The 2014 Nigeria Professional Football League was the 43rd season of the competition since its inception, and the 24th since the rebranding of the league as the "Professional League". The season was scheduled to kick off on November 22, about one month after the conclusion of the 2013 season. However, on that date the league's start was postponed to mid-February until after the

2014 African Nations Championship The 2014 African Nations Championship, known as the 2014 CHAN for short and as the Orange S.A., Orange African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 3rd edition of the biennial association football tournament organized by Confed ...

and to allow the teams to complete all their FIFA licensing. It was delayed again until March.

Clubs

Sixteen teams from the previous season and four teams promoted from the

Nigeria National League The Nigeria National League (NNL) (formerly the National Division 1) is the second-highest overall in the Nigerian football league system after the Nigeria Premier Football League, and is currently contested by 46 clubs. Each season, four ...

( Crown F.C., Giwa FC, Taraba F.C. and

Abia Warriors F.C. Abia Warriors Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in the city of Umuahia, Abia state. Originally playing as NEPA FC, the club adopted the name Ejoor Babes in 1994 in honour of a former military administrator of the State, ...

) are participating in this season. With Abia Warriors debuting it means the

Abia State Abia is a state in the Southeastern region of Nigeria. The state's capital is Umuahia and its most populous city is Aba. Abia is bordered the west by Imo, east by Cross River, south by Rivers, northwest by Anambra and northeast by Enug ...

derby with Enyimba will feature at the highest level of Nigerian football for the first time.

Table

News

*- On February 21,

Sunshine Stars F.C. Sunshine Stars Football Club is a Nigerian Association football, football club based in Akure. They play in the top division in Nigerian football, the Nigerian Premier League. Their home stadium is the 5,000-capacity Akure Township Stadium. Sunsh ...

was involved in an accident on the road between Ijebu-Ode and Akure. Five players and the team masseur went to the hospital with serious injuries. However, nobody was killed. *- On the eve of the league start, Giwa F.C. and Nembe City (the last two

champions and the league's only two privately funded clubs) were withdrawn from league fixtures by the LMC for failing to provide guarantees of the minimum salary for players, leaving the league at 18 teams. Both teams appealed to be reinstated on March 20. Giwa was admitted back on the 2nd of April and Nembe City was readmitted the next day. *- After the Week 1 games, Abia Warriors refused to travel to Maiduguri to play El-Kanemi Warriors, citing fears for safety after recent Boko Haram attacks. The league then refused to sanction games there, and El Kanemi nominally agreed to move games this season to Kano. *- The Week 26 fixtures were suspended when the Nigeria Referees Association went on strike. The league resumed 17 September.

Managerial (head coach) changes

Top scorers

; 23 goals * Mfon Udoh

Enyimba FC Enyimba Football Club, commonly known as Enyimba, is a Nigerian professional football club based in the city of Aba, Abia State which plays in the Nigerian Professional Football League. Their name means ''People's Elephant'' in Igbo language an ...

References

{{2014 in African football (CAF) Nigeria Professional Football League seasons

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...