Tag: NNL

Unless the Nigeria National League makes last minutes amendments, Ijele SC, Igbajo United, 1472 FC, Abakaliki FC, Madiba FC and Gateway United will all play in the Nigeria Nationwide League, the third tier league next season after finishing at the lower end of the Southern Conferences A and B.

From Southern Conference A, Ijele SC rounded off their only season in the NNL with a 4-0 trouncing in the hands of Inter Lagos who finished the season in 3rd spot with 30 points.

Igbajo United are also relegated after they ended their campaign in their only season in the NNL the upper week losing 7-0 in Ikenne to Beyond Limits. Beyond Limits came 5th with 24 points after playing a 2-2 draw against Dakkada FC in Uyo. Dakkada FC are 8th with 18 points and missed relegation zone by the whiskers.

1472 FC are at the bottom of Southern Conference A after they were thrown out of the league by the organisers after they missed three league games.

In the Southern Conference B, Osun United picked the second ticket after a 3-1 home win over First Bank FC. They ended the regular season with 36 points and just a point behind leaders, Kun Khalifat who were pinned 1-0 in Ilorin by ABS FC.

Osun United would still have qualified even without a home win with their closest rivals, Rovers suffering a 3-1 home defeat to Solution FC. Rovers were placed 4^th  with 31 points behind Sporting Lagos who finished 3rd with 32 points despite ending their games’ quota a week earlier.

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Godswill Akpabio FC spanked Gateway United 3-0 to end the season in the 7^th  spot with 24 points and thus relegating Gateway United who finished last with 22 points.

Despite detonating home team Madiba FC, 4-1, 2025 President Federation Cup finalists, Abakaliki FC still got demoted to the lower league with 23 points. The team won three of their last four games but it was still not enough to save them. They went down together with the Lagos based Madiba.

The Chairman NNL, George Aluo is thrilled with how the regular season has ended and hopes for a grand finale at the Super Eight where the four promoted teams to the Nigeria Premier Football League will emerge.

He said the NNL will improve on the inconsequential flaws noticed during the regular season to ensure that the four teams that will qualify from the Super Eight are the best teams from the most important league to the topflight in all ramifications.

He thanked the Nigeria Football Federation led by Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau and other important football stakeholders for the support given to the NNL and he called on all to support the NNL quest to make the Super Eight the best organised in recent seasons.

The fixtures for the 2025 season of the New Year Mega Lottery (NYML) Nationwide League One (NLO) have been officially announced, featuring a total of 32 teams from across the country competing for promotion to the Nigeria National League (NNL).

This was confirmed in a statement signed by Olushola Ogunnowo, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the NLO.

According to the COO, the promotion will be determined through a round-robin format, with teams divided into 8 groups of 4. Each team will play three matches, and the group winners will qualify directly for promotion to the NNL.

For the fixtures at Slot 1 (Ijebu-Ode Stadium), the matchups will feature the Winner of Legacy Pitch A against the Winner of Maracana B, while the Winner of Legacy Pitch B will face the Winner of Maracana A.

In Slot 2 (Legacy Pitch), the Winner of Ikorodu A will compete against the Winner of Ebedei, and the Winner of Ikorodu B will go up against the Winner of Ilaro.

Proceeding to Slot 3 in Akure, the Winner of Asaba will meet the Winner of Iseyin, and the winners of Ile-Ogbo and Ijebu-Ode will also go head-to-head.

Slot 4 will take place at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, where the Winner of Calabar Centre will host the Winner of Awka, and the Winner of Uyo will face the Winner of Oisa.

In the Northern Zone, Bwari Stadium in Abuja has been selected as the venue for Slot 5. This will feature a Kwara Derby, with the Winner of Kwara 1 taking on the Winner of Kwara 2, and the Winner of Lafia clashing with the Winner of Minna.

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Match action for Slot 6 will occur at the newly revamped Lafia Stadium in Nasarawa State, where the Winner of Jos will play against the Winner of FCT Centre 1, while the Winner of FCT Centre 2 will compete with the Winner of Bwari Centre.

At Slot 7 in Jos Stadium, the Winner of Bauchi Centre will go up against the Winner of ABS Kaduna Centre, and the Winner of Gumel Centre will face the Winner of Gom/Num/Yobe Centre.

Finally, Slot 8 will be held in Gumel, Jigawa. The winner from Sokoto Centre will compete against the winner of the Barau Centre, and the winners of the Sani Abacha Stadium Centre and Bichi Centre will also battle it out.

In addition to the main matches, there will be additional round-robin fixtures in the various centres.

