The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the

Nigerian football league system The Nigerian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Nigeria. It is made up of the top-most league, the Nigeria Premier League, then the Nigeria National League which is divided into two groups ...

, for the Nigerian club-football championships. The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwindling fortunes since the late 2000s. It is fed into by 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 ...

(NNL). It is organised by the

League Management Company 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 dwind ...

(LMC).

Name

It was formerly known as the Nigerian Premier League for the second time, as of the 2012/2013 Season from the 2003/2004 Season; "Nigerian Premiership" (2000–2003); "Nigerian Premier League", first time (1993–2000); "Nigerian Professional League" (1990–1993); Nigerian National League - First Division (1979–1990) and "the (Nigerian) National League" or "Nigerian Football League" (1972–1979),

International partnerships

On 27 April 2016, The

Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional The Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (), also known as LaLiga (the abbreviation LFP was also used until the 2015-16 season), is a sports association responsible for administering the two professional Association football, football leagues in S ...

organisers of the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

sealed a five-year memorandum of understanding deal with the NPFL on capacity building and idea exchange signed by the League Management Company chairman, Shehu Dikko and the

President

Javier Tebas Javier Tebas Medrano (; born 31 July 1962) is a Spanish lawyer and the president of Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, the association responsible for administering Spain's two professional football leagues. First elected in April 2013, he w ...

. The NPFL and

partnership has already started bearing fruit as during the January transfer window, Super Eagles fringe player

Ezekiel Bassey Ezekiel Joe Bassey (born 10 November 1996) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a winger for Nigerian Club Akwa United.He is a pacey winger, known for his good dribbling ability and very high work rate. Club career Early career Born in Akwa ...

was signed on loan from

Enyimba Aba is a city in the southeast of Nigeria and the commercial center of Abia State. Upon the creation of Abia state in 1991, Aba was divided into two local government areas namely; Aba South and Aba North. Aba south is the main city centre an ...

Barcelona B Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

on a six-month deal with an option of 3-years come end of the season based on performance. The NPFL AllStars (made up of the league's best players) have also been playing Pre-Season as well as Winter break friendlies with top flight Spanish sides like

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Villareal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

etc. In an effort to expose and test Local players against top players and sides. In Thursday, 25 May 2017, The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) alongside the

(LMC), also consummated a multi-faceted strategic agreement in general football development with the Football Federation and Premier League body of the Kingdom of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, NFF President Amaju Pinnick and NFF 2nd Vice-president/ LMC Chairman Shehu Dikko put pen to paper on a memorandum of understanding with their Moroccan counterparts, the result of detailed discussions, deliberations and considerations over time. The two FA Presidents signed their own sides in the Office of the Federation Royale Marocaine de Football in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

, while the LMC 's Chairman, Shehu Dikko and Chairman of the Ligue Nationale de Football Professionnel (which organises the Botola), Said Naciri signed at the LNFP office, watched by the two FA bosses. Eunisell, BET9JA and Hero lager are current sponsors of the NPFL.

History

2017 season

Plateau United F.C. won the league on 9 September 2017, with a 2–0 victory over

Enugu Rangers Rangers International Football Club, commonly known as Enugu Rangers, is a Nigerian professional association football team. They are based in Enugu and play their home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Enugu Rangers are one of the three olde ...

2018 season

In July 2018 the league was postponed indefinitely following crisis in the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

Lobi Stars Lobi Stars Football Club (formerly known as ''Mosquito football club'', ''Lobi Bank'', ''BBL Hawks'', and ''Hawks'') is a Nigerian professional soccer club based in Makurdi, Benue. The club competes in the Nigerian Professional Football League. ...

was declared as the sole representative of the league in the 2019 CAF Champions League as the team was at the top of the standings.

2019 season

The league consisted of 24 teams. Four were promoted from the

. Twenty teams remained from the previous season which was not completed. They were divided into two groups of 12 teams. The top three teams in each group contested for the title in the NPFL Super six championship playoff in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. The People's Elephant finished at the top of the log with 12 points from five games. Enyimba vs Kano Pillars is considered the biggest match of the season because of their rivalry and they remain the 2 teams yet to finish outside the top eight for 12 seasons.

Management

The League Management Company (shortly and commonly known as the 'LMC') is the legal

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

League

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

of the Nigeria Professional Football League. It was created and incorporated by the

Nigeria Football Federation The Nigeria Football Federation (known as Nigeria Football Association until 2008) is Nigeria's football governing body. It was formally launched in 1945 and formed the first Nigerian national football team in 1949. It joined CAF in 1959 and FIF ...

in 2012 to take over the nearly-collapsed Nigeria Football League (NFL), the former league governing body.

History

The NFF created the Nigeria Premier League, organized by the Nigeria Football League in 1990 as a step in attaining full professionalism as the sole regulatory for

football in Nigeria Football is the most popular sport in Nigeria. The Nigeria national football team competes regularly for international titles and many Nigerian footballers compete in Europe, particularly in England. Nigeria has one of the finest national teams ...

. At the

Onikan Stadium The Mobolaji Johnson Arena is a multi-purpose stadium in Lagos. It is currently used for football matches and it is the home stadium of various Lagos teams, most notably Ikorodu United F.C., Stationery Stores F.C., First Bank and Julius Berger ...

on 12 May 1990, the league was given a name as it was then known as the 'Professional League'. However, in November 2012 with the agreement and support of the

National Sports Commission The National Sports Commission is the Nigerian apex body responsible for regulating sports in the country, with Alhassan Yakmut serving as the last Director-General before it was scrapped by the Muhammadu Buhari government in 2015. It is headed by ...

