Calabar Rovers Football Club is a Nigerian

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

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

. They play their games at U. J. Esuene Stadium.

History

The club was founded in 1976. They were one of the original members of the Nigerian Second Division which was established in 1979. Under Brazilian coach Paulo Luiz Campos, they adopted a fast-paced style and were promoted after finishing second in 1981. They stayed in the top flight for about a decade before being relegated to the lower leagues in 1993. During that time, they made the semifinals of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

twice but never won any major accolades. Their last game however was the controversial 13–0 loss to

Akwa United Akwa United Football Club is a Nigerian football (soccer), football club based in Uyo, in Akwa Ibom State. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first division of Nigerian football. The Godswill Akpabio International Stadium i ...

on August 12, 2006. Already doomed to relegation to the Nigeria Amateur League, Rovers had three players sent off in the blowout which allowed Akwa to be promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

by a goal differential of one. Rovers, on the other hand, disbanded after the game.

Return to Nigerian League

In May 2008, the

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

government announced plans to bring the team back from hiatus and with corporate sponsorship. With the help of United Cement Company (UNICEM), they entered into a player share agreement with newly promoted Dankat FC of Kano for 12 million

naira The naira (sign: ₦; code: NGN; , , , ) is the currency of Nigeria. One naira is divided into 100 ''kobo''. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the sole issuer of legal tender money throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It controls the ...

, and will play in 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 ...

in 2008–09. Since the team also acquired Dankat's league slot, they played their first season back in the mostly-northern division A. The team was run for the next five seasons by UNICEM. For part of the 2009 season they played at the Uyo Township Stadium while Esuene stadium was renovated for the

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. Switzerland national under-17 football team, Switzerland won the tournament, beating the host team and holde ...

Managers

Dorian Marin Dorian Marin (born 18 June 1960) is a Romanian football coach who last managed Nigerian side Calabar Rovers. Coaching career In 1991, Marin attended the federal coaching school of the Romanian Football Federation which he graduated in 1992. He ...

(2017–19) * Bob Osim (2019–)

References

External links

Paulo Campos Official website
(archived 17 April 2008)
Calabar Rovers plan comeback
(archived 31 August 2021)
Rovers FC resurrects as Unicem-Rovers FCRovers will bounce back, says Osim"We deserved the point"-Rovers
(archived 22 February 2013)
UNICEM Rovers defeat Mighty Jets
Association football clubs established in 1976 Football clubs in Nigeria Calabar 1976 establishments in Nigeria {{Nigeria-footyclub-stub