Enyimba Football Club, commonly known as Enyimba, is a Nigerian professional

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 the city of Aba, Abia State which plays in the Nigerian Professional Football League. Their name means ''People's Elephant'' in

Igbo language Igbo ( , ; Standard Igbo: ''Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò'' ) is the principal native language cluster of the Igbo people, an ethnicity in the Southeastern part of Nigeria. Igbo languages are spoken by a total of 31 million people. The number of Igbo ...

and is also the nickname used for the city of Aba. Founded in 1976, the club rose to prominence in the 2000s and is considered the most successful Nigerian football club as they have won two African Champions League titles, nine Nigerian championships and four Federation Cups since 2001. Their most recent league glory came in the 2022–23 season.

History

Early years

The club was founded as a state-owned club in November 1976 by Jerry Amadi Enyeazu, who was the first Director for Sports in the newly established

Imo State Imo () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo R ...

, a province in southeast Nigeria. In August 1991, Imo State was divided further and

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 ...

was created from the part of Imo which included the city of Aba, Enyimba's hometown, so the new state government took over as owners of Enyimba. In the 1970s and 1980s, Enyimba struggled to make a notable impact as the traditional powerhouses such as

Enugu Rangers Rangers International Football Club, commonly known as Enugu Rangers, is a Nigerian professional association football team founded in 1970. Based in Enugu, the Rangers play their home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Enugu Rangers are one ...

, Shooting Stars, Bendel Insurance and local rivals Iwuanyanwu Nationale dominated Nigerian football. Enyimba's rise to fame began in 1990 when the Professional League was inaugurated. In their first season in the top division, Enyimba finished 13th out of 16 clubs, winning just five out of 30 games with a goal difference 25–36. In the following season, they won eight games but still finished 15th with 36 points, just one point short from escaping relegation behind Stationery Stores, and were relegated to second level for the 1992 season. Enyimba stayed in the second level for the next two seasons before winning promotion in 1993, finishing first with 29 wins out of 46 games, winning a record 96 points with a goal difference of 64–25, with most goals scored and fewest goals conceded in the 24-team league. Back at the top level, their string of good results continued, and they finished the 1994 season third, behind BCC Lions and Shooting Stars, missing out on a spot in the 1995

CAF Cup The CAF Cup was an annual competition organised by the CAF for domestic leagues runners-up of member associations who have not qualified to one of the two pre-existing CAF international club competitions the African Cup of Champions Clubs or t ...

on goal difference. After a mediocre 1995 season, they won fourth place in 1996, before a series of inconsistent results saw them narrowly escaping relegation on goal difference in 1997 and finishing seventh in the 1999 season.

Rise to prominence

The ''People's Elephant'' experienced international football for the first time in August 2001, when they were invited to play

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

in a charity friendly which marked the return of Ronaldo after a 21-month injury layoff and saw Enyimba thrashed 7–0 with four goals from

Christian Vieri Christian Vieri (; born 12 July 1973), commonly known as Bobo Vieri, is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Having been born in Italy, Vieri moved with his family to Australia as a child, before returning ...

. The club went on to win their second successive league title in 2002, and then became the first Nigerian club to win the continent's premier international club competition in the

2003 CAF Champions League The 2003 CAF Champions League was the 39th of the CAF Champions League, the Africa's premier club football tournament prize organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Enyimba of Nigeria defeated Ismaily of Egypt Egypt ( , ...

by beating Ismaily of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

2–1 on aggregate, under coach Kadiri Ikhana. This was also the first time since

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

that a Nigerian club had reached the final of the competition. Several key players from Enyimba's 2003 continental success have since gone on to play for

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, ...

( Vincent Enyeama, Obinna Nwaneri and Onyekachi Okonkwo) and Benin Republic National Team ( Muri Ogunbiyi). Enyimba then successfully defended their title as they won their second consecutive African Champions League title in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, beating

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

's Étoile du Sahel in the finals. After finishing runners-up in the national championship in 2004 (behind

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

), Enyimba won the

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

in 2005, winning their fourth Nigerian championship and their first Nigerian Cup.

2003–2008: awards

In 2003, Enyimba won the best team in Africa award while coach Kadiri emerged the best coach. In 2004, the club retained the best coach award while the club's first choice goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama won the Champions league player of the year. These two Champions league victories in the hands of West African teams, plus the second

CAF Super Cup The CAF Super Cup, known as TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was f ...

against Accra Hearts of Oak finally brought Enyimba to the limelight of African football. The team signed a $300,000 uniform deal with

Joma Joma Sport, S.A. is a Spanish sports clothing and shoes brand. History Joma was founded in 1965 by Fructuoso López to produce shoes for general use. The brand name comes from the given name of Fructuoso's first born son (José Manuel). In 196 ...

in 2008.

2016 season

The 2016 season was not so favorable for People's Elephants as end the season being ninth on the league with 50 points.

2017 season

Enyimba finished third in the league with 61 points. The third position saw Enyimba qualify to represent

at the CAF Confederations Cup the following season.

Record-breaking Eighth Title

On 12 June, 2019, Enyimba won a record 8th Nigeria Premier Football League title, to move one clear of Rangers International F.C. on the all-time rankings. The title was clinched after a 3-0 victory over

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 ...

, with goals from Reuben Bala, Stanley Dimgba and Abdulrahman Bashir, during the Super Six Championship Playoffs in which they garnered 12 points from 5 matches.

