BascoVanVeli:


Speak about ur club so we know where u are coming from. Not every club is owing their players or plays on bad surfaces. I am an Akwa United fan, lately we have been playing great football and we don't owe our players.

you make me laugh...see how you taking pride in a league where close 10 clubs are owning their players...and many can't pay their players good salaries....

you expect me to sit down in a sunny day watch their match...?

not until the clubs are auctioned out to private bodies for management and the clubs drastically reduced to let say...

20clubs..........NPFL
20clubs...........NNL2
16 CLUBS.....NNL1. ..A
16 CLUBS....NNL1.....B

each state of the federation should provide 2 clubs each....other football clubs and academics should be affiliated to this football clubs by geographical location...

the clubs should be privatised....solely managed by corporate bodies....

the LMC should also be privatised in the senses that the npfl sponsor e.g GLO in time past should take up the management of the LMC....wit nff having some reps as board members...

the Nigeria military should be encouraged to be one of the league sponsors....where they will help provide security at match venue.....
until some of this silent points raised above and some other persons are adopted...the Labour in vain who strive to market this league.....

BascoVanVeli:


Ehn sister no talk am o!!!! Akwa united will be ready for the confederation cup mark my words.

as long as they don't play that boring game they played in Aiteo Cup Finals

daveP:
The year i followed the league like madt was the year Heartland FC and Kano Pillars made it to the CAF semis and TP Mazembe won that year. AIT aired it till end and see, i no go lie, i had to start getting expectant. Visitors to our home thought it was a barca, manu, chelsea match ongoing, but they were wrong. They both played 'sweet soccer' and that is why i still have Heartland etched in my head. Angered when i heard they got relegated, and i lost interest. Efe Efugh was my best to watch then asides Ike Thankgod. Then Gambo of Kano Pillars....all cos of AIT...if only that continued. My euro league friends could not just understand why i was even 'hyping' these 'mediocres'. I need a name to latch onto.

I watched the Super 6 on NTA and I must say I was not impressed. They didn't even have the time showing during the match and the commentator could not get one name right for the whole 90 minutes. 2009 was a big year for our local football and the NPFL missed heartland and I am glad they are back.

Humility017:

you make me laugh...see how you taking pride in a league where close 10 clubs are owning their players...and many can't pay their players good salaries....

you expect me to sit down in a sunny day watch their match...?

not until the clubs are auctioned out to private bodies for management and the clubs drastically reduced to let say...

20clubs..........NPFL
20clubs...........NNL2
16 CLUBS.....NNL1. ..A
16 CLUBS....NNL1.....B

each state of the federation should provide 2 clubs each....other football clubs and academics should be affiliated to this football clubs by geographical location...

the clubs should be privatised....solely managed by corporate bodies....

the LMC should also be privatised in the senses that the npfl sponsor e.g GLO in time past should take up the management of the LMC....wit nff having some reps as board members...

the Nigeria military should be encouraged to be one of the league sponsors....where they will help provide security at match venue.....
until some of this silent points raised above and some other persons are adopted...the Labour in vain who strive to market this league.....

Show me proof that close to 10 NPFL clubs currently owe salary or forever hold ur peace.

BascoVanVeli:


I watched the Super 6 on NTA and I must say I was not impressed. They didn't even have the time showing during the match and the commentator could not get one name right for the whole 90 minutes. 2009 was a big year for our local football and the NPFL missed heartland and I am glad they are back.

Commentary in npfl? big joke. But its hardwork too. Not only knowing names, but humor mixed with 'football poetry'.

"see the pass that he passed"-Victor Ikpeba(perhaps he was overwhelmed of expression)


I Alway pray for a repeat of that year.

safarigirl:
as long as they don't play that boring game they played in Aiteo Cup Finals

It was the pitch. When MFM play at Agege it is poetry in motion but for others they can hardly trap a ball. Nest of champions is a whole different ball game.