The NYML/NLO 2025 season officially kicked off on Wednesday, April 23, with all 32 centres hosting matches.

Ogunnowo described this development as “great” and expressed his excitement at the prospect of young, talented players showcasing their skills on the pitch.

The  Nigeria National League is expected to  hold  its  first monthly award ceremony for players and teams in the league today, 15^th  April, in the Federal Capital, Abuja.

Chief Operating Officer of the NNL, Danlami Alanana, told thenff.com that the event will commence at 2pm at the West-Point Hotel, Zone 7, Wuse.

Award categories include Best Behaved Team of the Month, Best Coach, Best Goalkeeper, Highest Goal Scorer, Best Goal, Best Referee and Most Valuable Player.

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Crown FC’s Oladeji Joshua has been selected as the best goalkeeper, having kept clean sheets in three matches, while Abdullahi Umar of Kebbi United FC is the most valuable player with four goals, among these a hat-trick scored against Kada Warriors – which happened to be the first hat-trick notched in the season.

Umar also takes the highest scorer’s gong, while Solution FC’s Coach Emmanuel Duetsch is best coach and Gateway United is the best-behaved team, having remained without any form of caution in the period under review.

Gateway United’s Babatunde Taofeek notched the goal of the season, and Ogunfolaju Joshua from Osun State is the best referee of the month.

Kun Khalifat head coach, Obinna Uzoho, believes  the second tier side are on a mission to return to their base with a good result at the end of their encounter with Madiba FC in Lagos today.

The Pride of Owerri are visitors to the Mobolaji Johnson Arena Onikan Lagos for a Matchday 11 NNL tie with Madiba FC today and the head coach disclosed that ending the first stanza with a flourish is their motivation.

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He disclosed that the team would be evaluated to ascertain if he would beef up the squad after the first stanza.

“I don’t have any secret but rather hard work and being technically sound. I want to promise our fans that we will stay on top till the end of the league,” Uzoho said. “When we finish the first stanza, we will look into our team and evaluate to know if we will add some players to our team.

“I will go there and look for a point, probably get the day but we are going to do our best to crown the day.”

Nigeria National League debutants, Kun Khalifat FC of Owerri continued to dominate Group B following a 1-1 draw in Calabar against Rovers FC despite finishing the game with 10 men.

Kun Khalifat are first in the group with 10 points from four games.

Osun United bounced back to winning ways after their first defeat of the season in Owerri to Kun Khalifat. The Oshogbo side pipped Abakaliki FC to move to seven points.

Solution FC of Awka beat First Bank of Lagos 2-0; Godswill Akpabio FC thrashed Madiba FC of Lagos 3-1 while Sporting Lagos got their second win of the season from two games beating Gateway United of Abeokuta 2-0 in Lagos.

In Group A, Dakkada FC pipped Inter FC Lagos 1-0; Smart City FC were smarter than Beyond Limits who were limited by two unreplied goals in the tie played in Lagos.

Abia Comets could not break down a plucky Warri Wolves in a goalless draw played in Umuahia; It was also goalless between Igbajo United and Ijele SC at the Lanlereke Sports Complex, Ile Ogbo while Edel FC beat 1472 FC 1-0 in Awka.

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In Group C, despite not involved in action, Wikki Tourists are still atop the group table with seven points but their points at the top have been cut to just one following home wins for Sokoto United and Gombe United as the Nigeria National League Northern Conference entered Matchday Three.

In Dutse, Jigawa Golden Stars were beaten 1-0 at home by Mighty Jets for the latter’s first win of the season after three games. Mighty Jets have moved to the fourth spot with five points.

In Sokoto, Sokoto United were truly at home beating Zamfara United 3-1 to retain second spot with six points while Gombe United are third on the log with six points also following their 2-1 home win over Barau FC in Gombe.

In Group D, Sporting Supreme FC are back at the top of the group after ending the unbeaten run of Kada Warriors whom they beat 2-0 in Abuja. Sporting Supreme FC are first with seven points from four matches while FC Basira moved to the second with six points from four games after they forced Kebbi United to a 1-1 draw at the FIFA Goal Project in Birnin Kebbi.

In Gombe, Doma United secured their first win of the season following a 2-1 victory over Adamawa United. The Savannah Tigers have five points from three games.

The NNL 2024/2025 season took off in impressive style Friday with Sporting Supreme, and Kada Warriors securing victories away.

In Kebbi, home side Kebbi United fell by 1-2 to Sporting Supreme FC of Abuja in a match the visitors snatched a late winner.