Ninth Title

The 2022–23 Nigeria Professional Football League season had an abridged format in which teams were split into two groups of 10, with the top 3 teams from each group qualifying for the Super Six Championship Playoffs. On 21 May, 2023, the final day of the regular season, the team coached by former

Nigeria national football team The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in Men's international Association football, football. Governed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), they are three-time Africa Cup of Nations (Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON) winners, w ...

winger, Finidi George, secured a Super Six Championship Playoff spot with a draw against Shooting Stars SC in Ibadan. On 3 June, 2023, they faced Remo Stars in the first game of the playoffs, at Onikan Stadium. In the second half, they went ahead through Adiele Eriugo but were pegged back soon after by Junior Lokosa. They were soon awarded a penalty after a foul on Chijioke Mbaoma by Segun Olalere. Chukwuemeka Obioma converted the penalty to give them the lead again. In stoppage time, Remo's captain Nduka Junior scored a free kick. The game ended 2-2. On 5 June, 2023, Enyimba faced Lobi Stars in the second round of playoff games. The only goal of the game early in the first half through Chukwuemeka Obioma. The 1-0 victory sent them to the top of the standings. On 7 June, 2023, they faced Bendel Insurance, who were on a 20-game unbeaten run, in the third round of playoff games. In the 23rd minute, The People’s Elephant went ahead through Sadiq Abubakar. In the 37th minute, Divine Nwachukwu equalised for Bendel Insurance. There was no goal in the second half and the game ended 1-1. On 9 June 2023, Enyimba faced Sunshine Stars in the fourth round of playoff games without league top scorer, Chukwuemeka Obioma, who had picked up an injury in the previous game. They went ahead in the 3rd minute through Chijioke Mbaoma. In the 8th minute, he doubled their lead.

Midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, Ikenna Cooper, sealed a 3-0 win with a free kick in the 66th minute. They remained top of the standings ahead of their final day opponents, Rivers United, on goal difference. On 11 June 2023, Enyimba faced Rivers United in the NPFL title decider with both teams locked on 8 points and separated by goal difference. Earlier in the day, Remo Stars had beaten Bendel Insurance 1-0 to go top of the table on 9 points. This result meant that Enyimba only needed a draw to win the title, as they had a superior goal difference to the other two contenders. Enyimba took the lead in the 39th minute through Ekene Awazie and went into halftime 1-0 up. Three minutes after the restart, Rivers United equalised through Nwangwa Nyima but The People's Elephant held on till the end to clinch their record-extending ninth Nigeria Premier Football League title.

Home ground

Enyimba currently uses the Enyimba International Stadium located in the city of Aba in

. The stadium was renovated in 2018.

Honours

Domestic

* Nigerian Premier League ** Winners (9): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009–10,

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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Nigerian FA Cup The Nigeria Federation Cup is the main football (soccer), football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the States of Nigeria, 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, FCT of Nigeria. It is the ...

** Winners (4): 2005, 2009, 2013, 2014 * National Second Division ** Winners (1): 1993 * Nigerian Super Cup ** Winners (4): 2001, 2003, 2010, 2013

Continental

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 ...

** Winners (2):

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

** Winners (2):

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Current squad

''As of 12 February 2023''

Performance in CAF competitions

: 8 appearances ::

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

– second round ::

– champion (Enyimba International F.C. season 2003) ::

– champion ::

– group stage ''(Top 8)'' ::

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

– group stage ''(Top 8)'' ::

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

– semi-finals ::

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

– semi-finals ::

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

– first round ::

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

– group stage ''(Top 8)'' ::

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

– first round *

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 ...

: 3 appearances ::

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 ...

– second round of 16 ::

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

– semi-finals ::

– quarter-finals ::

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

– quarter-finals

Coaching history

* Kosta Papić (1998–02) * Shaibu Amodu (2002–03) * Kadiri Ikhana (2003–04) * Michael Urukalo (2004) * Okey Emordi (2004–05) * Alphonsus Dike (2005–06) * Maurice Cooreman (Oct 2006 – 9 Feb) * Daniel Amokachi (2008) * Augustine Eguavoen (2008–09) * Okey Emordi (Aug 2009 – Nov 2011) * Abdu Maikaba (Nov 2011– Jan 2016) * Paul Aigbogun (Jan 2016 – Jul 2018) * Ali Hanteh (Jul 2018 – Jan 2020) * Fatai Osho (Jan 2020 – 2021) * Finidi George (Sept 2021 – May 2024) * Yemi Daniel Olanrewaju (May 2024 – Dec 2024) * Stanley Azunda Eguma (Jan 2025 – current)

Notable players

* Kalu Uche * Ibrahim Mustapha * Vincent Enyeama * Obinna Nwaneri * Mouritala Ogunbiyi * Uche Kalu * Onyekachi Okonkwo * Joetex Frimpong * Ikechukwu Ezenwa * Chinedu Udoji * Valentine Ozornwafor * Stephen Worgu * Romanus Orjinta * Dele Aiyenugba * Ikouwem Udo * Anayo Iwuala

References

External links

Official web siteEnyimba FC Results
- current results of Enyimba FC matches {{CAF Super Cup winners Association football clubs established in 1976 Football clubs in Nigeria Abia State 1976 establishments in Nigeria CAF Champions League–winning clubs CAF Super Cup winning clubs