₦airaland Forum

Eniola Aluko was born in Lagos, but her family moved to the UK when she was a baby.

Aluko chose to play for England at international level. She said that Nigeria was very important to her and she was as Nigerian as she was British, but she chose to play for England because she was trained by English coaches. She played for England from 2004 to 2016.

She was a very successful striker, scoring lots of goals for England at the World Cup, Olympics and Euros. She also found success with Chelsea, Juventus and clubs in the United States.

However, in 2016 she lodged a complaint against the England manager, Mark Sampson. She said that the manager asked if her Nigerian relatives would come to an England game at Wembley and that she should make sure that the relatives did not bring ebola to the game.

On two occasions Mark Sampson denied that he ever said any such thing, while on another occasion he said that it was just a joke.

The Football Association investigated the matter and cleared the manager of any wrongdoing.

Eni Aluko was subjected to abuse on social media. The fans said that she just liked complaining.

Eni Aluko was not selected by the England national team again. In one of their matches, the players, led by a black player, pointedly went to celebrate with the manager.

However, a parliamentary committee decided to investigate the matter and they did a proper investigation. They found that the manager did make racist remarks to Eni Aluko and that he had also made racist remarks to another black player.

The Football Association paid £80,000 to Eni Aluko. They also sacked the manager, but they claimed that it was for another offence that he committed when he was coaching a clubside. Nikkita Paris, the player that had led the celebration with the manager, apologised to Eni Aluko.

However, Eni Aluko continued to receive hate messages on social media. The fans said that England had lost a good coach because she just likes complaining.

She never played for England again, but she continued her club career at Juventus. Since retiring from football she has worked as a television pundit and as a club executive.

Her younger brother, Sone Aluko, played for England from U-16 to U-19 levels and then played for Nigeria from U-20 to U-23 and senior levels.

She said that she has had a July to remember because both her countries won their continental competitions and she was able to attend both. She said that it's a great time for hyphenated people (British-Nigerians) because the Super Falcons won WAFCON and the Lionesses won the Women's Euros.

On behalf of the Super Falcons of Nigeria, I would like to express our utmost gratitude to the President & First Lady of Nigeria, the Governors’ Forum, the Ministries of Women’s Affairs & Art, Culture and Creative Economy, and Premium Trust Bank for the warm reception and appreciation of the team following our Success at WAFCON 2024!

This victory is for all Nigerians.

johnie:
Precious Dede was our longest serving keeper. I was very worried about who would succeed her until Chiamaka came along.

Chiamaka has surpassed my expectations and significantly raised the standard.

It may be early days but who are we grooming to meet up to the high standard?

I look forward to seeing the following and more:

Faith Omilana


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Nn1wVCwDE?

Sukurat Bakare

https://www.instagram.com/grazef6productions/reel/DAvvCHnIX7n/

Anderline Mgbechi:

She won the 2025 Nigeria Women's Football League's Best Goalkeeper Award but also scored the decisive penalty to clinch the League title for Rivers Angels .


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nga0hR3Gjlo

oweniwe:
Link to interview

🔴 "I haven't been happy in the National Team for a very long time......Before the Ghana game #WAFCON, the players were boycotting!!" 🔴

Some shocking revelations about the appalling treatment meted out to our National Women’s Football Team @Banyana_Banyana, which has now… pic.twitter.com/tu3H3X2svA

— robertmarawa (@robertmarawa) July 30, 2025