I relished refereeing the most – Mercy Tagoe

Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo has disclosed that she relished her years as a referee more than any other activity she was involved in.

According to her, she participated in a lot of sporty activities but she enjoyed refereeing the most.

She said despite the hitches which came with uproars, she could sit and read the laws of the game for close to five hours.

She revealed this in an interview on Joy Sports’ Prime Take.

The 45-year-old nursed in playing football at a very young age.  She started an active career as a midfielder and was later converted into a central defender during her days with Tema Supreme Ladies. The team later merged with Tema Newtown Ladies and renamed as Bluna Ladies.

Before being diverting into a referee, she was one of the pioneers in women’s football in Ghana, Mrs. Tagoe-Quarcoo and her class of players made history in 1999 when they qualified Ghana to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in USA under the tutelage of the late coach E.K Afranie. She again featured in the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Tagoe served as an official referee between 2005 and 2013, where she gained her FIFA badge and officiated games in the Ghana Premier League.

She was also one of the referees called up for the 2010 FIFA Women’s World Cup which was staged in Germany.

After ending her career, Mercy Tagoe became a coach as well. She led Prisco Munis FC, a colt’s club in Tema and moved to Gye Nyame FC, a local Division 2 side in the Tema Metropolis, before joining Amidaus Professionals, then in the Ghana Premier League in 2016. Mrs. Tagoe- Quarcoo moved to Halifax Ladies in the Women’s Premier League, which she led to a quarterfinal berth in the Normalization Special Competition in 2019.

Coach Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo became assistant to Mas-Ud Didi Dramani before being elevated to the Head Coach position following the exit of the former in 2018. She led Ghana twice to WAFU Zone B glories (Gold in 2018 and Bronze medal in 2019). She recently led the team to another feat in Turkey where Ghana finished second in the 2020 Turkish Women’s Cup invitational tournament.