NWFL Premiership

Last updated
NWFL Premiership
NWFL Premiership logo.png
Founded1990
CountryFlag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
Confederation CAF
Number of clubs12
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toNWFL Championship
Domestic cup(s) Nigerian Women's Cup
Champions Shield
International cup(s) CAF W-Champions League
Current champions Edo Queens (1st title)
Most championships Rivers Angels & Pelican Stars (7 titles)
Website The NWFL
Current: 2024–25 NWFL Premiership

The NWFL Premiership (formerly Nigeria Women Premier League) is the top-level league for women's association football in Nigeria. [1] [2] It is the women's equivalent of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) for male players. [3] [4] 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. [5]

Contents

History

Women's football in Nigeria started in 1978 with the foundation of the NIFFOA (Nigeria Female Football Organising Association), renamed NIFFPA (Nigeria Female Football Proprietors Associations) in 1979, and joined by clubs like Jegede Babes, Ufuoma Babes, Larry Angels, Kakanfo Babes and others. The first championship was organised by the NFA in 1990. Ufuoma Babes were dominant in the 1990s, before succumbing to Pelican Stars, who won the league between 1997 and 2002. By the 2010s, Rivers Angels became more frequent in the super tournaments, a mini-tournament held annually among the top-placed teams, to determine the overall winner of the league. Despite the high frequency of the abridged format over the years, the 2014 league season saw a straight round-robin season in determining the league winners. However, by 2015, there was a reintroduction of the group system.

Since 2015, the league has enjoyed considerable success and improvement under the auspices of Aisha Falode, and have produced several players for the national team and cadet teams, with more than 70% of players who have been capped for the national team having played in the NWFL. [6] [7] Since 2021, the league winners qualifies for the CAF Women's Champions League.

In the 2024 season, Edo Queens became the newest champions with their debut league win. [8]

Renaming

On 5 March 2020, the Nigeria Women Football League, the governing body of professional women's association football in Nigeria, announced the re-branding of the women's league, by unveiling a new logo and renaming the three tiers of the league under the tutelage of the NWFL.

With the rebranding, the Nigeria Women Premier League is now known as the NWFL Premiership, the second-tier league known as NWFL Championship (formerly NWFL Pro-League) while the third-tier division becomes the NWFL Nationwide (formerly NWFL Amateur League). [9]

The old NWFL logo NWFL LOGO.jpg
The old NWFL logo

Format

The women's top division league in Nigeria usually follows an abridged format with a super tournament at the end of the season. The top teams in each group (sometimes 1, 2 or 3) will form the super tournament at the end of the regular season to determine the overall winner of the league. The last placed teams are normally relegated to the second division, while promoted teams from the lower division are also admitted into the league. Despite the high frequency of the abridged format over the years, the 2014 league season saw a straight round robin season in determining the league winners, however by 2015, there was a reintroduction of the group system.

Champions

The list of champions and runners-ups: [10] [11]

YearChampionsRunners-up
1990 Jegede Babes [12]
1991 [13] Mande River State (River Mermaids)
1992 Ufuoma Babes [14]
1993 Ufuoma Babes [15]
1994 Rivers Angels SC [4] Jegede Babes
1995 Ufuoma Babes [15] Pelican Stars FC
1996 Ufuoma Babes [15]
1997 Pelican Stars FC [4]
1998 Pelican Stars FC [4]
1999 Pelican Stars FC [4] FCT Queens
2000 Pelican Stars FC [4] FCT Queens
2001 Pelican Stars FC FCT Queens
2002 Pelican Stars FC FCT Queens
2003 Delta Queens FC FCT Queens
2004 Bayelsa Queens Pelican Stars FC
2005 Pelican Stars FC Bayelsa Queens
2006 Bayelsa Queens Nasarawa Amazons
2007 Bayelsa Queens Nasarawa Amazons
2008 Delta Queens FC [16] Bayelsa Queens
2009 Delta Queens FC [17] Rivers Angels
2010 Rivers Angels/Pelican Stars [18] [19] [20] [A]
2011 Delta Queens FC [21] [22] River Angels SC
2012 Delta Queens FC [23] [24] River Angels SC [25]
2013 Nasarawa Amazons [26] [27] Rivers Angels
2014 Rivers Angels [28] Pelican Stars FC
2015 Rivers Angels [29] [30] Bayelsa Queens
2016 Rivers Angels [31] Nasarawa Amazons [32]
2017 Nasarawa Amazons Delta Queens
2018 Bayelsa Queens [33] Nasarawa Amazons
2019 Rivers Angels [34] Confluence Queens
2020Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic [35]
2020–21 Rivers Angels Delta Queens
2021–22 Bayelsa Queens Nasarawa Amazons
2022–23 Delta Queens Bayelsa Queens
2023–24 Edo Queens [8] Rivers Angels

