Bayelsa United FC is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Yenagoa Yenagoa is a Local Government Area and capital city of Bayelsa State, southern Nigeria. It is located at the southern part of the country at coordinates . The LGA has an area of 706 km² and a population of 352,285 at the 2006 census. Th ...

Bayelsa Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yenag ...

, Nigeria. They play in the second division of Nigerian football, the

Nigeria National League The Nigerian National League (formerly known as ''National Division 1'') is the second tier of club football in Nigeria. History From 1997-2011, the league has been split into 1A for Northern teams and 1B for southern teams. The top two f ...

. Their home games are played at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Ovom, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

2008/09 season

Due to torrential rains making the pitch unplayable, they played the 2007–2008 season in the Delta State town of Oghara. During the 2008–09 season, Bayelsa was forced to play three home games in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

after crowd trouble in their

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

with Ocean Boys. Then at the new year's break the team was suspended from continuing their league schedule despite being at the top of the table. This was due to outstanding debts and salaries. In a surprising move, the team sacked technical adviser Miekeme Fekete right as the squad was traveling to

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

to play in the

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organi ...

. They won the Nigerian Premier League for the first time after a 2–2 draw at Warri Wolves F.C. on June 14, qualifying them for the

2010 CAF Champions League The 2010 CAF Champions League was the 46th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 14th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner, TP Mazembe q ...

. The celebration was dampened however when captain Abel Tador was killed by robbers hours after the game.

2009/10 season

In January 2010, the Bayelsa State government said they were looking for private sponsorship to take over the team. They were relegated at the end of the season by one point after losing three of their last four games and being banished to play home games in Kano. They protested the relegation, claiming three points should have been awarded from an abandoned game in Bauchi when home team

Wikki Tourists Wikki Tourists Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Bauchi, and currently playing in the Nigeria Premier league after promotion from the second-tier Nigeria National League after the 2014 season.Sponsor is Bauchi State Government ...

left the pitch. After months of court action (and the temporary expansion of the league to 24 teams), their relegation was confirmed in September 2010.

2011 season

Financial problems plagued Bayelsa's return to the second division. They let many players leave on free transfers at the start of the season due to non-payment of salaries. In May 2011, they boycotted their state FA cup final and had a protest at the Bayelsa State government building because of non-payment, in some cases going back two years to their league title. At the time, they were at the top of the table in the National League Division 1-B.

2012 season

They won their nine-team division to win promotion back to the Premier League and placed second to rivals

Nembe City F.C. Nembe City FC is a Nigerian football club based in Nembe, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. They won promotion to the Nigeria Premier League by winning their division with a game to go. They became the first Nigerian club since Gabros International in 19 ...

in the Nigerian National League Super Four tournament. They were relegated after a last place finish in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Achievements

Nigerian Premier League The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the Nigerian football league system, for the Nigerian club-football championships. The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwindl ...

: 1 :: 2009. *Nigeria FA Cup: 1 :: 2021. *Nigerian Super Cup: 1 :: 2009.

Performance in CAF competitions

: 1 appearance ::

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

– Semi-Finals *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

: 1 appearance ::

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

– Preliminary Round

Former head coaches

Alphonsus Dike Alphonsus may refer to: As a given name

*Any of a number of rulers named Alfonso *Alphonsus J. Donlon (1867–1923), American Jesuit * Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787), Roman Catholic Saint * Alphonsus Liguori Penney (born 1924), Canadian Roman ...

Jossy Dombraye Josiah "Jossy" Dombraye is a former Nigerian football forward and manager, most recently on the technical staff of Bayelsa United F.C. He spent most of his career with Sharks F.C. and was part of the Nigeria national football team that won the 1 ...

Ladan Bosso Laden may refer to: Arabic name As an Arabic male or female name, Laden or Ladan ( ar, لادن) may refer to: * Ladan and Laleh Bijani, Ladan Bijani, Iranian conjoined twin * Ladan Mostofi, Iranian actress * bin Laden family, used as a surname ...

* Richard Bubagha

Former chairmen

Kali Gwegwe Kali Gwegwe (born 2 July 1969 in Oguta, Imo State, Nigeria) is the former Chairman of Bayelsa United F.C., a Nigerian Premier League outfit based in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Prior to his appointment, he was the Chairman of the Youth Sports Federa ...

Henry Nwosu Henry Onyemanze Nwosu (born 14 June 1963) is a former Nigerian footballer turned manager. Career Nwosu spent his career at home with New Nigeria Bank (NNB) of Benin City and African Continental Bank (ACB) of Lagos. He also played for ASEC Mim ...

References

External links

Team website
nbsp;– ''AllAfrica.com''
Bayelsa exchange N200m debt for free transfer
nbsp;– ''KickoffNigeria.com'' {{Nigerian Premier League Association football clubs established in 2000 Football clubs in Bayelsa State 2000 establishments in Nigeria Sports clubs and teams in Nigeria