Bendel United F.C. (formerly Flash Flamingoes and Esan F.C.) is a Nigerian

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 Uromi,

Edo State Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controversy ...

. They are the current incarnation of a team whose roots go back to Flash Flamingoes F.C.

History

In the shadows of other

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 ...

teams such as Bendel Insurance and

New Nigeria Bank New Nigerian Bank Football Club was a Nigerian football team that played in Benin City. Originally known as Ethiope FC and based in Sapele, it was handed over by the Bendel State government to New Nigeria Bank and moved to Benin City in 1973. I ...

, Rubber Board football club was founded in the early 1980s. The team was subsequently sold and bought over by Chief Patrick Osakwe, currently a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for Delta State and at the time the owner of Flash pools who renamed the team Flash Flamingoes. It cannot be ascertained whether the team took its name from a moniker used by

Stationery Stores Stationery Stores F.C. is a Nigerian football club based in Lagos. History Stationery Stores Football Club was founded in 1958 by Israel Adebajo, who ran the very successful Nigerian Office Stationery Supply Stores Limited. They immediately esta ...

, then the most fashionable team in Nigeria. They were promoted to the

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 ...

in 1985. After placing 2nd in the 1988 Nigerian FA Cup, the team was bought by Bendel State governor Tunde Ogbeha and renamed Bendel United and the next season placed 4th in the Nigerian League. It made it to the finals of the

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

before losing 1–0 on aggregate to Al-Merrikh. Bendel United was relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1992 and played three seasons there before being relegated again to the 3rd division for one season. Returning to the 2nd level in 1997, they never could regain their old form and were relegated from the Professional League in 2005. In 2006, the team was bought by controversial owner Igbinowahia Ekhosuehi from Solomon Edebiri and renamed Esan FC. After being on hiatus, Edebiri announced plans in 2013 to resurrect the team under the name Bendel United.

Achievements

* Nigerian FA Cup: :: 1988 (runners-up) *

:: 1989 (runners-up)

Team names

* 1984–1988 Flash Flamingoes * 1989–2006 Bendel United * 2006–2012 Esan FC * 2014–Present Bendel United

References

External links

"What I found wrong in Insurance" Brown Ebewele (Vanguard)
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Edebiri trusts Bendel United will bounce back
Football clubs in Nigeria Sport in Edo State Benin City 1980s establishments in Nigeria Sports clubs and teams established in the 1980s