BascoVanVeli:


Show me proof that close to 10 NPFL clubs currently owe salary or forever hold ur peace.

kwara united, sunshine stars(dia own bad), iufc, rangers. i know of the akure own up close.

The recent news of the NPFL's own definition of 'loan' is the best testament of the school of thought that all the teams owe their players. salary or bonuses.(person wey no fit pay salary naim go pay bonuses well?)

daveP:
Commentary in npfl? big joke. But its hardwork too. Not only knowing names, but humor mixed with 'football poetry'.

[b]"see the pass that he passed"-[/b]Victor Ikpeba(perhaps he was overwhelmed of expression)


I Alway pray for a repeat of that year.

@ bolded I just fainted. We can have a repeat of that year but our clubs must first start making it into the group stage. I commend the LMC for giving each club some money even before the competition in order to help them out with logistics.

daveP:
kwara united, sunshine stars(dia own bad), iufc, rangers. i know of the akure own up close.

Haba hw will Kwara owe they just won promotion. Rangers don't owe salary, the Enugu Governor promised stuff that they were yet to get.

BascoVanVeli:


@ bolded I just fainted. We can have a repeat of that year but our clubs must first start making it into the group stage. I commend the LMC for giving each club some money even before the competition in order to help them out with logistics.

Oh that....that was when SE were still using Kano for qualifiers prior to 2014 wc. He and Colin Udoh were the commentators.


That mentality of playing safe at away games is the crux. 'my home is my home' mentality affects all players in the league. Let's not start on how that came about cos we both know....and our referees sef know. lol. All those 1-0s they see often don't work at CAF level; totally different ballgame! Wydad Casablanca, were they not the team that dealt with Rangers(?) in confed qualification level sotey dey begin do permutations? What did they do to conquer Africa? Is it not the same 11players we have too? Oh! The diff is club philosophy!!

LMC yaff try. But these clubs need to personally tvsh up

BascoVanVeli:


Haba hw will Kwara owe they just won promotion. Rangers don't owe salary, the Enugu Governor promised stuff that they were yet to get.

i misplaced the newspaper i got the info from....

terzurum5:

A valid question for our candid considerations Sir. I think this is another area we need to deliberate on seriously and make recommendations to the appropriate quarters.

What can we do to improve on poor spectators in our stands during matches?
cc: Komekn, Forgiveness, Safarigirl, TheGoodJoe, TheSuperNerd, Bascovanveli, Kog45, Dannycrusoe, Kennysville, LakeSidePapa, Orkpekyandega, tbaba1234, Joebie, joseph1013, Goldfish80, AIG07, Isahalbash, Joebie, Kog45, Goldfish80, daveP, kennysville, realpoacher, certitude, humility017, enomakos, Mikael2, petrobros, chrisoblog, loogan, do4luv14, icon79, maidaboi, Icon4s, lakesidepapa, goldfish80, Xzbit91, lexyman, ChrisKels, bigblangston, goke7, Chrismario, Daninya11, shawwal1, ganiyat2adeyeri, yemyke001, edi287, krattoss, eseose9, oasis007, jihday, tglobal, jars, Cheapgoals, mikron, elyte89, MilitaryCommander, kratoss, e.t.c

those videos are that of the NNL and basically NNL doesn't drive much supporters like the NPFL, I v gone to stadiums to watch both and I can tell u u can get at least 3k in any I NPFL match centre but u would struggle to get 500 at any NNL match centre.

Generally I still think publicity for our league is low, both on broadcast media and social media and the club's themselves are to blame I know some twitter handles of NNL and even NPFL sides that wouldn't update their page for their next match and they would only do so days after the last match.

I think the point above is y NPFL gets more crowd than NNL cuz the publicity the former gets is more higher than the latter.

the first thing to do is PUBLICISE the league, I believe this will bring fans. I never knew I had a course mate who had interests in the local leagues until I told him ikorodu United were playing Go round at the gateway stadium that Sunday. I was surprised he asked me not to forget to remind him whenever I'm leaving for the stadium and we went together.

