Nigerian Football
GO ROUND FC GOING ROUND TRIUMPHANTLY
BY CHINA ACHERU
Go Round FC have already won twice on the road since the 2018/19 Nigeria Professional Football League season kicked off ten match days ago, but the club this term is more than just the points acquired.
The style has changed and it is the smooth passing game of the club that has wowed fans both at home and away since the season kicked off.
In the pre-season friendly match against Akwa United, Port Harcourt based football writer, Emmanuel Olugbenga maintained that the style of the club had changed.
“I have noticed their passing game has changed. They do not just go route- one like before. They are actually passing the ball and being patient about it,” Emmanuel said.
But that was just a pre-season friendly game.
After beating Abia Warriors 2-1 in Umuahia in the team’s first game of the season, something had hit the consciousness of Nigerians. Go Round FC, maybe like Rangers of 2016 and MFM FC were ready to wow fans with their style, but how long would this last?
League Management Company, LMC Match Delegate, Fisayo Dairo spoke in glowing terms about how the team played.
“They were clearly the better side, passing the ball around the pitch patiently as they bore down on goal. Samuel Stone was tormentor in chief as he continued to bully the Abia Warriors players. Go Round FC were not in any danger of losing or drawing the game, even after the home side equalised,” Dairo told NPFL.ng.
Patience is the key
The club’s first home game against FC Ifeanyi Ubah ended goalless, but unlike previous Go Round FC sides, they did not get desperate and change their style especially towards the end of the game. They remained patient, trying to pass their opponents to death.
The same thing happened in the team’s second home draw against Kada City. At no time did they get desperate. Even when the fans became a bit agitated demanding a goal, there were no long balls loaded into the penalty area from defence. They just continued to play from the back, a rarity in the Nigerian League.
“That is how I want my team to play,” Willy Udube told NPFL.ng.
“We want to change the perception of Nigerian football and one way to do that is to see to it that it is entertaining. It does not matter the pressure, we will keep the ball on the ground, pass the ball until the goals come. And if the goals do not come, we will try again the next match. We will win by passing the ball,” Udube said.
Udube’s revolution is entertaining
During the home win against Kano Pillars, it was clear that the more experienced visiting side did not know what hit them and Go Round FC passed them off the pitch.
Once in the game Otega, in Central Defence played the ball through the middle for Morice Chukwu; Chukwu guided the ball well, holding it up until Right Full Back, Ebuka Akobundu ran up into space and his through pass located him up front.
Rather than cross the ball, Ebuka cut it back displacing his marker, then passed to Shedrack who had left the penalty area to claim the ball. Backing the post, Shadrack feinted as though he wanted to make a dash in but back heeled to Stanley Worlu who passed side ways to Chukwu, but his shot went wide.
The fans’ applaud was wild, they were excited and patient too. The scenario described above has become a regular feature when the club plays, a testament to their training routine which is displayed in the League too. But the coach is worried that they do not score as much as they play.
“We are not scoring as much as we want, but anyone who watches us play will know there is a difference in our play and we believe that if we keep at it, the goals will start coming,” Udube said.
In Okigwe against Heartland, Go Round FC outplayed the hosts but profligacy ensured they did not score until Okon Otop won the game for the home side at the death; in Lafia against Plateau United, Go Round FC were in complete control of the game until the 77th minute when the home side scored.
“We want to enjoy football and we want the fans, both ours and those of the opponents to enjoy football too. If we do this consistently, then you can be rest assured that the nation and maybe the continent will start talking about a certain club in a small town in Rivers State playing decent football. That is what we want. We also believe the attackers will score more consistently to cap the performance with goals.
“But goals or not, we will not change our style. We would rather train to be more prolific,” Udube said.
In the off season, the team lost five starting players in Stanley Nwabali, Chile Azu, Nelson Esor, Okon Otop and Chidi Nwachukwu, but the likes of Dede, Akaba Otega, Ifeanyi Anyanwu, Rilwan Sadiq and Patrick Osakwe who joined up have ensured that the club continued from where it stopped last season.
Go Round FC plan to make a statement with the League this season and they seem to be doing it, but it is still early days yet.
By Kunle Solaja.
Thirty-six years after professional football was introduced in Nigeria, the country’s top-flight league continues to grapple with many of the same structural problems critics warned about decades before the professional era began.
