Heartland have vowed not to underrate rejuvenated Gombe United when they face them at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri in a Glo Premier League Week 24 encounter today.
The Naze Millionaires are 13th on the log with 31 points from 23 matches and a victory over the Desert Scorpions will lift them higher on the log.
The Owerri side’s Media Officer, Cajetan Nkwopara told SportingLife that they would approach the game with all seriousness and ensure that they pick the available three points.
Heartland General Manager Ibeh Okechukwu has urged the team to redouble its efforts towards securing a continental ticket at the end of the season.
The Naze Millionaires’ could have secured a continental place had they won the 2014 Federation Cup, but they were knocked out of contention for the ticket by Sharks in the Round of 32. The Owerri-based club’s objective now is to return to the continent by picking one of the three available Glo Premier League spots.
The Millionaires were beaten in their last two away games in Katsina Ala and Port Harcourt, and Ibeh, who addressed the players and coaches at the club’s house inside the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, emphasised the need for the players be alive to their responsibilities and ensure that they bounce back in style against Crown FC and in subsequent matches.
Appeals have also been made to Heartland fans to not give up on the club despite the back-to-back away losses at Katsina Ala and Port Harcourt.
The club’s Media Officer Cajetan Nkwopara said the players and coaches had promised to fix the problem starting with the game against Crown FC on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Heartland’s MacMarcel Obioha has sustained an injury and will be out for few days. The former Gombe United defender was clipped on the back of his heel during a practice match against Pakat FC.
The League Management Company (LMC) has announced that Enugu Rangers, Enyimba and five other clubs have been cleared after fulfilling all financial obligations to their players.
According to information gathered, the latest clubs to be cleared are – Heartland, Sunshine Stars, Enyimba International, Warri Wolves, El-Kanemi Warriors, Rangers International and Lobi Stars.
They joined Kano Pillars, Abia Warriors and Bayelsa United who were the first to be cleared by the league’s governing body earlier in the week, kickOffNigeria.com reports.
All 20 clubs in the Glo Premier League had at the start of the season received N10 million each from the LMC as the first installment of the “Basic Award,” and the LMC had said they could receive more in the course of the season if they are found to have complied with requirements.
To this effect, only debt-free clubs as well as those who have complied with the N150, 000 monthly minimum wage will benefit from the Basic Award. Indebted clubs will also be prevented from operating in the mid-season transfer market.
“We have created these procedures to protect players from the previous tales of unpaid salary arrears and will be working with the clubs to ensure overall improvement of players’ welfare,” chief operating officer of the LMC, Salihu Abubakar, disclosed.
He, however, revealed that Gombe United, Sharks and Giwa FC were refused clearances after documents they submitted indicated that they pay players below the minimum wage.
Heartland FC of Owerri are mourning the death of their former defence ace, Godwin ‘Goddy’ Eke, and have declared a three-day mourning period in his honour.
Eke was confirmed dead by the Aladinma Hospital in Owerri on Tuesday after a sudden illness.
He was a key member of the club between 1984 and 1992 when it was known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale Football Club.
Heartland General Manager Prince Okechukwu Ibe, while bemoaning the sad news of the former player’s demise, said Eke belonged to a proud and golden era when Iwuanyanwu Nationale straddled the African continent, bearing the football dreams and aspirations of our nation.
“We are indeed saddened by the news of Goddy Eke’s demise, more especially when it happened very suddenly. Goddy was a great footballer, a genius at work when it came to defense roles, when he played in Heartland – known then as Iwuanyanwu Nationale.
“He served with diligence and dedication and it was from here that he played himself by merit into the Flying Eagles and later, Super Eagles,” Prince Ibe said.
“On behalf of the management and staff of Heartland FC, I condole with the family especially his lovely wife and children.
“On our part because of what he represents for the club and the entire football community here, we offer three special days of mourning as we pray to God to accept his gentle soul.”
Eke was in the Iwuanyanwu Nationale team that won the Nigeria Division One and Professional League titles five times, two FA cups in 1988 and 1989, African Champions League Finalist in 1988, and also represented Nigeria at the Pre-Seoul Oympic Tournament In 1988.
After his exit from the club in 1994, Eke went into coaching and rose to the position of Zonal Sports Officer with the Imo State Sports Council.
Heartland have completed the signing of former Gombe United defender, MacMarcel Obioha.
Obioha told supersport.com that he only wanted a “change of environment” having spent the past six years with the Savannah Scorpions.
“I played for Gombe United for six years and needed a change of environment,” he said. I’m happy Heartland showed interest because they are my hometown club and the club that gave me my big break.
“I see it as a call to serve my people and I promise to give my best.”
Obioha dismissed media reports that he was off-loaded by Gombe United.
“There was a report in one sports publication that I was among those asked to leave. There is no truth in the report as they did their best to keep me.
“This move (to Heartland) had been on for the past two weeks. I only decided to make it public after I received my clearance. In the past three seasons I had been close to moving to Sunshine Stars and Enugu Rangers, but Gombe refused to clear me.
