The 2019–2020

Nigeria Professional Football League The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) (formerly the Nigeria Professional Football League) is the highest level of club football in Nigerian football league system. The Nigerian Premier League has suffered like many others, from the financi ...

was the 49th season of the top-flight division of the Nigerian football league system and the 30th season since its rebranding as the 'Professional League'. The league started on 3 November 2019 but was cancelled in July due to the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

with no champions and no teams relegated.

Enyimba Aba is a city in southeastern Nigeria. It lies along the west bank of the Aba River and is at the intersection of roads leading to settlements such as Port Harcourt, Owerri, Umuahia, Ikot Ekpene, and Ikot-Abasi. Aba was established by t ...

were the defending champions, after winning the Super 6 play-offs the previous season The league was initially halted on 18 March 2020 following a decision by the League Management Company to suspend the league due to the

with no decision made on the league's resumption. On 10 July 2020 however, the league was cancelled by the NFF for the second time in three seasons (after the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

season ended in a similar way), following an online meeting between its executive committee and the league board with no champions and no relegation or promotion from the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, and stopped at Matchday 25. As a result of this, the league's representatives at the continental competitions next season were decided by the PPG system, which created confusion and disagreement among the teams as Rivers United refused to accept their

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

spot initially given to them. Based on the points per game system, Plateau United and

will represent the country at the 2020–21 CAF Champions League while Rivers United will participate at the

, since the 2020 Federation Cup was cancelled,

Kano Pillars Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football (soccer), football club based in Kano (city), Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They pl ...

, the 2019 Federation Cup champions, will take the second

spot.

Teams

The league consisted of 20 teams, the 4 promoted teams from the

Nigeria National League The Nigeria National League (NNL) (formerly the National Division 1) is the second-highest overall in the Nigerian football league system after the Nigeria Premier Football League, and is currently contested by 46 clubs. Each season, four ...

and the remaining 16 teams from the previous season. On 28 November,

Kwara United Kwara United Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Ilorin. They play in the top division in Nigerian football, the Nigeria Professional football League having gained promotion in 2017 from the Nigeria National League. Their home s ...

bought Delta Force's slot and replaced them in the league. :''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.''

Locations

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Clean sheets

News

*This was the 30th Anniversary of the

Nigerian Professional Football League The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) (formerly the Nigeria Professional Football League) is the highest level of club football in Nigerian football league system. The Nigerian Premier League has suffered like many others, from the financ ...

since attaining

professionalism Professionalism is a set of standards that an individual is expected to adhere to in a workplace, usually in order to appear serious, uniform, or respectful. What constitutes professionalism is hotly debated and varies from workplace to workplac ...

in 1990. * On 29 November 2019, Ifeanyi Ubah's bus was attacked by armed robbers near

Lokoja Lokoja is a north-central city in Nigeria. It lies at the confluence of the Niger River, Niger and Benue River, Benue list of rivers of Nigeria, rivers and is the capital city of Kogi State. While the Bassa Nge, Yoruba people, Yoruba Oworo peopl ...

, Kogi State's capital during a trip to

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 betwee ...

for their match against Jigawa Golden Stars which left players and members of the coaching crew "critically injured" according to the club. *Katsina United and Kano Pillars were fined N3.5 million($9) and N1.5 million($3.8) by the League Management Company on 25 January 2020 for their fans misconduct during their fixture 10 days earlier in Katsina. *In a similar incident, the 16 January 2020 fixture between Abia Warriors and Enyimba was postponed to Monday, 17 January 2020 and played without spectators after the match was disrupted and couldn't be completed on the initial date. Abia Warriors were later fined by the League Management Company for fan violence. *Nasarawa United's defender

Chineme Martins This is a list of association footballers who died due to football-related incidents. The primary causes of on-field deaths have evolved over time. Improvements in infection control and Surgery, emergency surgery since the early days of organis ...

collapsed at the

Lafia Township Stadium Lafia Township Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Lafia, Nasarawa State, central Nigeria. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and is the home stadium of Nasarawa United. The stadium has a capacity of 10,000 people. I ...

during a home league match versus Katsina United on 8 March 2020. He was attended to by medics and later rushed to an hospital where he was later confirmed dead. The

Nigeria Football Federation The Nigeria Football Federation (known as Nigeria Football Association until 2008) is Nigeria's association football, football sports governing body, governing body. It was formally launched in 1945 and formed the first Nigerian national football ...

ordered all NPFL clubs to provide all necessary medical equipment and personnel before hosting any other game. Owing to the poor first aid assistance at the stadium. All players wore black armbands and a minute's silence held before the commencement of all Matchday 24 games as tribute. A round of applause was held for him at the 20th minute of each game. *Enugu Rangers duo Ifeanyi George and Emmanuel Ogbu were involved in an auto crash which claimed their lives and the life of a third person. The accident occurred in Abudu at the Benin-Agbor road while the players were travelling to Lagos after the season was suspended due to the

References

External links

Nigeria 2020
RSSSF.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Nigeria Professional Football League Nigeria Professional Football League seasons 2019–20 in Nigerian football

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...