 | |
| Full name | Benue Cement Co. Lions Football Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| Ground | J. S. Tarka Stadium Gboko, Nigeria |
| Capacity | 15,000 |
| Chairman | Aliko Dangote |
| Manager | Andrew Agu |
| League | Nigeria Amateur League |
BCC Lions Football Club (Benue Cement Company Lions Football Club) is a Nigerian football team based in Gboko, Benue State, that competes in the Nigeria Amateur League, and plays its home games at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka Stadium. [1]
BCC Lions was founded in 1982 by the Benue State government, under Aper Aku, the first civilian governor of the state. Chuks Aningo was the team's first coach. In later years, Aningo would serve as the team's manager. At the time, he was employed by Benue Cement Company. [2]
BCC Lions was the first team in Northern Nigeria to win the Nigeria Challenge Cup (now known as the Nigeria FA Cup) in 1989. The game was played at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi, and the only goal of the match was scored by Aham Nwankwo. [3] [4] The club went on to win the 1993, 1994, 1997 editions of the Challenge Cup as well. [5]
After winning the Challenge Cup, the next year the club won the Mandela Cup as well in 1990. [6] During the early 1990s, BCC Lions were one of the dominant teams in the league, peaking with the double in 1994. [7]
They were relegated from the Nigerian Premier League in 1998 by two points, and were unable to regain their former glory. After spending six years in the lower division, they slowly lost their fan base and financial support. Despite a 2.5 million naira boost from Benue State governor George Akume in 2002 and another million from Guilder Brewing two years later, the team was disbanded, not even showing up for their 2004 FA Cup first round game against Shooting Stars F.C. An attempt to resurrect the team began in November 2007. Dangote, also chairman of the BCC board, announced 110 million naira for the team to participate in the 2008/09 season. They were relegated after finishing 13th. [8]
Rangers International Football Club, commonly known as Enugu Rangers, is a Nigerian professional association football team founded in 1970. Based in Enugu, the Rangers play their home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Enugu Rangers are one of the three oldest clubs in Nigeria, the other two being Bendel Insurance and Kano Pillars, and the only Nigerian club never to have been relegated from the Nigeria Premier League.
The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in Men's international football. Governed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), they are three-time Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winners, with their most recent title in 2013. In February 2024, the Nigerian national football team was ranked 28th in the FIFA rankings. The team has qualified for six of the last eight FIFA World Cups, missing only the 2006 and 2022 editions. They have reached the round of 16 on three occasions. Their first World Cup appearance was in the 1994 edition. The team is a member of FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Benue is a State in the North Central region of Nigeria. It has an estimated population of about 4,253,641 in the 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 and was among the seven states created at that time. The state derives its name from the Benue River initially called Ber-nor, a compound word in Tiv language which means river or lake of hippopotamus the name Ber-nor was corrupted to BENUE by colonial masters, the river is the second largest river in Nigeria after the River Niger. The state borders Nasarawa State to the North; Taraba State to the East; Kogi State to the West; Enugu State to the South-West; Ebonyi and Cross-Rivers State to the South; and has an international border with Cameroon to the South-East. It is inhabited predominantly by the Tiv, Idoma and Igede people. Minority ethnic groups in Benue are Etulo, Igbo, hausa and Jukun people etc. Its capital is Makurdi. Benue is a rich agricultural region; common crops cultivated in the state include oranges, yams, mangoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, soya bean, guinea corn, flax, sesame, rice, groundnuts and palm trees.
Enyimba Football Club, commonly known as Enyimba, is a Nigerian professional football club based in the city of Aba, Abia State which plays in the Nigerian Professional Football League. Their name means People's Elephant in Igbo language and is also the nickname used for the city of Aba. Founded in 1976, the club rose to prominence in the 2000s and is considered the most successful Nigerian football club as they have won two African Champions League titles, nine Nigerian championships and four Federation Cups since 2001. Their most recent league glory came in the 2022–23 season.
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Bendel Insurance Football Club is a football club based in Benin City, Nigeria. The club plays in the Nigeria Premier Football League. They were originally known as the Vipers of Benin. They play their home matches at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, which has a capacity of 12,000. They are the current champions of the Federation Cup after defeating Enugu Rangers 1–0 at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba on June 21, 2023.
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Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football league system. Founded in the 1920s, the team plays its home games in the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Gboko is a Local Government Area in Benue state, North-central Nigeria. It is headquartered in the town of Gboko.
Union Sportive Ouakam, abbreviation: USO is a Senegalese football club based in Dakar in the subdivision of Ouakam in the west of the city close to Cap Vert.
East End Lions is a Sierra Leonean professional football club based in the capital Freetown. They play in the Sierra Leone National Premier League, the top football league in Sierra Leone. East End Lions represents the East End of Freetown, and play their home games at the National Stadium. The head coach, appointed in 2018 is John Keister.
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The 1990 season of the African Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by BCC Lions in two-legged final victory against Club Africain. This was the sixteenth season that the tournament took place for the winners of each African country's domestic cup. Thirty-six sides entered the competition, with Al Suguar withdrawing before the 1st leg of the first round.
The 1991 season of the African Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Power Dynamos in two-legged final victory against BCC Lions. This was the seventeenth season that the tournament took place for the winners of each African country's domestic cup. Thirty-six sides entered the competition, Ground Fource withdrawing before the 1st leg of the first round, Ports Authority disqualified by CAF after 1st leg of the first round and Arsenal withdrawing at the same stage of the competition.
Moses Kpakor is a retired football midfielder who played for Nigeria at the 1990 African Cup of Nations in Algeria.
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