Leader of Aston Villa supporters group in Ghana in tears after a call from club legend

Ghanaian sports-loving fans have a high tendency of watching English football and a greater percentage of the football fans support English giants such as Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.

However, Aston Villa has also become another force in Ghana in terms of support for English clubs.

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Owusu Boakye is the head of Aston Villa supporters group at Juaben in the Ashanti Region where about 10% of the inhabitants of the area support the English side.

It, therefore, comes as a surprise that a village in Ghana could identify themselves with none other side than Aston Villa a side which has lost their premier league spot.

Boakye in an interview with BBC disclosed the genesis of his town’s affection for the Villas.

A day after BBC Sport Africa posted a video in which Owusu explained how his grandfather used to tell him stories about McGrath being a ‘god’ of football, the latter spoke to the disbelieving Ghanaian.

The video call was set up by McGrath’s son Jordan, who contacted Owusu through one of the Ghana Lions’ social media accounts.

Owusu Boakye after shed tears of joy after receiving a phone call from Paul McGrath who played for Aston Villa as a centre back from 1989 to 1996 and bagged nine goals.

“He told me that his dad was Paul McGrath, and I shouted and said ‘oh no – how can I believe this?’ as he is the man I’ve been looking for since birth,” the 20-year-old told BBC Sport Africa.

“I didn’t believe it but he messaged me and told me that he was going to call with his dad in five minutes. I was still doubting until I saw Paul McGrath face to face, and Paul said ‘Owusu – hi, how are you doing? I am very happy and honoured about what you are doing and saying about me’.

“I couldn’t hold back my tears. They were tears of joy. Because my dream has already come true because I’ve talked to the greatest defender to ever grace the league. And yet he – Paul McGrath – was asking me about life in my village!”

McGrath, whose father is Nigerian, made over 250 appearances for Aston Villa between 1989-1996, a period in which the Birmingham club twice came second and once finished fourth in the top flight of English football.

“I have always been proud of my dad but it just makes it that much more amazing when you see people that far away wearing Aston Villa kit with my Dad’s name,” said Jordan.

The town’s love of Aston Villa stems from Owusu’s grand-father Daniel, who grew up in the Ghanaian home of a Villa-supporting family from Birmingham since his father worked for them.