The 2017

Nigeria Women Premier League The NWFL Premiership (formerly Nigeria Women Premier League) is the top-level league for women's association football in Nigeria. It is the women's equivalent of the men's league, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). The Nigeria Wome ...

began on March 25, 2017. The date was fixed during the congress for women football league system in Nigeria on February 22, 2017 in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

, which had the Minister for Sports, Solomon Dalung in attendance. Martin White Doves, Tokas Queens, Capital City Doves and Taraba Queens were relegated from the previous season. Heartland Queens of

Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal, ...

and Sadaatu Kolo Amazons of

Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was fo ...

were promoted to the elite division.

Rofiat Sule Rafiat Folakemi Sule (born 3 August 2000), is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward at club level for the Bari-based A.S.D. Pink Sport Time, in Italian Serie A. She previously donned the colours of Rivers Angels, and was top ...

, the top scorer of the last two seasons and

Evelyn Nwabuoku Evelyn Nwabuoku (born 14 November 1985) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a midfielder for En Avant de Guingamp in the French Division 1 Féminine and the Nigeria women's national football team and she is the captain of the national side. Nwa ...

, captain of the national team amongst others were signed by Rivers Angels F.C. In March 2017, previously relegated Capital City Doves were re-added to the league, increasing the number of teams to seventeen. On 24 March, COD United Amazons F.C. and Capital City Doves were confirmed to be excluded from the league after failing to meet the registration deadline. This reduced the number of teams to fifteen.

Format

The league board adopted an abridged format of eight teams in two groups. The top two teams in each group will play in a super 4 tournament to determine the overall winner of the league. In August 2017,

Bayelsa Queens Bayelsa Queens is a Nigerian women football club based in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. They play in the highest pyramid of women football in Nigeria. They have won three championships in the Nigeria Women Premier League in the year 2004, 2 ...

, Rivers Angels, Nasarawa Amazons and

Delta Queens Delta Queens is a women's football club in Delta State, Nigeria. It is one of the most successful Nigerian club sides. They compete in the Nigeria Women Premier League, the highest division of female football in the country. History Delta Quee ...

qualified for the super four tournament in

Benin city Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...

Team information

Group A

Group B

Major transfers

League standings

Group A

Group B

Super 4 tournament

In August 2017, the league board fixed September 11 to 16th for the commencement of the mini-tournament.

Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium The Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Benin City, Nigeria. Originally known as Ogbe Stadium, it is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Bendel Insurance FC and Edo Queens FC. The stadium has a c ...

will host the event. The winner and runnerup is to get ₦3,000,000 and ₦2,000,000 respectively. On September 7, 2017, it was announced that the super four has been rescheduled to hold on October 9-14th in the same venue. This was due to the scheduling conflict with 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup qualifiers and

Aiteo Cup The AITEO Cup (a.k.a. Challenge Cup, sometimes shortened to Fed Cup), is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states + 1 FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Ni ...

games within same period. In October 2017, the NWFL reached an agreement with Akogate Waters for the third place team to get ₦1,000,000 as prize money.

Top scorers

References

{{2017 in African football (CAF) Nigeria Women Premier League seasons Ni Wom Wom Ni