Kano Pillars F.C.

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Kano Pillars
Kano Pillars F.C.svg
Full nameKano Pillars Football Club
Nickname(s)Sai Masu Gida
Founded1990;35 years ago (1990)
Ground Sani Abacha Stadium
Kano
Capacity16,000 [1]
Chairman Ahmed Musa
ManagerEvans Ogenyi
League Nigeria Professional Football League
2024–25 Nigeria Professional Football League, 9th of 20

Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They play their home games at Sani Abacha Stadium.

Contents

Kano Pillars FC was founded in 1990, the year the professional association football league started in Nigeria, and it is also among the oldest clubs in Nigerian history alongside clubs like Bendel Insurance, Shooting Stars, and Enugu Rangers. It was an amalgamation of three amateur clubs in Kano State.

Kano Pillars Football Club is the most popular Nigerian Premier League club in Nigeria. [2] The Pillars drew an average home attendance of 8,894 in the 2023–24 edition of the NPFL, the 2nd highest in the league.

History

Founded in 1990, by Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, former chairman of Nigeria Football Association and former sports commissioner of Kano, from the combination of WRECA FC, Kano Golden Stars and Bank of the North FC, Kano Pillars achieved outstanding success by winning the 2007–08 Nigerian Premier League. Kano Pillars produced players like Abiodun Baruwa who has since played for Swiss, Austrian, Welsh and British Clubs and Sani Kaita who later plays for Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Another Prominent player is Ahmed Garba 'Yaro Yaro' who later plays for AB in Denmark and a notable player from Kano Pillars FC is Ahmed Musa who played for Leicester City in the English Premier league after joining from CSKA Moscow. It was registered as a limited liability company with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigeria, and then registered with the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) as a professional football club.

In the 2020/2021 NPFL season, Kano Pillars were fined a whopping sum of ₦7,500,000.00 for failing to follow the orders of the LMC and NFF, which prohibited fans from viewing live games in the stadium. Fans disrupted a top table clash between Akwa United and Kano Pillars. The game ended 0–0 after it was concluded the following day. [3]

They were relegated from NPFL on 16 July 2022 following the confirmation of a verdict against them for the deduction of 3 points, despite an appeal which the NFF committee disregarded against their complaint. The verdict on them was a penalty for what their former chairman did to match officials in their encounter with Dakkada FC [4]

2009 Champions League

They are also nicknamed "Ahly Killers" as they scored 2 magnificent goals in Egypt and drew with Al Ahly Cairo in Egypt 2–2 and 1–1 in Nigeria, so the Ahly Killers went to the Group stage in the African Champions League on the away goals rule. They made it to the semi-finals before being eliminated against fellow Nigerian team Heartland.

Achievements

Champions (4): 2007–08, 2011–12, 2013, 2014.
Runners-up (1): 2009–10.
Winners (2): 2019, 1953
Runners-up (2): 1991, 2018.

Performance in CAF competitions

Kano Pillars' arrival at Ahmadu Bello Stadium for a friendly match. Kano Pillars 03.jpg
Kano Pillars' arrival at Ahmadu Bello Stadium for a friendly match.
2009  – Semi-finals
2011  – First Round
2013  – First Round
2014  – Preliminary Round
2015  – First Round
2020 – Preliminary Round

Current players

As of 8 February 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Ghana.svg  GHA Ibrahim Iddrisu
2 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Ali Abdullahi
3 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Ismaila Nasir
4 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Shehu Abdullahi
5 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Abdullahi Musa
6 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Suleiman Idris
7 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Ahmed Musa
8 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Yusuf Maigoro
9 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Auwalu Ali Malam
10 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Rabiu Ali (Captain)
11 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Mustapha Umar
12 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Aminu Mohammed
14 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Ibrahim Abubakar
16 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Mustapha Salisu
18 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Sani Mubarak
19 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Ibrahim Mustapha
20 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Ibrahim Abdullahi
No.Pos.NationPlayer
22 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Muhammad Yakubu
23 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Sani Faisal
24 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Aminu Sani
25 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Joshua Dua
26 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Habibu Yakubu
27 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Ibrahim Nura
28 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Yusuf Abdullahi
29 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Mubarak Lawan
30 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Fahad Usman
31 GK Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Mohammed Galadima
33 GK Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Muttaka Musa
34 DF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Attairu Mushinu
36 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Muhammed Usman
38 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Umar Shehu
40 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Abba Adam

Staff

Head Coach/Technical Adviser
Chairman
general manager
General Coordinator
Kit Manager
Marketing Manager

Notable coaches

Salisu Yusuf Okey Emordi Evans Ogenyi

Notable players

Rabiu Ali playing for the Kano Pillars Rabiu Ali of Kano Pillars.jpg
Rabiu Ali playing for the Kano Pillars

References

  1. "BBC News Online | Africa | Sport | Cup of Nations | Venue Guide | Kano". Archived from the original on 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  2. "6 in 10 Nigerians follow the English Premier League". noi-polls.com. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  3. "LMC fines Pillars N7.5m over fans violence". Punch Newspapers. 2021-06-14. Archived from the original on 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
  4. "Pillars relegated after losing appeal (Goal.com)". Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-18.