Now imagine the number of fans who would v gone to see the games if only they knew.

but then I v a cousin who despite my preachings never followed me to the Osogbo township stadium to see osun united play he x aware of the league but he has a bad perception of it. now how do u convert this kind of a person? u need to repackage and increase the volume of publicity. there is this theory that no matter how poor a media content is "constant and consistent exposure of it to media users will make them get used and make it interesting to them".

my cousin always use the South African league as an example he has said it v4 that he would rather pay 5k to subscribe to dstv and watch the SA psl than spend 100naira to get a cab to watch NNL n NPFL matches at the stadium.

long story short, let's repackage the league we can start with the NTA deal advertise upcoming games with colourful graphics and the best goals from previous match centres like the epl does. I'm 90% sure if dx x done for at least 2 seasons there would be massive increase in followership of the league

let the publicity be consistent even when there is no match until weekend. on TV, Radio (the radio stations even do more of this than TV and newspapers ) and newspapers

Security should be increased then the quality of play should improve.

if u doubt that there x still interest in the league watch MFM home games on YouTube from 2016, watch Rangers etc even Remo stars had more fans that I tot. I saw vip stand with 500naira tickets filled, some brought their families.

during my visit to a remo stars home game, I heard a guy say at the popular side stand that "this is our league, this I can spend my money to watch not a league where my existence is not known to them". u v to see dx guys discuss about Abiola babe's, gateway united etc

Many are willing to come but they need a little PUSH and conviction

Oasis007:
Sir Icon4s has said the plain Truth as regard the State of the NPFL! I was an ardent Follower last Season, and hopefully gonna be a Fan this Season too.

I followed 3SC and MFM FC, it's kinda a pity 3SC is relegated, but all Hope ain't lost coz MFM is there to support this Season.

One of the major Problems of the Local League is; bad Officiating! I really give Kudos to Shehu Dikko led Board. They are really doing their best to improve the League standard same as the Officiating!

The Good News is; all the NPFL Matches gonna be aired Live on Startimes (NTA Sport Channels). We gonna have the Opportunity to watch the Local League, and I expect Viewing Centers to show the Local League for FREE.

The League viewership would definitely improve this Season, and I implore Members of the Thread to, perhaps, create a Thread for it.

I think it's high time we stopped blaming the referees even epl referees are not saint ref errors happens at every level of football

daveP:
Oh that....that was when SE were still using Kano for qualifiers prior to 2014 wc. He and Colin Udoh were the commentators.


That mentality of playing safe at away games is the crux. 'my home is my home' mentality affects all players in the league. Let's not start on how that came about cos we both know....and our referees sef know. lol. All those 1-0s they see often don't work at CAF level; totally different ballgame! Wydad Casablanca, were they not the team that dealt with Rangers(?) in confed qualification level sotey dey begin do permutations? What did they do to conquer Africa? Is it not the same 11players we have too? Oh! The diff is club philosophy!!

LMC yaff try. But these clubs need to personally tvsh up

The federal government should make an efcc that faces corruption in sports. Some of these refs should be thrown in jail along with their enablers. I strongly believe in that.

OMANBALA1:


The problem of the Nigeria league is not independent of the many developmental issues affecting Nigeria. They are not only related but are part and parcel of each other. You can build the most beautiful stadiums and have great officiating but the standards of football will still be poor because the players and the football community are part of the poor masses suffering from the ineptitude of our leaders.

For Nigeria to have a decent league that will have people coming out to watch in big numbers we must fix our infrastructures viz a viz electricity, roads , transportation ,security and all the basic amenities and social services. For instance , you need clean toilets at the stadium and maximum security.

Nigeria is a poor country with no food on millions of peoples tables and you think all of a sudden our league will just grow on it own and rival the north Africans. The problem is rooted in our bad governance.

we are poor but yet youths fill viewing centres to see man u Chelsea abi. I don't believe that but I do believe we need to increase the security and most importantly PAY the players their dues.