The Nigerian Professional Football League officially commenced on May 12, 1990, following nearly 40 years of debate over whether the country was prepared for the financial realities of professional sports.
When professionalism was first proposed in the 1950s, opponents questioned whether Nigerian clubs could survive the burden of player salaries, stadium maintenance and administrative costs.
Former football administrator Derby Allen warned in 1953 that most clubs lacked suitable stadiums and sustainable revenue streams to operate professionally.
More than seven decades later, many NPFL clubs are still heavily dependent on state government funding, while issues such as poor infrastructure, irregular player welfare, low commercial returns and weak marketing continue to limit the league’s growth.
Despite these challenges, the league has survived political transitions, administrative crises and financial instability to become one of Africa’s longest-running domestic competitions.
The league’s history has featured remarkable moments and strange twists.
Kwara United F.C. endured a 14-match losing streak in 2000, while Udoji United F.C. controversially emerged champions in 1996 following boardroom decisions.
Traditional giants have also suffered dramatic declines. Bendel Insurance F.C., one of the pioneer clubs of the 1972 National League, were relegated for the first time in 1995 and later spent a decade outside the top division after another relegation in 2008.
Defending champions Shooting Stars SC suffered relegation in 1999, becoming the first title holders to fall out of the top flight, while Bayelsa United F.C. repeated the unwanted feat in 2010 and has now suffered another drop.
Even continental giants, Enyimba F.C., once experienced relegation in 1991. Another relegation looms large at the end of this season.
Only Enugu Rangers have maintained an unbroken stay in the top division since the National League era began in 1972.
Administrative instability has equally shaped the NPFL’s story. In 2005, the league left direct NFA control with the establishment of the Nigeria Premier League. The League Management Company later emerged after a court ruling declared the NPL illegal in 2012/13.
Today, the Nigeria Premier Football League board oversees the competition, which continues to seek improved television coverage, sponsorship and stronger club structures.
As the league celebrates its 36th anniversary, many observers believe its future success will depend on finally resolving the same financial and organisational issues identified long before professionalism arrived in 1990.
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By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria’s top-flight football league this Tuesday marks 36 years of professionalism, closing another chapter in a journey that transformed the domestic game from an amateur pastime into a supposedly commercial sporting enterprise.
Professional football officially kicked off in Nigeria on May 12, 1990, when Stationery Stores F.C. hosted Heartland, then known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale, at the waterfront Onikan Stadium, now renamed Mobolaji Johnson Arena.
That historic encounter produced several milestones. Iwuanyanwu Nationale won 2-1 to become the first club to record a victory in Nigeria’s professional era, while defender Ben Iroha etched his name into history as the scorer of the first goal in the professional league.
The launch of professional football came 102 years after England pioneered the concept, following decades of arguments over whether Nigeria possessed the financial and organisational capacity to sustain a professional league.
Ironically, many of the objections raised in the 1950s centred on issues that still challenge the Nigerian game today, poor infrastructure, inadequate funding and weak club administration.
Former NFA chairman Derby Allen had argued in 1953 that Nigerian clubs lacked the facilities and financial strength required for professionalism. At the time, the old King George V Stadium in Lagos, now Mobolaji Johnson Arena, was virtually the only major football ground in the country.
Critics feared clubs would struggle to pay players, maintain stadiums and manage operational costs.
Yet supporters of professionalism insisted it was the only pathway to football development.
Coach Peter ‘Eto’ Amaechina famously argued in 1969 that Nigeria could never attain World Cup standard without adopting professional football. His prediction proved prophetic as Nigeria qualified for its first FIFA World Cup in 1994, barely four years after the professional league began.
The pioneer professional league featured 16 clubs, among them Enugu Rangers, Shooting Stars SC, Bendel Insurance F.C., Enyimba F.C. and Julius Berger F.C.
Administrators also experimented with innovations to encourage attacking football. Between 1990 and 1994, score draws earned two points while goalless draws attracted only one.
Over the years, the league has experienced dramatic highs and lows — from the fairy-tale triumph of Eagle Cement F.C. in 1997 to the shocking relegation of defending champions Shooting Stars in 1999.
The competition has also undergone several administrative transformations, evolving from NFA control to the Nigeria Premier League, then the League Management Company, and now the Nigeria Premier Football League.
