Clubs
Geographical location
Locations of the Nigeria Women Premier League 2016 teams
| Season | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Rivers Angels F.C. |
| Top goalscorer | Rafiat Sule (9 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Delta Queens F.C. 6 vs 0 Martin White Doves F.C. (11 June 2016) |
| Biggest away win | 3 matches
|
| Highest scoring | Osun Babes 4 vs 3 Abia Angels (4 June 2016) |
← 2015 2017 → All statistics correct as of 5 October 2016. | |
The 2016 Nigeria Women Premier League was scheduled to start in February 2016, but was moved to 21 May, 2016. [1] [2] A total of 18 teams were registered for the season. The teams are divided into two groups of nine each. The winner of each abridged league will meet at the end of the season to determine the overall winner of the league. The Nigeria Women Premier League is one of the league competitions administered by the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) board.
Rivers Angels F.C. came to the season as defending champions after winning the super six tournament in Abia State in the previous season. [3] On 30 October 2016, Nasarawa Amazons F.C. and Rivers Angels F.C. were confirmed winners of group A and B respectively. [4] Rafiat Sule and Paulinus Ifeoma of Bayelsa Queens F.C. and COD United Ladies F.C. respectively led the scorer's chart with nine goals, with the former edging Ifeoma with superior assist record (5). This is the second consecutive year of Sule being top scorer as she was also the goal king in 2015 season.
On 10 August 2016, Tokas Queens and Capital City Doves were expunged from the league for failure to honour three consecutive matches. [5] The number of expelled team was increased to seven a few weeks later after Nasarawa Amazons, Martin White Doves, F.C Robo, Confluence Queens and Adamawa Queens were also evicted for similar reasons. The NWFL board explained that their commitment to improving professionalism in female football in Nigeria was reason for the strict adherence to the prior rules of the competition. [3] The economic recession in Nigeria has been highlighted as the reason for failure of teams to meet the financial demands of games. [6] The clubs were later reinstated to the league after the League Management Company gave ten million naira to alleviate the running of the league. [7] [8]
On 21 January 2017, at the Abuja National Stadium, Rivers Angels defeated Nasarawa Amazons on penalties after playing goalless. This is the second trophy won by the club after winning the 2016 Nigeria Women's Cup. [9]
Eighteen teams in two groups of nine each competed for the league title. Each team plays with every team in her respective group. Unlike 2015 season, where the top 3 teams from each group contested in a super 6 mini-tournament in Abia State to determine the overall winner, this season title decider involves only the winner of group A and group B. This two seasons are in contrast with the 2014 season where a complete round robin system was used. Rivers Angels and Nasarawa Amazons are to contest in a winners final to determine the overall winner of the league. [4]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nasarawa Amazons F.C. | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 29 | 8 | +21 | 36 |
| 2 | Bayelsa Queens F.C. | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 11 | +19 | 31 |
| 3 | Ibom Angels F.C. | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 31 |
| 4 | COD United Ladies F.C. | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 15 | +7 | 29 |
| 5 | Osun Babes F.C. | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 18 | −2 | 23 |
| 6 | Edo Queens F.C. | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 21 | −8 | 20 |
| 7 | Abia Angels F.C. | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 29 | −10 | 16 |
| 8 | Pelican Stars F.C. | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 26 | −11 | 12 |
| 9 | Tokas Queens F.C. | 15 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 30 | −26 | 3 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rivers Angels F.C. | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 7 | +19 | 30 |
| 2 | Delta Queens F.C. | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 11 | +14 | 30 |
| 3 | Sunshine Queens F.C. | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 10 | +13 | 27 |
| 4 | Confluence Queens F.C. | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 23 |
| 5 | Adamawa Queens F.C. | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 14 | −2 | 15 |
| 6 | F.C. Robo Queens | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 29 | −16 | 12 |
| 7 | Taraba Queens F.C. | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 21 | −12 | 10 |
| 8 | Capital City Doves F.C. | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 27 | −21 | 6 |
| 9 | Martin White Doves F.C. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The NWPL player of the month is sponsored by futbalgalore.com. [12]
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Rofiat Sule | Bayelsa Queens | 9 |
| Ifeoma Paulinus | COD United | 9 | |
| 3 | Patience Kalu | Bayelsa Queens | 6 |
| 4 | Anthony Esther | Osun Babes | 5 |
| Amarachi Ojinma | Rivers Angels | 5 | |
| Ibinabo Georgewill | 5 | ||
| Imo Anam | Nasarawa Amazons F.C. | 5 | |
| Joy Jegede | Delta Queens | 5 | |
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 Women Football League(NWFL) organizes the Nigeria Women Premier League and the Nigeria Women Pro-league. In November 2017, Aisha Falode was elected chairperson of the league board, and was officially designated in January 2017.
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, 2006 and 2007.
The 2014 Nigeria Women Premier League began on 1 March 2014 and ended on 26 November 2014. Nasarawa Amazons were the defending champions. This will be the first time in recent times that the winner will be decided straightaway without a mini super tournament at the end of the season.