BascoVanVeli:


The federal government should make an efcc that faces corruption in sports. Some of these refs should be thrown in jail along with their enablers. I strongly believe in that.

Youre seeing the connections now. If ref tok say oga at the top transferred cash to execute the match 'favourably' wetin hin go do, esp when pikin neva pay sku fees? Its not our league alone, but we're dealing with ours here.

somehow:
We had about 2-3 privately owned clubs in the season that just ended, with time, more will come in. No stadium in the league is horrible, you won't even be allowed to host any match there.



He has truly and really tried, also with the introduction of youth teams and kids league (primary school) pupils before 15 years.

Are we there yet? No, but we have left the old for the new.
For anyone to still paint the league with the brush of 10 years ago is wickedness.

u seem to be the only person aside bascovanveli and icons97 who hv given the truest opinion about the league.

I vnt encountered violence in the stadiums I v visited altho I must say that it happened a few times last season. that's one area that needs to be sorted.

2. some stadiums are awful (eg rwang pam stadium, Jos and Elkanemi stadium) but 80% are decent with the artificial grass, more of natural is needed.

the issue of salary is caused by corruption and political games, private clubs don't owe, the reason ifeanyi uba owed his players was because he had issues with the efcc last year I think. Mfm, Remo stars Akwa united, Kano pillars do not owe and I know Rivers united v the money it's just politics

Danycrusoe:


we are poor but yet youths fill viewing centres to see man u Chelsea abi. I don't believe that but I do believe we need to increase the security and most importantly PAY the players their dues.

How much do people pay to watch those EPL matches ? When I still dey Naija all you need is a bottle of beer and you wouldnt have to worry but this was some 14 yrs ago.Now let me address the issue of poverty you raised, if you are gonna have 20,000 people to travel from around Lagos state to national stadium Surulere to watch a local league and pay 3000 naira to watch a match then you will realize how poverty plays a role. A person who earns 20,000 monthly will not waste 3000 to go watch some karate exhibition in the name of soccer. Now, factor the security aspect and transportation and people would rather hang in there street and watch el classico.....Ononenyi

Icon4s:


My brother, you wouldn't blame those guys at the viewing centers watching the European leagues o.

We have failed to develop our own.

It takes a lot of patience and humility to even watch the NPFL in your living room not to talk of taking the pains to drive or transport your self to the match venues where your safety is not even guaranteed.

Even me as a person that still manages to once in a while have the appetite to watch the NPFL, I only watch selected matches involving the big clubs like Enyimba, Kano Pillars and Rangers. As I said it takes a lot of patience and humility to even do this in your own house.
What I mean is while some people are watching Chelsea vs ManCity elsewhere you are watching Rivers united vs Kano Pillars

ur last paragraph is what I get furious at when people say it to me. I'm like u pay to help them improve their league but u can't pay to improve urs. if u don't build ur house no one will help u do. it's just like having a piece of land with a foundation on it but rather than plan and rebuild or finish ur house u prefer paying rent at the detriment of ur own house and even make ur house a laffing stock.

When Arsenal finally broke the trophy less run by winning the FA Cup it didn't feel any different to the time when de won nothing, since then I stopped wasting my money and time to go watch them. y would I continue wasting money on a team whose success and failure adds nothing to me or even my geographical area.

meanwhile MFM qualifying for the champions league alone made me happy, I have dx sense of belonging cuz I'm a member and believe me whenever we v a special programme like power must change hands the G.O doesn't hesitate to announce the team's latest success, encourage fans to visit the stadium and even buy their jersey.

I can support any Nigeria clubside and it will always be Nigeria over foreign. I v watched more live local league games than I v watched the El classico, I v not even watched it twice while some will kee demselv ontop

daveP:
Youre seeing the connections now. If ref tok say oga at the top transferred cash to execute the match 'favourably' wetin hin go do, esp when pikin neva pay sku fees? Its not our league alone, but we're dealing with ours here.

