Fans’ attraction as NPFL season nears home stretch

The crowd of fans that thronged the New Jos Stadium in Jos on Match Day 27 to see home side Plateau United and Akwa United was by far the largest in the ongoing season. The 35,000-capacity stadium was filled to the brim such that a first visitor at the venue would have believed a rally by a popular politician of an equally popular political party was on display.

The economic dimension of the filled arena cannot be over-emphasised. Businesses ranging from water to soda had bulk purchasers, thanks to the sunny weather on the day. Even religious purpose was served adequately; Muslims observing the monthly fast also got their fill-in dates and hot pap with which they broke their fast at sunset. The atmosphere was carnival-like as the fans entertained themselves to the display on the pitch. It would not matter that Plateau United lost 2-1 to Awka United on the day, but the fans were completely in a world of their own.

Not since Matchday 1 has a capacity crowd graced a match venue as they did in Jos on March 24, although appreciable crowds have also consistently thronged the Kano, Katsina, Gombe, Enugu, Owerri, Akure, Aba, Yenagoa, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Benin, Lagos, Ikenne and Minna stadia to see their darling teams in action.

Much as it is cheery that the crowds that deserted the NPFL match venues in recent years have now gradually but steadily returned, getting the crowds back to fill the stands has not been as easy as it looks. Granted that fans’ interest in the domestic league has surged in recent months, the Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye-chaired NPFL has also worked persistently by getting many football stakeholders in the country to plough the league, as it were, with a view to all working in unison to achieve the ultimate target of repositioning the league. Without a doubt, massive media publicity has also served the NPFL well, which in turn has rubbed off on the attendance at the venues in a way that turning back has since become difficult, if not impossible.

Administratively, the top league has also attained the summit of treating arising matters with utmost urgency. Adjudications have also been given a speedy and conscientious approach for the league to run hitch-free. Ab initio under the leadership of Elegbeleye, the perennial knotty remuneration issues in refereeing were sorted sustainably and realistically. For the first time, referees have had their allowances received even before they leave their domiciled areas for match venues, according to them, the independence they never enjoyed from home team officials; the better for fair officiating. Even where the referees have stepped beyond the legal boundaries, the NPFL has referred their cases to the referees’ committee of the Nigeria Football Federation with whom the league has since entered into a partnership that aims to sanitise the country’s domestic football at the summit. Erring clubs have also not been spared. A good case is the NPFL’s defending champion Enyimba FC which was recently slammed with a three-match spectator ban after the club’s fans were adjudged to have infringed on the rights of visiting Doma United players and officials.

As the NPFL enters Matchday 28, it is a near-home stretch with the neck-to-neck contest among five clubs who including reigning title holder Enyimba. Only a point separates Enugu Rangers who sit atop the table with 48 points and Lobi Stars lying second with 47 points while Remo Stars and Enyimba are tied on third position with 45 points apiece as Plateau United, who missed tying with Lobi on 47 points after the home loss to Akwa United, occupies the fifth position with 44 points. Despite the big win for Akwa United in Jos, the Uyo-based side remains just a shade above the relegation waters while Bayelsa United, Tornadoes as well as the since-beleaguered duo of Heartland and Gombe United are deep in the waters with eleven matches to the wire.

Matchday 28 was initially scheduled for April 2 but administrative factor, occasioned by Federation Cup final games on March 30 and 31 across the country, forced the NPFL’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr Davidson Owumi, to shift nine of the ten fixtures to April 3 for what he calls logistics reasons. Only the fixture involving Rivers United and Katsina United has been postponed to a later date due to Rivers United’s CAF Confederation Cup engagement.

On account of the aforementioned huge crowd at the Jos stadium, nine venues are set to welcome more crowds in the looming Matchday 28 mid-week encounters.