Nigerian Football

Nigeria Women Premier League Super 4 Kicks off on 9/11

Published

7 years ago

August 16, 2017

BY KUNLE SOLAJA

Nasarawa Amazon will square it up with Bayelsa Queen when the Nigerian Women Premier League (NWPL) Super 4 contests get underway next month in Benin City. In a tournament to be played in double-header format, Delta Queen will immediately face Rivers Angel on the Day 1 of the tournament being bankrolled by the Edo State Government.

That was the high point of the brief, but colourful draw ceremony held Wednesday afternoon at Protea Hotel, Ikeja Lagos. The ceremony was graced by the NFF president Amaju Pinnick as well as three of the prominent women footballers in Nigeria: Precious Dede, Rasheedat Ajibade and Onome Ebi.

At the end of the six-round robin contest, the winning team will get a reward of N3 million while the runners-up get N2 million.

It is the first time that women football teams in Nigeria will be so heavily rewarded. Before now, winning teams merely got tokens of appreciation which were not even regular. It was so gratifying for the chairperson of the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL), Aishat Falode that he remarked that the league will be going places in the years to come.

Even though this season, the NWFL had to opt for an abridge league owing to logistics, Falode was happy that the season ran well unlike in the past when the fun was soiled by spate of walkovers, which curiously also involved clubs that were supposed to play at home.

Falode thanked the NFF president for his efforts at assisting the women’s football league. “He was the chief marketer of the league and he carried me along in all efforts made at getting sponsorship for the league”, said Falode who added that part of the results of the efforts was the N10 million that the winners of the maiden women’s edition of the AITEO Cup will get.

The NWPL Super 4 will kick off on September 11 and run through to the 16^th. The draw opened with Amaju Pinnick being called upon to make the first pick from the glass jar. Surprisingly, it was his home state team, Delta Queens that he picked. He followed up picking number two to designate Delta Queens as the Team 2 in the draw.

Next to pick from the glass jar was former Super Falcons’ goalkeeper, Precious Dede. She picked Rivers Angels and figure 3 to so designate the team. Nasarawa Amazons name was picked from the glass jar by Onome Ebi and the team was designated as Team 1. The last to pick from the glass jar was Rasheedat Ajibade who expectedly picked the only team remaining in the jar, Bayelsa Queen.

Unlike the conventional method of picking the winner in a league styled four team competitions, there will be a final match in the NWPL 4.

This will be contested by the top two teams, meaning that a club that ranked second in the six-match series can still be the Super 4 champions. This match will be contested on match day four.

The Full Fixtures

Match Day 1 Nasarawa Amazons vs. Bayelsa Queens; Delta Queens vs. Rivers Angels

Match Day 2 Rivers Angels vs. Nasarawa Amazons; Bayelsa Queens vs. Delta Queens

Match Day 3 Nasarawa Amazons vs. Delta Queens; Rivers Angels vs. Bayelsa Queens

Match Day 4 Leaders vs. Runners-up

Nigerian Football

Enugu Rangers hold on at the top of Nigeria Premier League

Published

11 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Enugu Rangers on Sunday beat Plateau United 2-0 to hold on at the top of the Nigeria Premier League. They extended their point haul to 57, two points ahead of their Oriental brothers, Enyimba who also beat Katsina United 1-0 to keep the chase for the title very hot.

Initial second placed team, Remo Stars dropped to the third position but still in contention for either the title, but at worse a continental ticket for next season.

Following Shooting Stars 2-0 defeat of Sunshine Stars in a South West derby, the top four positions of the are now held by the South East and South West as the league gets into its closing stage.

While Rangers and Enyimba are first and second at the moment, Remo Stars, though with an outstanding home game are third while their fellow westerners, Shooting Stars are fourth.

The weekend’s results:

Rivers United 2-0 Katsina United

Remo Stars 3-0 Niger Tornadoes

Doma United 0-0 Kwara United

Bendel Insurance 1-0 Heartland

Enugu Rangers 2-0 Plateau United

Shooting Stars 2-0 Sunshine Stars

Akwa United 3-0 Kano Pillars

Enyimba 1-0 Katsina United

Gombe United 3-2 Lobi Stars

Sporting Lagos 4-2 Abia Warriors

Nigerian Football

Remo Stars close to winning their first Nigeria Premier League title

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Remo Stars on Friday inch closer to achieving their first ever title in the Nigeria elite division league after beating visiting Niger Tornadoes 3-0 to move second on the log and just a point behind league leaders, Enugu Rangers.

Remo Stars are now with 53 points and still have an outstanding home game to play.

Friday’s win which comes on the eve of the proprietor’s birthday has put the team back into contention for the title.

They have progressively become prominent in the Nigerian premier league having placed third two seasons ago and second last season.

Top finish this season will confirm their progression and also a third consecutive continental outing.

Top scorer, Sikiru Alimi launched them of victory path as his 28^th minute penalty kick heralded their return to high scoring ways.

It has been a while since they scored high in the league. Barely three minutes later, Sikiru, a contender for the top scorer award increased the tally to two.

Ahmed Akinyele completed the route in the 75^th minute.

Nigerian Football

Nigeria face tough defence as Burkina Faso lie in wait at U17 WAFU B AFCON qualifiers

Published

6 days ago

April 23, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Defending champions Nigeria have been handed a difficult path to the 2025 U17 Africa Cup of Nations finals after being drawn in the same group as Burkina Faso for next month’s WAFU B qualifying tournament in Ghana.

The Golden Eaglets, who won the last edition of the regional championship in 2022, will also face Togo and Niger in Group B of the competition which runs from 15-28 May.

Hosts Ghana find themselves in Group A alongside Cote d’Ivoire and Benin in a tough-looking section of the competition to be played in Accra.

The draw was conducted by 1970s Ivorian football legends Kobenan Kouman and Die Foneye at the Ivorian FA headquarters in Abidjan on Friday.

Nigeria claimed their WAFU B U17 AFCON title by defeating Burkina Faso 2-1 in the regional final in Ghana two years ago.

However, they will need to overcome some familiar foes if they are to defend their crown and with the Burkina Faso finishing third at the last TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations, some exciting matches are expected.

Arch-rivals Nigeria and Ghana are among the two favourites and could meet in the final in Accra on 28 May, should they top their respective groups and make it through the semi-finals.

Ghana also have pedigree at this level, having the World Cup in 1991 and 1995 as they bid to reach the U17 AFCON finals on home soil.

The top two teams from the WAFU B tournament will qualify for next year’s U17 Africa Cup of Nations.

Groups:

Group A: Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin

Group B: Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, Niger.