I can agree to that but we also should know that we are not the only corrupt race on earth. The ones who seem less corrupt have guidelines and sanctions that protect the system. If we don't protect the integrity of the league then things will run amok. Right now I think everyone is tired of the nonsense but the government should also put the clamp down.

OMANBALA1:


How much do people pay to watch those EPL matches ? When I still dey Naija all you need is a bottle of beer and you wouldnt have to worry but this was some 14 yrs ago.Now let me address the issue of poverty you raised, if you are gonna have 20,000 people to travel from around Lagos state to national stadium Surulere to watch a local league and pay 3000 naira to watch a match then you will realize how poverty plays a role. A person who earns 20,000 monthly will not waste 3000 to go watch some karate exhibition in the name of soccer. Now, factor the security aspect and transportation and people would rather hang in there street and watch el classico.....Ononenyi

guy let me tell u, epl is now 150 per match but it's not a big sum anyway but u r still having a bad image of the league which has changed over the years. I can tell u how people who earn 10,000 pay 200naira for popular side at the ifeanyi ubah stadium.

Godwin enakhana is the chairman of MFM fc and he is a member of MFM church I remember he said on radio that a rescheduled mfm game that was postponed due to rain on Sunday evening was played on Monday morning by 8am and even with the wet Weather he was surprised at the number of fans they pulled..... ON A MONDAY MORNING.... IN LAGOS....this alone trumps watever u r trying to say. do u know what many of them payed to get in. 100 Naira popular side 300 vip and 500vvip at the age get stadium it was a Monday morning and my brother they sold tickets. I don't know if u r in hunger land.

u v become the whites that think Nigeria is soon wretched people hardly eat in 2 days

Danycrusoe:


I think it's high time we stopped blaming the referees even epl referees are not saint ref errors happens at every level of football

Most of our referees can't control a match. Games are too rough and they rely too much on guess work a lot of fault should also go to our lines men who are very atrocious for the most part.

@IAmOkocha has more techniques than me. All the things he does on the field, we don't even do up to 1% of it. So, Jay Jay is a legend when it comes to that. He is very creative, very smart and he knows how to do tricks."-

A10 Legend;@GeorgeWeahOff on Jay Jay Okocha
#Africa10


O pari

OMANBALA1:


How much do people pay to watch those EPL matches ? When I still dey Naija all you need is a bottle of beer and you wouldnt have to worry but this was some 14 yrs ago.Now let me address the issue of poverty you raised, if you are gonna have 20,000 people to travel from around Lagos state to national stadium Surulere to watch a local league and pay 3000 naira to watch a match then you will realize how poverty plays a role. A person who earns 20,000 monthly will not waste 3000 to go watch some karate exhibition in the name of soccer. Now, factor the security aspect and transportation and people would rather hang in there street and watch el classico.....Ononenyi

Even the VIP for the SE game wasn't 3k where did u get that number from?

I know I sound a little pessimistic but there are some positives to take from last two season when the Flying Antelopes won the league for a record seven times. I remember some pictures that were circulating of Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium,Enugu , and the stadium was filled with people chanting , making fireworks/smokes and it was beautiful fast forward to 2017 and the same Rangers that was famed for their beautiful football was a shadow of its own self and struggled to stay afloat. And why ? Because the team was depleted and everybody left and the club started from scratch again.

You have said it all

Danycrusoe:


those videos are that of the NNL and basically NNL doesn't drive much supporters like the NPFL, I v gone to stadiums to watch both and I can tell u u can get at least 3k in any I NPFL match centre but u would struggle to get 500 at any NNL match centre.

Generally I still think publicity for our league is low, both on broadcast media and social media and the club's themselves are to blame I know some twitter handles of NNL and even NPFL sides that wouldn't update their page for their next match and they would only do so days after the last match.

I think the point above is y NPFL gets more crowd than NNL cuz the publicity the former gets is more higher than the latter.

the first thing to do is PUBLICISE the league, I believe this will bring fans. I never knew I had a course mate who had interests in the local leagues until I told him ikorodu United were playing Go round at the gateway stadium that Sunday. I was surprised he asked me not to forget to remind him whenever I'm leaving for the stadium and we went together.