, Nigeria's sports regulatory authority, the NFF constituted an Interim Management Committee (IMC) for the League as part of measures to avert a total collapse of the top tier professional League following the downfall of the Nigeria Football League (NFL) which arose from difficult legal and administrative impediments. The IMC supervised the formation and incorporation of the LMC to run a transparent and commercially viable professional league.

Achievements

The first step the LMC took was to rebrand the League name, from the Nigerian Premier League to the Nigerian Professional Football League, (NPFL) or simply the Professional 'Football' League) Also, the LMC signed a $34m TV rights deal to broadcast league matches which lasted until 2017 In 2015, the League Management Company solicited financial support from the Government in order to upgrade existing grounds, provision of required broadcast and medical equipment and facilities in the stadiums. The League Management Company has its framework and rules governing the 20 clubs in the Nigeria Professional Football League each season. On 5 July 2016, the NPFL adopted the TMS Domestic Transfer Matching System (DTMS), becoming the first league in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

to do so. The League Management Company is currently headed by Shehu Dikko.

Awards

In 2012, the NPFL was ranked as the best in Africa and 24th best in the world by the

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

, the rating puts it a spot above the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

for the year.

Qualification for African competitions

Association ranking for 2020–21 CAF competitions

Association ranking for 2020–21 CAF Champions League and 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup will be based on results from each CAF tournament (Champions League and Confederation Cup) from 2016 to 2019–20. ;Legend * CL: CAF Champions League * CC: CAF Confederation Cup *

Past champions

Champions by season

*1972:

Mighty Jets Mighty Jets International FC is a Nigerian football club from Jos, playing in the Nigeria National League. They play at the Jos International Stadium, which has a capacity of 45,000. History They are one of only a half dozen active 'privately ...

( Jos) *1973: Bendel Insurance (

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 ...

) *1974: Rangers International ( Enugu) *1975: Rangers International ( Enugu) *1976: IICC Shooting Stars (

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 ...

) *1977: Rangers International ( Enugu) *1978: Racca Rovers (

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

) *1979: Bendel Insurance (

) *1980: IICC Shooting Stars (

) *1981: Rangers International ( Enugu) *1982: Rangers International ( Enugu) *1983: IICC Shooting Stars (

) *1984: Rangers International ( Enugu) *1985:

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 ...

(

) *1986:

Leventis United Leventis United was a football team based in Ibadan, Nigeria. It was founded in 1982 as an amalgam of clubs from Oyo State, backed by the Royal Nigeria Carpet compana subsidiary of Greek corporation Leventis. Leventis won the third division in 19 ...

(

) *1987:

Iwuanyanwu Nationale Heartland Football Club founded as Spartans F.C., later known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale from 1985 to 2006 is a Nigerian football club based in Owerri. The team play their home games at Dan Anyiam Stadium (but currently use the new Okigwe Stadium ...

(

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, ...

) *1988:

(

) *1989:

(

) *1990:

(

) *1991: Julius Berger (

) *1992: Stationery Stores (

) *1993:

(

) *1994: BCC Lions (

Gboko Gboko is a town in the Benue State of North-central Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. ...

) *1995: 3SC Shooting Stars (

) *1996:

Udoji United Udoji United was a Nigerian football team founded in 1990 in Enugu before moving to Awka in 1993. It was owned by Oscar Udoji, Owner and CEO of Solgas Petroleum Limited and Superior Motors Limited and son of former businessman/administrator Chief ...

(

Awka Awka () is the capital city of Anambra State, Nigeria. The city was declared capital on 21 August 1991, after the creation of Anambra and Enugu state, which moved the capital from Enugu to Awka (an administrative center since pre.-colonial times). ...

) *1997: Eagle Cement ( Port Harcourt) *1998: 3SC Shooting Stars (

) *1999:

(

Makurdi Makurdi is the capital of Benue State, located in central Nigeria, and part of the Middle Belt region of central Nigeria. The city is situated on the south bank of the Benue River. In 2016, Makurdi and the surrounding areas had an estimated popul ...

) *2000: Julius Berger (

) *2001:

( Aba) *2002:

( Aba) *2003:

( Aba) *2004:

Dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

( Port Harcourt) *2005:

( Aba) *2006: Ocean Boys (

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

) *2007:

( Aba) *2008:

Kano Pillars Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in Kano, North Western part of Nigeria. They play in the lower division in Nigerian football, the Nigeria National League. Their home stadium is Sani Abacha Stadium. Kano ...

(

) *2009:

Bayelsa United Bayelsa United FC is a football club based in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, Nigeria. They play in the second division of Nigerian football, the Nigeria National League. Their home games are played at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Ovom, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. ...

(

Yenegoa 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 ...

) * 2010:

( Aba) *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

( Port Harcourt) * 2012:

(

) *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

(

) * 2014:

(

) * 2015:

( Aba) * 2016: Rangers International ( Enugu) * 2017: Plateau United ( Jos) * 2018: ''League deemed concluded after 24 match days'' * 2019:

( Aba) * 2019–20: ''League cancelled after 25 match days'' *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Akwa United Akwa United Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first division of Nigerian football. The Godswill Akpabio International Stadium is the club's home stadium. ...

(

Uyo Uyo is the capital city of Akwa Ibom in South South Nigeria. Ibibio is the language spoken in Uyo. It became the capital on September 23, 1987 when Akwa Ibom was created from the former Cross River State. According to the 2006 Nigerian Cens ...

) * 2021–22: Rivers United ( Port Harcourt)

Most titles won

Top scorers

References

External links

RSSSF competition history
{{CAF Leagues 1 Nigeria Football Federation Top level football leagues in Africa