Dawu Youngstars
| Full name | Dawu Youngstars FC |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1987 |
| Ground | Dawu Sports Stadium, Dawu |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Chairman | Seth Yeboah |
| 2002 | 15th |
Dawu Youngstars are a now defunct Ghanaian association football team from Dawu, a small town in the eastern region of Ghana who were founded in 1987. The club last competed in the Ghanaian Premier League in 2002, but financial problems after relegation that season have meant the club has not since returned to Ghana's top flight.
Dawu Youngstars was founded in 1987 by Seth Yeboah, a businessman from Dawu. Yeboah became the club's owner, and later built the team the Dawu Sports Stadium to play in, which has a capacity of 10,000. Dawu quickly rose to prominence in the Ghanaian leagues, reaching the Premier League in the 1990/91 season, just three years into the club's existence. Youngstars' success continued with qualification for the 1992 West African Club Championship, although they were later disqualified from the competition. Dawu stayed in the Ghanaian Premier League until 2002, frequently finishing in the top five of the league. However, the club was relegated in the 2002 season after finishing second-bottom in the league.
This relegation ended a 12-year stay in the top flight, and it looks unlikely that the club will return to the Premier League in the near future due to financial difficulties.
Normally, a club relegated from the Ghanaian Premier League would automatically drop into the First Division, but Dawu's financial plight meant they could not raise sufficient funds to compete in the First Division in 2003 and were replaced by Maamobi Mitdyland, with the Youngstars dropping to the Second Division instead.
Dawu have twice had the league's top scorers, namely Ghanaians Abdul Mumuni in 1991/92 and Laud Oscar in 1993/94. However, these are the club's only honours as they have never won the Ghanaian Premier League or Ghanaian FA Cup.
In October 2010, Youngstars founder Seth Yeboah stated that he wanted to revive the club to provide employment for young people in Dawu.
Dawu qualified for the 1992 West African Club Championship just five years after they had been founded. In the 5th round, Dawu came up against Asemap FC of Benin. A 2-0 win in the first leg and a 2-1 win in the second leg gave the Youngstars an aggregate 4-1 win and they should have progressed to the next round. However, Dawu were then disqualified and their place in the quarter-finals was taken by Asemap FC, who went on to reach the semi-finals, only being eliminated on penalties by Hafia FC of Guinea.
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