Now imagine the number of fans who would v gone to see the games if only they knew.

but then I v a cousin who despite my preachings never followed me to the Osogbo township stadium to see osun united play he x aware of the league but he has a bad perception of it. now how do u convert this kind of a person? u need to repackage and increase the volume of publicity. there is this theory that no matter how poor a media content is "constant and consistent exposure of it to media users will make them get used and make it interesting to them".

my cousin always use the South African league as an example he has said it v4 that he would rather pay 5k to subscribe to dstv and watch the SA psl than spend 100naira to get a cab to watch NNL n NPFL matches at the stadium.

long story short, let's repackage the league we can start with the NTA deal advertise upcoming games with colourful graphics and the best goals from previous match centres like the epl does. I'm 90% sure if dx x done for at least 2 seasons there would be massive increase in followership of the league

let the publicity be consistent even when there is no match until weekend. on TV, Radio (the radio stations even do more of this than TV and newspapers ) and newspapers

Security should be increased then the quality of play should improve.

if u doubt that there x still interest in the league watch MFM home games on YouTube from 2016, watch Rangers etc even Remo stars had more fans that I tot. I saw vip stand with 500naira tickets filled, some brought their families.

during my visit to a remo stars home game, I heard a guy say at the popular side stand that "this is our league, this I can spend my money to watch not a league where my existence is not known to them". u v to see dx guys discuss about Abiola babe's, gateway united etc

Many are willing to come but they need a little PUSH and conviction

BascoVanVeli:


Even the VIP for the SE game wasn't 3k where did u get that number from?

Well, how do you plan to pay player and provide benefits like health insurance, retirement plan of over 25 players ?

I think we need more artificial turfs since we don't have a strong maintenance culture. At least that is a temporary solution. We need to fix our value system.

Danycrusoe:


guy let me tell u, epl is now 150 per match but it's not a big sum anyway but u r still having a bad image of the league which has changed over the years. I can tell u how people who earn 10,000 pay 200naira for popular side at the ifeanyi ubah stadium.

Godwin enakhana is the chairman of MFM fc and he is a member of MFM church I remember he said on radio that a rescheduled mfm game that was postponed due to rain on Sunday evening was played on Monday morning by 8am and even with the wet Weather he was surprised at the number of fans they pulled..... ON A MONDAY MORNING.... IN LAGOS....this alone trumps watever u r trying to say. do u know what many of them payed to get in. 100 Naira popular side 300 vip and 500vvip at the age get stadium it was a Monday morning and my brother they sold tickets. I don't know if u r in hunger land.

u v become the whites that think Nigeria is soon wretched people hardly eat in 2 days

You cant pass a verdict on me because you dont know me that very well, sir. No Nigerian alive wants Nigeria to work more than I do, I am been thoroughly honest here. Its a good thing that people are beginning to come out to watch matches again but the goal is to generate revenue that can be used to run the club and create employment. If we cant pay say 2000 to 3000 to watch a match in Nigeria then we can never efficiently run a club.

Joebie:
I think we need more artificial turfs since we don't have a strong maintenance culture. At least that is a temporary solution. We need to fix our value system.

Guy, we can afford to have a natural pitch , all you need are sprinklers and lawn mower. Nigerians are just lazy and lack innovation.

OMANBALA1:


You cant pass a verdict on me because you dont know me that very well, sir. No Nigerian alive wants Nigeria to work more than I do, I am been thoroughly honest here. Its a good thing that people are beginning to come out to watch matches again but the goal is to generate revenue that can be used to run the club and create employment. If we cant pay say 2000 to 3000 to watch a match in Nigeria then we can never efficiently run a club.

when people r starting a career they are asked to shun money first and seek to improve their skills. this should b applied to the league.

don't seek fans who will pay 3k for the tickets for now rather fix and put in place all necessary things u need to first and watch fans buy npfl match day tickets in shops and online for 5k