Former Super Eagles coach Christian Chukwu has stated that the Nigerian league is still on its way to becoming a success after 30 years.
Exactly on the 12th day of May 1990, the Nigeria Professional Football league, NPFL was established.
Without any fanfare, such that heralded the first North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1969 and the J-League of Japan in 1993, professional league kicked off in Nigeria on May 12th, 1990
The pioneer clubs of the league were the now-defunct Lagos ACB, BCC Lions, Bendel Insurance, Bendel United (now defunct), and Enyimba FC.
Others were Highlanders of Jos, Iwuanyanwu Nationale, (now Heartland FC) JIB, Kano Pillars, Obanta United (later VIP), Ranchers, Enugu Rangers, and Stationery Stores.
Speaking to brila.net, the former coach who has played, coached, and also managed clubs in the league said there was remarkable progress in the league now when compared to 30 years ago.
“At least, there are Stadiums everywhere now, right? That’s some improvement.
“We have also improved in terms of players’ welfare but things can be better, the former coach added.
“But until we start leaving the government out of clubs management, we still have a long way to go,’
“We need the government to take off their hands off club management totally, we need to get sponsors to do these things, sports is business,’
Across ages, Enyimba has been the most successful, winning the professional league eight times. They are followed by the crowd-pulling Kano Pillars who won four times.
