Nigerian Football
Video: How GTBank Lagos Principals’ Cup Produced New Champions
Most football followers of the GTBank Principals’ Cup look forward to see Stephen Odey perform this weekend as Nigeria take on South Africa in one of the opening group stages of the qualifying series for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Stephen Odey, a forward of Lagos MFM, has been fantastic this football season and is the lead scorer in the Nigerian league. He remains the biggest product of the GTBank Lagos Principals’ Cup which eighth edition has just been concluded.
Stephen Odey played for and captained Dairy Farm Senior Secondary School to victory in the 2012 edition. There have been other exceptional players who have emerged from the GTBank Principals Cup as new champions continue to emerge.
Such new champions are. Ijaiye Housing Estate Senior Grammar School, Ojokoro which won the male category of 2017 which is the Season 8 since GTBank took over the title sponsorship.
Isale Eko Grammar School, Lagos Island, emerged champions in the girls’ category at the final matches played at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Ayodeji Tinubu, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Sports and also the Chairman of Lagos State Sports Commission, who was at the final match of this year’s edition which also significantly served as the football event of the celebration of Lagos State at 50, remarked that the partnership with GTBank on the Principals Cup has been fantastic.
“Year in year out, the partnership continues to get stronger”, Deji Tinubu remarked. Considering that none of the four finalist schools had made it to that stage since the commencement of organized schools’ football in Lagos in 1948, Segun Agbaje, the MD/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, was thrilled as the 2017 competition opened new opportunities.
Ahead of the final matches, he stated: “We are delighted to see schools aiming for their first ever trophies in this competition;
“It emphasizes the growing stature of the GTBank-Lagos State Principals Cup as a platform for the cultivation of dreams through hard work and discipline.”
He further stated that “When these young talents go on to accomplish many great goals in their lives, they will look back on this competition as the time when they first gained the courage to dare, and built the will to win.”
Guaranty Trust Bank plc is a foremost Nigerian financial institution that has maintained a defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy since its inception in 1990. The Bank actively supports in-classroom and out-of-classroom educational programmes, infrastructure development, students’ scholarship and teachers training across Africa.
Agbaje also remarked that GTBank embarked on the Lagos Principals Cup project to further project sports as tool to create good habit in people. “It creates discipline so that they can achieve success in different facets of their lives”.
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
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 28th 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 75th minute.
Nigerian Football
Nigeria face tough defence as Burkina Faso lie in wait at U17 WAFU B AFCON qualifiers
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.
BREAKING! RS Berkane – USM Alger Confederation Cup return match is called off
Enugu Rangers hold on at the top of Nigeria Premier League
Dream aborted for Dreams FC as clinical Zamalek cruise into Confederation Cup final
SUPER EAGLES TO FACE ENGLAND IN PRE-WORLD CUP FRIENDLY
Apart from Okwaraji, Nigeria’s Other Field-Related Obituaries
Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
-
CAF Confederation Cup4 days agoNigeria’s Samson Adamu signs Algeria’s USM match forfeiture
-
CAF Confederation Cup4 days agoBREAKING! CAF awards abandoned Confederation Cup semi-finals to Morocco’s RS Berkane
-
African Games5 days agoBREAKING! Accra 2023 African Games Chieftain is dead
-
Premier League5 days agoFive-Star Arsenal hammer Chelsea to move three points clear at the top
-
FEDERATION CUP1 week agoBREAKING! Federation Cup acquires presidential nomenclature…7th name since inception
-
CAF Confederation Cup1 week agoConfederation Cup runs into crisis as Moroccan players of RS Berkane are stranded at Algerian airport following seizure of jerseys and equipment
-
Nigerian Football2 days agoRemo Stars close to winning their first Nigeria Premier League title
-
Premier League5 days agoArsenal serve ‘5 Alive’ to Chelsea