Most successful clubs

ClubChampionsRunners-upWinning SeasonsRunners-up Seasons
Pelican Stars FC (Calabar)
8
3
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2010 [a] 1995, 2004, 2014
Rivers Angels SC (Port Harcourt)
7
5
1994, 2010, [a] 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020–21 2009,2011, 2012,2013, 2023–24
Delta Queens FC (Asaba)
6
2
2003, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2022–23 2017, 2020–21
Bayelsa Queens (Yenagoa)
5
4
2004, 2006, 2007, 2018, 2021–22 2005, 2008, 2015, 2022–23
Ufuoma Babes (Warri)
4
–
1992, 1993, 1995, 1996
–
Nasarawa Amazons (Nasarawa)
2
5
2013, 2017 2006, 2007, 2016, 2018, 2021–22
Jegede Babes (Lagos)
1
1
19901995
Mande River State (Port Harcourt)
1
–
1991
–
Edo Queens (Benin City)
1
–
 2023–24
–
  1. 1 2 Shared title

Individual honours

Top scorers

YearPlayerTeamGoals
2013 Asisat Oshoala Rivers Angels 6
2014Amarachi Orjinma Pelican Stars 17
2015Rofiat Sule Bayelsa Queens 11
2016 Rofiat Sule Bayelsa Queens 9
2017 Reuben Charity Ibom Angels 8
Rasheedat Ajibade FC Robo
2018 Anam Imo Nasarawa Amazons 8
2019
2020–21 Gift Monday (regular season only) FC Robo 10
2021–22Gift Monday Bayelsa Queens 10 [a]
2022–23Mercy Omokwu Delta Queens 9
2023–24Ijamilusi Folashade Robo Queens 8
  1. ↑ Regular season only

Player of the Season

YearPlayerTeam
2015 Emueje Ogbiagbevha (super 6 only) Nasarawa Amazons [36]
2016 Rofiat Sule Bayelsa Queens
2017 Rasheedat Ajibade FC Robo
2018 Anam Imo [37] Nasarawa Amazons

Notes

  1. ↑ There was no Super tournament this season but Pelican Stars topped group A, while Rivers Angels topped group B in the regular season

See also

Related Research Articles

Mercy Joy Akide Udoh is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a midfielder for the Nigeria women's national football team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayelsa Queens F.C.</span> Nigerian womens football club

Bayelsa Queens is a women football club based in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. They play in the top tier of the women's football league pyramid in Nigeria. They have won the NWFL Premiership five times and finished runners-up on four occasions.

The Nigeria Women's Cup, formally known as the Federation Cup is a cup competition in Nigeria. Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt have won the most titles. The tournament along with Nigeria Women Premier League are the two recognized competition for women football organized by the Nigeria Football Federation. The finals are usually played at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Nigeria Women Premier League</span> Football league season

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 2016 Nigeria Women Premier League was scheduled to start in February 2016, but was moved to 21 May, 2016. 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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nasarawa Amazons F.C.</span> Football club

Nasarawa Amazons F.C. is a women's association football club based in Lafia in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The club is associated with the men's football club Nasarawa United. The home jersey is green, while 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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigeria Women's Super Cup</span> Football tournament

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rasheedat Ajibade</span> Nigerian footballer (born 1999)

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 commonly called "Rash", a shortened form of her first name, and "The Girl With The Blue Hair", an ode to her bright blue hairstyle which she dons whenever she takes to the field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Nigeria Women Premier League</span> Football league season

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 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's football club based in Edo State, in southern 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 2021–22 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.

