Bayelsa United FC is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Yenagoa Yenagoa is a Local Government Area and capital city of Bayelsa State, Southern Nigeria. It is located at the Niger-Delta region of the country at coordinates . The LGA has an area of 706 km2 and an estimated population of 798,466 at 2024. ...

Bayelsa Bayelsa is a state in the South South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. The capital, Yenagoa, ...

, Nigeria. They play in the Premier division of Nigerian football, the

Nigeria Professional Football League The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) (formerly the Nigeria Professional Football League) is the highest level of club football in Nigerian football league system. The Nigerian Premier League has suffered like many others, from the financi ...

. Their home games are played at the

Samson Siasia Stadium Samson Siasia Sports Stadium is a multi-use stadium located in the Yenagoa metropolis, Nigeria. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it is the home stadium of both Ocean Boys FC and the Bayelsa United. The stadium has a capacity ...

, Ovom, Yenagoa,

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is a state in the South South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. The capital, Yenag ...

. The current coach of the team is

Ladan Bosso Isah Ladan Bosso (born 5 October 1967) is the current head coach of Bayelsa United and a former coach of the Nigeria national under-20 football team, nicknamed the ''Flying Eagles.'' He was appointed in September 2020. He led the Nigerian team ...

, who has previously coached the team.

2008/09 season

Due to torrential rains making the pitch unplayable, they played the 2007–2008 season in the

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

town of Oghara. During the 2008–09 season, Bayelsa was forced to play three home games in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

after crowd trouble in their

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

with Ocean Boys. Then at the new year's break the team was suspended from continuing their league schedule despite being at the top of the table. This was due to outstanding debts and salaries. In a surprising move, the team sacked technical adviser Miekeme Fekete right as the squad was traveling to

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

to play in the

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

. They won the Nigerian Premier League for the first time after a 2–2 draw at Warri Wolves F.C. on June 14, qualifying them for the

2010 CAF Champions League The 2010 CAF Champions League was the 46th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 14th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner, TP Mazembe q ...

. The celebration was dampened however when captain

Abel Tador Abel Tador (28 October 1984 – 14 June 2009) was a Nigerian professional footballer. Career Tador was captain of club side Bayelsa United, and led his side to the 2008–09 Nigerian Premier League. He formerly played for NPA and Sharks. Death ...

was killed by robbers hours after the game.

2009/10 season

In January 2010, the Bayelsa State government said they were looking for private sponsorship to take over the team. They were relegated at the end of the season by one point after losing three of their last four games and being banished to play home games in

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

. They protested the relegation, claiming three points should have been awarded from an abandoned game in Bauchi when home team Wikki Tourists left the pitch. After months of court action (and the temporary expansion of the league to 24 teams), their relegation was confirmed in September 2010.

2011 season

Financial problems plagued Bayelsa's return to the second division. They let many players leave on free transfers at the start of the season due to non-payment of salaries. In May 2011, they boycotted their state FA cup final and had a protest at the Bayelsa State government building because of non-payment, in some cases going back two years to their league title. At the time, they were at the top of the table in the National League Division 1-B.

2012 season

They won their nine-team division to win promotion back to the Premier League and placed second to rivals Nembe City F.C. in the Nigerian National League Super Four tournament. They were relegated after a last place finish in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Achievements

Nigerian Premier League The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) (formerly the Nigeria Professional Football League) is the highest level of club football in Nigerian football league system. The Nigerian Premier League has suffered like many others, from the financ ...

: 1 :: 2009. *Nigeria FA Cup: 1 :: 2021. *Nigerian Super Cup: 1 :: 2009.

Performance in CAF competitions

: 1 appearance ::

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

– Semi-Finals *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

: 1 appearance ::

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

– Preliminary Round

Former head coaches

Alphonsus Dike Alphonsus may refer to: As a given name *Any of a number of rulers named Alfonso * Alphonsus J. Donlon (1867–1923), American Jesuit * Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787), Roman Catholic Saint * Alphonsus Liguori Penney (born 1924), Canadian Roman Cat ...

Jossy Dombraye Josiah "Jossy" Dombraye is a former Nigerian football forward and manager, most recently on the technical staff of Bayelsa United F.C. He spent most of his career with Sharks F.C. and was part of the Nigeria national football team that won the 197 ...

* Richard Bubagha

Former chairmen

Kali Gwegwe Kali Gwegwe (born 2 July 1969 in Oguta, Imo State, Nigeria) is the former chairman of Bayelsa United F.C., a Nigerian Premier League outfit based in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Prior to his appointment, he was the chairman of the Youth Sports Federatio ...

Henry Nwosu Henry Onyemanze Nwosu (born 14 June 1963) is a Nigerian football manager and former player. Club career Nwosu spent his career at home with New Nigeria Bank (NNB) of Benin City and African Continental Bank (ACB) of Lagos. He also played for ...

References

External links

Team website
(archived 1 March 2014)
Bayelsa United FC Results
– current results of Bayelsa United FC matches

nbsp;– ''AllAfrica.com''
Bayelsa exchange N200m debt for free transfer
– ''KickoffNigeria.com''. {{Nigerian Premier League Association football clubs established in 2000 Football clubs in Bayelsa State 2000 establishments in Nigeria Sports clubs and teams in Nigeria