Finidi George Reveals Why He Accepted To Coach Rivers United

Former Super Eagles coach, Finidi George said he decided to accept the Rivers United coaching job because he sees it as an opportunity to “give back”.

Finidi George was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and from 1991 to 1993, the 53-year-old tactician played for Sharks, one of the two clubs that merged to form Rivers United.

He went on to play for some top European clubs like Ajax, Betis, Mallorca, and Ipswich Town. He also enjoyed a lengthy international career with Nigeria national team which lasted from 1991 to 2002.

After retiring from professional football in 2004, Finidi George decided to take to coaching. He returned to Nigeria in 2021 after he was appointed the head coach of Enyimba of Aba. In his second season at the club, he helped them to win the 2022-2023 NPFL title.

Amid that, he was the assistant coach to Jose Peseiro in the Super Eagles, a position he maintained for 20 months before the Portuguese coach’s contract expired. After Peseiro’s exit in February 2024, Finidi was named the team’s interim coach in March and subsequently the team’s head coach in April.

Unfortunately for the Port Harcourt-born tactician, he couldn’t do much with the Super Eagles and had to resign in June 2024.

During his unveiling as Rivers United’s head coach on Wednesday, July 3, Finidi George said he was inspired to take the job due to the performance of the team in recent years (playing on the continent in the last two seasons).

“First I have to say I am very happy to be here. This is where I grew up; I started my football career in Sharks back then,” Finidi said.

“I left this place a footballer and back as a coach. As a coach, there are chapters you have to close and new ones have to emerge. Rivers United is a very big team seeing the results in the last season inspired me to come back and see how I can impact a little bit.

“I’ve been working in Abia State for some time and I think this is an opportunity for me to give back. I decided to take this challenge to come back to Rivers State. I’m not here for fun.”

Finidi George is coming to Rivers United after a season that didn’t end too well for the Port Harcourt-based club. Recall that last season, the former NPFL champions finished 8th in the league which means that there is no continental football for them next season.

Finidi has acknowledged that his primary target as the head coach of the club is to return them to continental football at the end of the forthcoming season.

“The target for a big team like Rivers is all about winning. We all want results but we have to work towards it. The target is to at least get the continental ticket next season and we will try our best to do that”, he said.