“I had a good relationship with the management, and I was surprised to see such a report,” he told supersport.com.
Obioha began his career with Heartland in 2006, and also played for Delta Force before joining Gombe United in 2008.
Heartland recorded a 4-3 away win over Bayelsa United in the Week 17 game of the Glo Premier League concluded on Sunday afternoon at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.
Heartland were leading last Saturday 4-2 when the rains forced the referee to halt the game in the 75th minute after the pitch became over flooded.
A brace from Bright Ejike, coupled with goals from Jolly Osas and Konate Abdulramane, had given Heartland the advantage, while Peter Ebimobowei and Odili Iyasele scored for Bayelsa.
Play resumed at noon on Sunday and the hosts fought hard to overturn the result, with little success.
Aniyikaye Adeleye scored in the 88th minute to give them a fighting chance, but there were no further goals after four minutes of added time.
Heartland secured their first win from their last four matches at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri yesterday after a close 1-0 win over Akwa United.
In a repeat of the quarter final of last year’s Federation Cup tie where the hosts lost on penalties to the Promise Keepers, the Naze Millionaires were bouyed by the new orders in the club championed by new General Manager, Prince Okechukwu Ibe who only just recorded his first win at the helm.
The only goal of the match came in the seventh minute from halftime after a Heartland attacker was adjudged to have been fouled by Akwa United’s goalkeeper in the vital area. Bright Ejike converted the spot kick in the 38th minute.
A relieved Heartland’s Media Officer, Cajetan Nkwopara told SportingLife that the players and coaches and even the supporters were all happy at the latest win.
He said the Owerri club would approach their subsequent matches with the same vigour and camaraderie to ensure that they end in a respectable place on the log before the close of the first stanza.
Heartland are on 20 points from 16 matches while Akwa United are still on 22 points from as many matches.
The Imo State Government has sacked Heartland chairman, Fan Ndubuoke and replaced him with businessman Ibeh Okechukwu.
Goal reports that Ndubuoke is still recuperating from the road crash he was involved in when the announcement was made.
The Owerri side was in crisis before the advent of Ndubuoke’s regime and his businesslike approach helped rejuvenate the side.
The highlight of Ndubuoke’s tenure as Heartland helmsman came in 2011 when the team lifted the Federation Cup at the expense of Enyimba of Aba and successfully defended it the following season after defeating Lobi Stars at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Announcing the sack of Ndubuoke and the unveiling of the new helmsman, the Imo State Commissioner for Youth and Sport, Kenneth Emelu, said the appointment was made in tandem with Governor Rochas Okorocha’s directive that all heads of government parastatals in the state be changed with immediate effect.
He described Ndubuoke as a good man but reckoned that the directive from the state governor cannot be ignored because violation could come with dire consequences.
Top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF), the League Management Company (LMC) and the Club Owners Association SportingLife reliably gathered are studying the situation in the Heartland of Owerri over the recent appointment of new General Manager, Ibeh Okechukwu in place of the former Chairman, Fan Ndubuoke.
The Imo State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Comrade Kenneth Emelu had in a press briefing with Sports Writers at Owerri Thursday morning introduced Okechukwu as the new helmsman to pilot the event at the Naze Millionaires thus leaving the injured Ndubuoke in the lurch.
SportingLife was informed that the major football stakeholders in the country have been observing the goings-on at Heartland but decided to stay back to see if the threat to change Ndubuoke was genuine.
Though they have not been briefed officially of the new change, SportingLife gathered that these stakeholders have concluded plans to hit Heartland and Imo State with series of sanctions and fines if the Imo government does not revert to the old order-bringing back Ndubuoke into his position as club Chairman.
“We are going to talk officially as soon as we are communicated but from the look of things, the decision we are going to reach may not be favourable to Heartland and Imo State. We will have series of meetings and thereafter come up with our verdict,” a member of the Club Owners Association offered to tell SportingLife.
Newly appointed General Manager of Heartland, Prince Ibeh Okechukwu has expressed his happiness at his selection as the Naze Millionaires’ helmsman and has vowed to ensure that he keeps up with the legacy left by the former Chairman, Fan Ndubuoke.
Ndubuoke who was involved in an accident on official duty is yet to recover from the injury sustained from the road mishap before the announcement was made of his sack and in his place a Holland base Okechukwu.
The new General Manager in a chat with sports writers at Owerri promised to take Heartland to a greater heights and also reaffirmed his position to carry everyone along in the scheme of things.
Heartland have secured another road point at Omoku, Rivers against Nembe City in one of the Glo Premier League Week 8 matches played across the nation.
The Naze Millionaires came with the intention to get their first win of the season but they met a stoic Nembe side that were also fighting harder for their own survival in a rather troubled season till date.
Nembe City scored first through Job Ayuba in the 12th minute from the penalty spot but Heartland fought back and were rewarded in the 32nd minute through a goal converted by Togolese Saibou Badarou.
The Owerri side now have six points from eight matches while Nembe are on two points from six matches.