As the NPFL clocks 36, the league remains both a symbol of Nigeria’s football passion and a reminder of the unfinished journey towards building a truly stable and commercially vibrant domestic competition.
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Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, has declared that the revival of school football competitions across Nigeria would be the most appropriate way to immortalise late Green Eagles legend, Henry Nwosu.
Dikko made the statement while receiving members of Nwosu’s family, representatives of Imo State Concerned Sports Stakeholders and members of the football icon’s burial committee at his office inside the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.
Paying tribute to the late winger, Dikko described Nwosu as one of the most gifted and exciting footballers of his generation, recalling how the former Green Eagles star rose from school football to become a national hero at a young age.
“Henry Nwosu MON started playing for the national team at a very young age. The history of school sports, particularly the Principals Cup, will not be complete without his name,” Dikko said.
“At that very young age, he featured for Nigeria at the AFCON in 1980. He is an example to every aspiring young athlete that it is possible to get to the highest level.”
The NSC chairman noted that Nwosu’s journey from grassroots football to continental glory serves as inspiration for the commission’s renewed emphasis on discovering and nurturing talents through school sports programmes.
According to him, the late footballer should be immortalised in a manner that reflects both his exploits with the national team and his deep roots in school football.
“At the Federal level and in conjunction with the Imo State Government, something should be captured to make sure that his name is engraved in our schools’ sports history,” Dikko added.
“For instance, a school sports tournament should be named after him. It is a huge loss for the nation, and we will do all we can to ensure that his labours are not forgotten.”
Dikko also pledged the commission’s support for all activities lined up for Nwosu’s burial and assured that the NSC would collaborate with the Imo State Government and the Nigeria Football Federation to ensure the late football legend receives a befitting honour.
Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, has declared that the revival of school football competitions across Nigeria would be the most appropriate way to immortalise late Green Eagles legend, Henry Nwosu.
Dikko made the statement while receiving members of Nwosu’s family, representatives of Imo State Concerned Sports Stakeholders and members of the football icon’s burial committee at his office inside the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.
Paying tribute to the late winger, Dikko described Nwosu as one of the most gifted and exciting footballers of his generation, recalling how the former Green Eagles star rose from school football to become a national hero at a young age.
“Henry Nwosu MON started playing for the national team at a very young age. The history of school sports, particularly the Principals Cup, will not be complete without his name,” Dikko said.
“At that very young age, he featured for Nigeria at the AFCON in 1980. He is an example to every aspiring young athlete that it is possible to get to the highest level.”
The NSC chairman noted that Nwosu’s journey from grassroots football to continental glory serves as inspiration for the commission’s renewed emphasis on discovering and nurturing talents through school sports programmes.
According to him, the late footballer should be immortalised in a manner that reflects both his exploits with the national team and his deep roots in school football.
“At the Federal level and in conjunction with the Imo State Government, something should be captured to make sure that his name is engraved in our schools’ sports history,” Dikko added.
“For instance, a school sports tournament should be named after him. It is a huge loss for the nation and we will do all we can to ensure that his labours are not forgotten.”
Dikko also pledged the commission’s support for all activities lined up for Nwosu’s burial and assured that the NSC would collaborate with the Imo State Government and the Nigeria Football Federation to ensure the late football legend receives a befitting honour.
Earlier, Nwosu’s eldest sister, Mrs. Ijeoma Onyewuchi, expressed the family’s grief over the passing of the former international, describing him as the only son among four children whose absence would leave a huge vacuum.
She praised his immense contribution to Nigerian football and appealed to the NSC to support the family in organising a successful burial ceremony.
Speaking on behalf of Imo State Concerned Sports Stakeholders, Dr. Geoffrey Ogu called on the Federal Government and the Imo State Government to immortalise Nwosu through football programmes and projects that would inspire future generations.
Ogu also appealed for a state burial for the late football icon, noting that such recognition would determine the level of honour, funding and participation from both governments.
He further requested official approval for national honours during the burial rites, including draping the casket with the Nigerian flag, the recitation of the national anthem and the observance of a minute’s silence.
Nwosu, a member of Nigeria’s victorious 1980 Africa Cup of Nations squad, died on March 14, 2026, at the age of 62.
The former Green Eagles star is scheduled to be buried on June 6, 2026, in his hometown of Naze, Imo State, with several activities already planned in his honour.
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