By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
“Gone are the days when football stopped only in the Greater Banjul and West Coast Regional areas. For us, this is a victory for Jarra, the Lower River Region, the provincial dwellers, and footballers,” Hart Academy FC’s founder exclaimed.
On December 7th of this year, Gambian football experienced a historic moment. The residents of Jarra, filled with excitement, witnessed the first division match for the first time in the history of Gambian football. Established eight years ago, Hart FC hosted Greater Tomorrow at the Jarra Soma football field.
In what cropped up as an experiment of nine young boys in the streets of Jarra in 2016 by Bakary Baldeh, a classroom teacher, Hart Football Academy has smashed regional barriers in Gambian football in 2024, becoming the first provincial team to contest and host a football match in the big stage of Gambian football.
“The people of Jarra welcomed our first-ever first-division match with great joy as they will now watch their brothers play at home at the highest level of Gambian football. To them, this is a dream come true. They promised to come out in large numbers to watch the team as we play other teams in the league,” Club founder and President Bakary Baldeh told TAT.
There has never been a time in the country’s football narrative when a team from the provincial country participated in the pinnacle of Gambian football.
When Lamin Kaba Bajo was elected president of the Gambia Football Federation in 2014, he advocated for the decentralization of football in the country. Ten years after his first election, a team outside Greater Banjul and the West Coast Region only played in the country’s elite football competition this year.
The Establishment of Hart FA: Taking Children Out of The Streets to The Football Pitch
In February 2016, Bakary Baldeh, born and raised in Brikama Ba, Lower Fulladu West in the Central River Region, was teaching at Jarra Soma Lower Basic School. There, he devised an idea to establish a football academy that would break regional barriers in Gambian football. When the concept emerged, Bakary did not know that his vision would become a harbinger of change and hope for young footballers in the region and change narratives.
“I established Hart Academy FC with the sole aim of keeping children out of the streets and engaging them in something such that they can be very productive and contribute to the country’s socioeconomic development,” Bakary Baldeh revealed to The Alkamba Times.
Bakary had never played football before conceiving this idea. When he began the journey with only nine players, many people disbelieved that his idea would turn big someday. However, due to his incessant devotion and indomitable thirst to actualize his vision, he shifted skeptics into believers when he willingly followed his desire.
“Many people doubted me because I am not a footballer or may know little about football. However, with the little resources at my disposal, I was able to start with nine boys. From there, I started organizing friendly games with schools,” he explained.
Nine months after establishing the academy, he left for Gambia College to pursue an Advanced Diploma in Education. However, he never abandoned his kids. He left them in the hands of Omar Jammeh, who took over as the head coach and continues to this day.
From Friendly Games to Competing in Competitions
When Omar Jammeh (Tiger) took over as the head coach of the academy with backing from Bakary, the academy advanced from playing friendly games to competing in the Jarra West Naweetan and to the Lower River Region Third Division Qualifiers, where the team qualified. It became regional champions in 2022, clearing a passage to national competitions.
As LRR regional champions, Hart Academy faced Rockland FC from the North Bank Region, triumphed over them, and secured a place in the second division league for the 2022-23 season.
“It was our first appearance in the league, so it was very challenging as debutants. We were nearly relegated in the first round because 98% of our players had never experienced such a level of football. However, we took patience, put ourselves together, and bounced back in the second round,” Baldeh narrated.
The team survived in the league by finishing 9th out of 18 teams.
In the 2023-24 league season, Hart Academy FC stunned the country’s football zealots when it switched from participating to competing against teams in the Greater Banjul and West Coast Region for a place in the first division. With consistent performance, the team finished second in the league, two points behind champions Hawks FC. Despite finishing second, the team made history, becoming the first team from rural areas to qualify for the pinnacle of Gambian football competition.
“I always say that our promotion to the first division is a victory for everyone in the Gambia because it shows that football is gradually developing in every corner of the country.” Baldeh described this evolution to the big stage of Gambian football.
Funding From His Teaching Salary
Hart Academy Football Club is one of the few clubs in the country with different categories of teams. In addition to the first team, the club has U9, U13, and U15 teams, a Nawetan team, and a female third-division team. However, the team is funded by its founder, a classroom teacher, and a freelance journalist.
Bakary Baldeh’s in-depth zeal and conviction in his vision are beyond ordinary. Without sponsors, he has kept the team running since 2016 on his meager salary as a classroom teacher and freelance journalist for QTV.
Managing a first-tier team in the country requires a substantial financial obligation, especially for a team based in Jarra that will play half of its games in the Kombos. Aside from the transport cost and salaries, amping funds are needed to keep the team running. Half of the teams in the first division will spend nothing less than a million dalasis in a season. For Bakary, his salary and GFF’s yearly support are less than three hundred thousand dalasi.
“As of now, I have no official sponsor. I fund the teams from my little salary, my freelancer money, and the GFF Support. We have written to companies and philanthropists and are still awaiting their response,” he said.
In other countries, marketing players to foreign leagues would have involved pumping in lots of financial aid to help teams. However, in the Gambia, players have limited chances of making a professional career because the teams lack connections beyond the country’s shores.
Most teams in the country would have their players sold easily when they represented the country in under-20 competitions. The Gambia will not participate in the U20 Cup until 2027, depriving teams of using the competition to sell play.
Hart Academy Football Club’s journey from the streets of Jarra to the pinnacle of Gambian football is an extraordinary achievement. They have brought top-division football matches to the provinces, bridging the gap between players in urban areas and those in rural regions.