The 2022–23 NWFL Premiership was the 33rd season of Nigeria's top flight women's football league and the third season since its rebranding. The regular season commenced 30 November 2022 and ended 19 April 2023 with the playoffs taking place from 6 to 11 June 2023.

Vivian Obianujunwa Ikechukwu is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX Femenil club Cruz Azul and the Nigeria women's national team.

References

  1. ↑ "Onigbinde optimistic about better Women's league". Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Nigeria Women Football League Incorporated" . Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "NFF wants Dame Jonathan to lead Falcons to Canada". Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Flourishing league kicks off again". BBC. 17 March 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Falode, Okenwa head new NNL, NWFL boards". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  6. ↑ "Aisha Falode pushing the boundaries in Nigeria". inside FIFA. 16 July 2023.
  7. ↑ ""Invitation of players of Nigerian descent to Super Falcons will kill NWFL" FC Robo coach". bestchoicesports.com.ng. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Edo Queens win first ever NWFL title". Punchng.com. 26 May 2024.
  9. ↑ "NWFL re-brands, unveils new logo in Lagos". Channelstv. 5 March 2020.
  10. ↑ "Women: Nigeria: Championship". sports123.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  11. ↑ "Nigeria - List of Women Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  12. ↑ "The forgotten Falcon". supersport.com.
  13. ↑ "Technical Report FIFA Women World Cup 1991" (PDF). fifa.com. p. 84. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  14. ↑ "No plans to resurrect Ufuoma Babes- Kuejebola". Futaa.com. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  15. 1 2 3 "Africa: Ufuoma Babes Face Disbandment". PM News. December 31, 1998. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  16. ↑ "Delta are women league champs". SuperSport. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  17. ↑ "2009 Nigeria Women League Final". TideOnline.com. Tide News Website. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "Football".
  19. ↑ "Rivers Angels Eye more Trophy". TideOnline.com. The Tide News Website. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  20. ↑ "Women 2010/2011 football league season begins Jan 8". www.dailytrust.com.ng. Archived from the original on 2017-08-15.
  21. ↑ "Rivers roast Ibom Queens in Cup tie". Super Sport. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  22. ↑ "Super Falcon Ohale relishing Swedish move". BBC Sport.
  23. ↑ "Nigeria: Delta Queens Win 2012 Women's League Super-Six" . Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  24. ↑ "Women's Premier League a reality". supersport.com.
  25. ↑ "Rivers, Delta Do Battle For Women League Title In Super 6 Final". 2012.
  26. ↑ "Nasarawa Amazons are Nigeria Women League Champions | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  27. ↑ "Nasarawa Amazons upset Rivers Angels to lift League trophy - The Nation Nigeria". Archived from the original on 2017-08-15.
  28. ↑ Ahmadu, Samuel (November 27, 2014). "Rivers Angels are Nigeria women league champions". Goal.com. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  29. ↑ "Rivers Angels retain Nigeria Women Premier League title" . Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  30. ↑ "Abia hosts 2015 Nigeria Women Premier League Super Six" . Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  31. ↑ "NWFL: Obuah Congratulates Rivers Angels For Emerging As Winners".
  32. ↑ Tide, The (23 January 2017). "Amazons Promise To Win Domestic Double Next Season".
  33. ↑ "Bayelsa Queens get N22m from Governor Dickson for NWPL title win". Pulse. 29 January 2019.
  34. ↑ "How Rivers Angels won the Nigeria Women Premier League title at 2019 NWPL". Pulse.ng. 3 October 2019.
  35. ↑ "Coronavirus: Nigeria Women League 2019/20 Season Cancelled". July 8, 2020.
  36. ↑ "From The Nigeria Women Football League To Topscore In Europe: The Story Of Emueje Ogbiagbevha". 3 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  37. ↑ "Annam Imo named NWPL Player of the Season". Sport Compass. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.