Fortune FC: The Story From Naweetan to The Pinnacle of Gambian Football
On the 7th day of December 2012, a young enterprising entrepreneur took the bold decision to establish a football club and named it after his father’s petrol station: Fortune Petroleum Company Limited. Fortune Football Club is a name that has been painted in the annals of the country’s elite football competition history just under a decade since its formation in Farato Village.
Borne by his penchant for football and its evolution, Assan S. Ndure made no turning back in his quest to have a team that would be much talked about in The Gambia today.
Assan’s craving for football got underway on the street of Barra in the North Bank of The Gambia. The placid Assan then played in the Barra Football Academy, a football academy formed by Jane Joof in the year 2003.
Jane, who has been into football for almost all his life both as a footballer and coach, formed the academy with the sole aim of guiding Assan and other array of football stars to make a fortune in the beautiful game.
However, Assan’s trade in football as a footballer couldn’t expand as he wanted by taking up the responsibility of running his father’s company. He never shunned the game completely. When he moved to Farato, he began playing for a nawettan team named ‘Chanters’ FC in Farato.
In 2012, when ‘Chanters” failed to maintain the team, Assan gathered his chaps from Barra and in the West Coast Region for a nawetan in Farato and named the team Fortune FC.
The Petroleum Boys, as affectionately called, Fortune FC monopolized the naweetan in Farato and then took the lion’s heart in 2013 by going in for a Naweetan qualifying round in Brikama. This marked the advent of the anecdote of success for fortune.
In the year 2014, Fortune Football Club made a name in Brikama when the team prevailed over the naweetan by winning both the league and knock-out and went on to win the Super Cup the following year before losing the 2015 league final to Fabou FC in Brikama Naweetan, a defeat that barricaded the Petroleum Boys from winning the league back-to-back.
Assan, despite being the originator and the president of the club, designed time for himself and played for the team as a striker for three years from Farato to Brikama nawettan.
Observing the team and understanding its potential, Abdoukarim Sey, the then president of West Coast Regional Football Association, persuaded Assan to register the team in the 2015-16 West Coast Regional Third Division qualifier.
” I saw the vision and the desire in him, so I had to advise him to register the team since playing the third division will be a good route for them to national football, ” Mr. Sey said.
Soaked in the desire of registering success beyond nawettan, Fortune FC got registered and as fortune will be on Fortune FC’s side, the team eventually made it to the regional third division and went on to win the league in 2016.
Incredible, isn’t it? Fortune FC won the third division league by losing only a game. Part of the technical team, was the very Assan whose hunger for success illuminated the team to play in the league.
Despite being a first timer in the competition, the team cleared the storm and climbed the ladder with desire and hard work. After winning the league in 2016, the team received an invitation to play in the Access to Justice Peace football competition organized by the European Union in the West Coast Region.
Like a lion in the jungle safeguarding a younger one from humans, Fortune proved invincible by winning the competition in the region and went all the way to Jarra Soma to win the one staged nationally.
When the team earned the promotion to The Gambia Football Federation Division 2 league, Jane Joof, who didn’t trust anyone to coach the team because he is the best around to help the team, relegated himself from 1st division to 2nd division.
” I can’t leave these boys alone, so I have to come and help them”, Jane Joof, said this in 2016 after winning the peace tournament.
Jane’s decision was never a surprised knowing how he invested his time in these players starting from Barra Football Academy in 2003. Until today, Jane adored that moment and took fulfillment in coaching the team at the crucial point.
Fortune’s campaign in the 2017-18 GFF Division Two League had some bad fortunes when head coach Jane Joof was handed a thirteen-match ban. However, this never completely deaden the desire of the petroleum boys.
The team maintained and stood exceedingly firm on its desire and dreams and went on to finish second in the league, a finish that warranted a triangular play-off for the team to the pinnacle of Gambian football — GFF Division One league.
As hard work and luck would combine to give Fortune a fortune, the Petroleum Boys stormed The Gambia Football Federation Division One league in the 2018-19 season after winning the play-off games.
This young yet remarkable team had a breathtaking start to life in the top football league in the country and finished the first season as the fifth-best team in the league.
In the 2019-20 season, the team took a step up on the table and ended the season in 4th position, a message of hope to anyone who has been following the team.
The 2019-20 season was declared null and void, thus, the 2020-21 season can be considered as the team’s third season in the league.
That is to say, Fortune FC triumphed in the GFF Division One league as champions in its third season, a milestone that changed and shaped the narration of football in The Gambia as Fortune FC became the darling of Gambian Football.
Reinforced and financed by the CEO of the team, Assan S. Ndure, the team has now clinched nine trophies in its decade of existence as a team.
In these ten years, the team has produced numerous key footballers for The Gambia National Under 17,,20 and 23 teams.
The team has also helped players for professional contracts
. After winning the 2021 Division One League, the team played in the CAF club Champions League preliminary round against Algerian Giants, Es Setif. In the first leg in Banjul, the team stunned the whole continent with an emphatic 3-0 win over the 2-time CAF Champions League champions. Unfortunately, the team lost by a similar margin in Algeria in the second leg and eventually lost 5-4 in a penalty shootout.
One cannot tell the incredible tale of this phenomenal team without mentioning the blood, sweat, and tears of Mr. Assan S. Ndure, who has invested a lot in football at such a younger age. He is one of the youngest club CEO’s in the country, if not the youngest. The team also can boast of having one of the most experience coaches in the league in Jane Joof who has spent over fifteen years coaching and mentoring young players.
TROPHIES
2012: Farato youth and Sports committee naweetan league champions
2014: Brikama Sports Committee League Champions
2014: Brikama Sport Committee Knock-out winners
2015: Brikama Sports Commitee SuperCup winners
2015: Farato Sport Committee naweetan knock-out Winners
2016: West Coast Region Third Division League champions
2016: Access to Justice Peace Football competition (West Coast Region) champions in Brikama
2016: Access to Justice Football competition (National) champions in Jarra Soma
2021: Gambia Football Federation Division One league Champions
RUNNER UP
2015: Brikama Sports Committee League runner-up
2017: Gambia football Federation Division two league Runner-up
