The NWFL Premiership (formerly Nigeria Women Premier League) is the top-level league for

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...

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, ...

. It is the women's equivalent of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) for male players. The Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) organizes the Nigeria Women Premier League and the Nigeria Women Pro-league. In November 2017, Aisha Falode was elected chairperson of the league board, and was officially designated in January 2017.

History

Women's football in Nigeria started in 1978 with the foundation of the NIFFOA (Nigeria Female Football Organising Association), renamed NIFFPA (Nigeria Female Football Proprietors Associations) in 1979, and joined by clubs like Jegede Babes, Ufuoma Babes, Larry Angels, Kakanfo Babes and others. The first championship was organised by the NFA in 1990. Ufuoma Babes were dominant in the 1990s, before succumbing to Pelican Stars, who won the league between 1997 and 2002. By the 2010s, Rivers Angels became more frequent in the super tournaments, a mini-tournament held annually among the top-placed teams, to determine the overall winner of the league. Despite the high frequency of the abridged format over the years, the 2014 league season saw a straight round-robin season in determining the league winners. However, by 2015, there was a reintroduction of the group system. Since 2015, the league has enjoyed considerable success and improvement under the auspices of Aisha Falode, and have produced several players for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

and cadet teams, with more than 70% of players who have been capped for the national team having played in the NWFL. Since 2021, the league winners qualifies for the CAF Women's Champions League. In the 2024 season, Edo Queens became the newest champions with their debut league win.

Renaming

On 5 March 2020, the Nigeria Women Football League, the governing body of professional

in Nigeria, announced the re-branding of the women's league, by unveiling a new logo and renaming the three tiers of the league under the tutelage of the NWFL. With the rebranding, the Nigeria Women Premier League is now known as the NWFL Premiership, the second-tier league known as NWFL Championship (formerly NWFL Pro-League) while the third-tier division becomes the NWFL Nationwide (formerly NWFL Amateur League). NWFL LOGO

Format

The women's top division league in Nigeria usually follows an abridged format with a super tournament at the end of the season. The top teams in each group (sometimes 1, 2 or 3) will form the super tournament at the end of the regular season to determine the overall winner of the league. The last placed teams are normally relegated to the second division, while promoted teams from the lower division are also admitted into the league. Despite the high frequency of the abridged format over the years, the 2014 league season saw a straight round robin season in determining the league winners, however by 2015, there was a reintroduction of the group system.

Champions

The list of champions and runners-ups:

Most successful clubs

Individual honours

Top scorers

Player of the Season

Notes

References

External links

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NWFL: Naija Ratels’ Bankole Olowookere bags December ‘Coach of the month award’
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The Informant247 Naija Sport
{{Top level women's association football leagues around the world Women's association football leagues in Nigeria

Sports leagues established in 1990 1990 establishments in Nigeria NWFL Premiership