The 2017 Nigeria Women Premier League 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, 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 and Sadaatu Kolo Amazons of Niger State were promoted to the elite division. Rofiat Sule, the top scorer of the last two seasons and Evelyn Nwabuoku, 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.
Nasarawa Amazons F.C. is a women's association football club based in Lafia in Nasarawa State, the club is related to the men's football club Nasarawa United. The home jersey is green, the away jersey is white with a diagonal sky blue stripe.
Rafiat Folakemi Sule, 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 scorer in the league for two consecutive seasons. She has been described as "technically sound" with a sharp eye for goals from all distance.
Rita Akarekor is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Delta Queens in the Nigeria Women Premier League, and Nigeria women's national football team in the goalkeeper position. She was adjudged the best goalkeeper in the 2016 Nigeria Women Premier League, and was the only player in her position nominated as the most valuable player in the league.
The 2015 Nigeria Women Premier League is the 25th season of women's association football in Nigeria, and the second season since the re-branding of the competition from a championship to a premier league. The league started in May 2015, and the regular season was concluded by September of the same year. Rivers Angels came to the season as defending champions after winning the 2014 edition. They successfully defended the title by defeating Bayelsa Queens by a lone goal from Osinachi Ohale in the super six final in Umuahia, Abia State. The super six tournament began on October 20 and was concluded November 5, 2015.
The Nigeria Women's Super Cup, otherwise known as NWFL Champions Shield is an annual game, featuring the teams that won the Aiteo Cup and the Nigeria Women Premier League in the previous season. The first edition was contested on March 4, 2018 between Nasarawa Amazons and Rivers Angels at Agege Stadium, Lagos. The game also signals the curtain opener for the new football season.
Rasheedat Busayo Ajibade is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish Liga F club Atlético Madrid and the Nigeria women's national team. She is nicknamed "RASH", a shortened form of her first name, and is also called "The Girl With The Blue Hair", an ode to her bright-blue hairstyle which she dons whenever she takes onto the field.
Charity Chetachukwu Reuben is a Nigerian footballer, who plays for Bayelsa Queens. She previously represented Ibom Angels in the Nigeria Women Premier League, and Nigeria women's national under-20 football team. For the 2017 Nigeria Women Premier League, she scored eight goals, which was the most by any player in the league.
The 2018 Nigeria Women Premier League began on April 7 in a game featuring defending champions Nasarawa Amazons from Nasarawa State and FC Robo of Lagos State. The date was decided following a congress held in Ikeja on March 3. Prior to the game, a maiden super cup named the NWFL Champions Shield match was played between Aiteo Cup winners, Rivers Angels and Nasarawa Amazons to officially open the new season. At the end of the 2017 season, Sure Babes of Ilorin, Jokodolu Babes of Ogbomosho and Taraba Queens of Taraba State were promoted to compete in the elite division pending registration procedures, while Saadatu Amazons of Minna and Heartland Queens of Owerri were relegated to the pro league. In May 2018, the league went on a mid-season break due to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, this was further elongated after an emerging NFF leadership crisis. In August 2018, it was announced that the remaining games of the league will commence September 12.
The 2019 Nigeria Women Premier League began July 24, 2019. The league was earlier scheduled to start in February, but due to logistic reasons and commencement of other competitions, it was postponed to March, May then later July. Prior to the start of the league, a congress was held in Abuja on June 27, with representatives from Nigeria Football Federation. Due to failure of some teams to pay their indemnities, the agreed date at the congress was shifted from July 17 to July 24.
DreamStar FC Ladies is a women's association football club based in Surulere Lagos State, Nigeria and a member of the Nigerian Women Football League ( NWFL). They have competed in the Nigeria Women Premier League, which is the highest division for women association football in Nigeria, since the 2018/2019 season, having gained promotion to the elite league by winning all their lower division's matches.
The 2020–21 NWFL Premiership was the 31st season of Nigeria women's top-flight association football league and the first since its renaming. The season began December 9, 2020.
Edo Queens is a Nigerian women football club based in Edo State, Nigeria. They play in the top women's football league in Nigeria, the NWFL Premiership.
Gift Nyakno Monday is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish Liga F club UD Tenerife and the Nigeria women's national team.
The 2021 Nigeria Women's Cup was the 27th edition of the Nigeria Women's Cup, the main knockout tournament for women's football in Nigeria.
Sheroes Cup is an annual preseason tournament for women's association football teams in Africa. The competition usually feature elite teams from Nigeria Women Premier League, as well as neighboring African countries and is supported by the Nigeria Women Football League. Since the first edition in 2019, it has been described as the biggest preseason tournament for women club football in Nigeria.
The 2021–22 NWFL Premiership was the 32nd season of the NWFL Premiership, Nigeria's top-flight women's association football league and the second season since its rebranding. The season commenced on 8 December 2021 and ended May 2022.