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.
History
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.
Performance in Competitions
UFOA Cup 1992
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.
Ghanaian Premier League Record 1990/91
NB: Table only shows 10/16 teams to focus on Dawu Youngstars
Dawu managed to secure an impressive 5th place in the Ghanaian Premier League just three years after their formation. The club only finished four points behind 2nd-placed Accra Hearts of Oak, the biggest club in the country.
Ghanaian Premier League Record 1991/92
NB: Stats only shown for 10/14 clubs to focus on Dawu Youngstars
Dawu managed to emulate the success of the previous season, again finishing in 5th place. However, if they had won just one game fewer, Dawu would have finished in 10th place, an indication of how close the league was. The club was propelled by the goals of Abdul Mumuni, later to become a Ghanaian international, who was the Ghanaian Premier League's top scorer for the season.
Ghanaian Premier League Record 1992/93
NB: Only 10/12 teams shown to focus on Dawu Youngstars
Dawu slipped to sixth place in the league but still enjoyed a successful season, including keeping 3 consecutive clean sheets between rounds 2–4. Dawu's striker Felix Aboagye was the league's joint-second top-scorer, with 8 goals.
Ghanaian Premier League Record 1993/94
Dawu dropped two places from the previous season but despite their low placing, were only six points away from 2nd placed Asante Kotoko.
Ghanaian Premier League Record 1994/95
With just four games remaining in the league season, Dawu were in an impressive 3rd place, and could still have won the league. However, they took just one point from their last four matches and slumped to a 7th-placed finish. This poor end-of-season form almost dragged Dawu into the relegation zone, as they finished just four points clear of the two relegated teams.