It would be noted that the Abuja side flew into Sokoto on Thursday by air with players who did not face the rigorous of a long road trip.

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In Gombe, Adamawa United failed to survive rampaging newcomers Kada Warriors who secured a 1-2 away victory.

In a Conference A clash, Rovers of Calabar were forced to a 1-1 draw by homers Solution FC at the Awka City Stadium. Action continues Saturday and Sunday with another round of interesting games.

One of the doyens of football administration in Nigeria, Mazi Amanze Uchegbulam, has commended the progressive works being undertaken at Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) side, Heartland FC of Owerri as well as at the domestic league second-tier organization, the Nigeria National League (NNL).

Uchegbulam who was a special guest at the unveiling of the Abakaliki FC last Friday, said he was impressed by the efforts of the George Aluo-led NNL after witnessing the season’s opener between the newly formed Ebonyi State sponsored side and visiting Madiba FC of Lagos at the Pa-Ngele Oruta Township Stadium in Abakaliki.

Uchegbulam, the immediate past Chairman of the Imo State Football Association, was also in the stands on Sunday in Owerri to see Heartland claimed a dramatic 3-2 victory against visiting Nasarawa United in one of the NPFL Matchday 15 fixtures.

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“I was in Abakaliki as a guest to witness the birth of Abakaliki FC by the Ebonyi State government on Friday and I also saw their match against Madiba FC and I’m very impressed with the standard of the NNL match, they deserve commendation,” Uchegbulam, the erstwhile 1^st Vice President of the NFF, told NationSport. “It was from Abakaliki that I went to Owerri to watch Nasarawa United against Heartland which was equally another entertaining NPFL match.”

In a lively match at the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri, Heartland had to bounce from an imminent home defeat to snatch the three points against the visitors.

Promise Anyanwu gave Heartland the lead a quarter of an hour into the match but Anas Yusuf equalised for the Solid Miners on the stroke of half-time.

With just five minutes to full time, Garba Abubakar put Nasarawa United ahead but Surajudeen Lawal restored parity for Heartland just two minutes later even as Christian Molokwu netted the precious match-winner deep into added time for the resurgent Emanuel Amuneke-led side.

“Amuneke is doing a good job with Heartland and they showed they are a team with character with the way they fought their way back to victory against Nasarawa United,” Uchegbulam further said. “You can see that they are a team that has been well coached and I won’t be surprised if they ended the season on a very good note.

“I’m really impressed with Heartland,” he added.

The board of the Nigeria National League (NNL) for the first time presented an audited financial report to its congress held last week in Bauchi.

This feat which was praised by stakeholders opened a fresh chapter in the history of the league’s financial management.

Chairman of the NNL Board Mr. George Aluo, said the essence of auditing the books and making it open to the congress was to encourage openness and transparency.

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“We need to gain public  confidence in all we do, especially in the area of finance,” he said.

A partner in the  Audit firm, Vincent Akinbami, who asides from being a chartered accountant worked with clubs like Ranchers Bees and Osun United in the past, said  an 18-month audited account was prepared in order to have a stable accounting year that runs from July of a particular year to June of the following year.

According to Akinbami, the NNL management has done what others must emulate.

In a bid to consolidate on the gains of last season which saw a remarkable improvement in the quality of the Nigerian National League (NNL), plans have been concluded for a pre season seminar for coaches and media officers.

The pre season seminar is to hold immediately after the league’s AGM billed for Bauchi.

According to the NNL Chairman, Mr George Aluo, the pre-season seminar will be an opportunity to get the coaches and media officers ready for the new season .

“We are excited to have a pre season seminar for our coaches and club media officers to prepare them for another season. The event would come up immediately after the league’s AGM in Bauchi. The NNL is fully committed to building on the gains of last season which resulted in good conduct of our coaches, fair officiating and high standard of play. We canot settle for anything less going forward, ” he added.

He expressed gratitude to the management of Valuejet Airlines for supporting the NNL to consolidate on the gains of making the League better.

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“We have set a standard which we will keep improving upon. The commendation we got last season is due to the coperation of all stakeholders. The League can only get better when everyone contribute their own quota to the game. We are not there yet, but we have instilled some level of trust, sanity and integrity in our league. This is the beginning of better days ahead. We thank Valuejet Airlines for their faith and support.”

The pre season Seminar will take place at the world class Remo Stars Stadium mid- October.

Notable and reputable coaches, world acclaimed journalists and resource persons are expected to tutor coaches and media officers to upgrade their knowledge of the game.

Aluo said the NNL decided to incorporate media officers into the program because of their strategic role in the growth of the league.