Emmanuel Clottey delivered a stunning individual performance for Great Olympics against Asante Kotoko.
Kotoko needed victory to secure a CAF Champions League place ahead of Ashgold, while Clottey required three goals to become the league’s leading scorer. In a chaotic 5-3 encounter, he scored exactly three times to win the Golden Boot.
Yet despite Kotoko earning the result they needed on the pitch, Ashgold also won elsewhere, denying the Porcupine Warriors a continental place in cruel fashion.
For all its struggles with goals throughout the season, the Ghana Premier League’s final day has repeatedly proven one thing, when the stakes are highest, drama is never in short supply.
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