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Lagos state being a metropolitan city, has played host to a good number of football clubs that went as far as playing in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), the latest of which is the newly promoted Ikorodu City FC.
Last season, Sporting Lagos brought the razzmatazz of NPFL football to the state but couldn’t sustain the momentum as they were relegated at the end of the season, an unfortunate end Ikorodu City is aiming to avoid.
Note that Ikorodu City FC was established in January 2022 according to the media officer of the club, Samuel Bamisebi. They are privately owned with a board of directors headed by a chairman, Sanmi Doherty.
Unlike most regular clubs across Nigeria, Ikorodu City has a football academy where some of the club’s first-team players were produced and transitioned to professional football.
Like Sporting Lagos who played their 2023-2024 NPFL season at Onikan stadium (Mobolaji Johnson’s Arena), Ikorodu City will play their first league campaign at the said stadium.
“[Ikorodu City FC] is not owned by one person; we have a board of directors,” the club’s media officer said. “The board of directors coordinates and controls the affairs of the club, so it is not a man’s club per se. And yes, of course, you know they will have shares, so there’ll be major stakeholders. Also, the home stadium is currently the Mobolaji Johnson’s arena in Onikan.”
Ikorodu City will venture into the 2024-2025 NPFL campaign under the tutelage of coach Bright Ozigbagbe who led the club to gain promotion to the NPFL. Their first game of the season is a big test for the newly promoted side as they will play against former league champions Kano Pillars, away at Young Katsina Stars stadium in Katsina.
“Bright Ozigbagbe worked with Pepsi Academy as well as Barcelona Academy”, the Media officer of the club told Naija News.
He added, “The mission of the club is to get boys, young boys, away from the streets and try to engage them more, especially in Lagos. We try to reduce hooliganism and lots of violence from the street, so we pick up some of these boys that we see.
“We get them either into the academy or if they are good enough we get them into the senior team while we infuse a very tiny bit of experience but you see that the majority bulk of the club is built on talents and youth rather than experience so for our first season that ended in 2022, almost all our players were playing in the professional league for the first time they were having their debut just as we are going to do in the NPFL now.
“About 90 percent of them are going to be having their debut in the NPFL with us, so the vision is to become one of the key leading model football clubs in Nigeria that can stand on its own and generate income as well as make trades with foreign clubs.”
One of the unique things about Sporting Lagos was the followership they were able to drive through membership ticket sales, a format the Ikorodu City FC is expected to adopt in their maiden edition of the elite league campaign.
The media officer said, “The information on how to be a seasoned ticket holder and how you get margin, those will still come out very soon because they are finalizing some plans.”
He added, “Yes, there is Ikorodu City Academy, and it is quite obvious. The academy is running. The information about the academy is on our website. You can see information on how people can be part of the academy.
“The academy is a long-term project of the club as well as to be able to get some of these young talents, homegrown talents because we believe that that is where we need to make more impacts.
“If we can get some of these younger guys, give them opportunities in the senior team, or be able to export some of them to a foreign club and give them a career, it will be perfect for our goals and objectives.”
The aforementioned makes Ikorodu City FC more than a club, even though they are just two years old in the professional football business. The only aspect of the club that has not been settled is not having a home ground located around their immediate enclave. But the good news is that they are planning to have one according to their media officer.
“As for the stadium, we are not building a stadium yet, but there are plans to get a stadium in Ikorodu”, Samuel Bamisebi told Naija News.
How far can Ikorodu City Go in the 2024-2025 NPFL season
Recall that Ikorodu City gained promotion to the NPFL after finishing second in the Southern Conference of the Nigeria National League (NNL), behind Beyond Limits Academy who have been demoted to the NNL because their owner owns another NPFL club, Remo Stars.
During the pre-season window, Ikorodu City proved that they are in the league for serious business as they recorded some impressive results, including defeating the reigning Suddense champions, Al–Merrikh SC and Rivers United at the Value Jet Pre-season tournament in Ikenne, Ogun state.
With these unexpected results, Coach Ozegbagbei and his boys look like a team that will go far in their league debut. However, the coach doesn’t want to be too ambitious as he simply told Naija News that the aim of the club is “to remain in the NPFL.” He emphasized, “Yes, that is our target.”
So, from 4 p.m. later today, September 8, to the end of the 2024-2025 NPFL season, all eyes will be on Ikorodu City FC as they push to remain in the elite division beyond this season as projected by their coach.
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