 | |
| 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 J. S. 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.[ citation needed ] The club went on to win the 1993, 1994, 1997 editions of the Challenge Cup as well. [3]
After winning the Challenge Cup, the club won the first edition of the Mandela Cup in 1990.[ citation needed ] During the early 1990s, BCC Lions were one of the dominant teams in the league, peaking with the double in 1994.[ citation needed ]
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. [4]
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Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a 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 which 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, and Jukun people, etc. Its capital is Makurdi. Benue is a rich agricultural region; common crops include oranges, mangoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, soya bean, guinea corn, flax, yams, sesame, rice, groundnuts, and palm trees.
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