2020–21 Nigeria Professional Football League

The 2020–21 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) was the 50th season of the top flight league in the Nigeria football league system and the 31st since its rebranding. The league started on 27 December 2020 after much delay and concluded on 5 August 2021.^[1]

Nigeria Professional Football League

Season	2020–2021
Relegated	Warri Wolves Jigawa Golden Stars Ifeanyiubah Adamawa United
Champions League	Akwa United Rivers United
Confederation Cup	Enyimba
Matches played	380
Goals scored	789 (2.08 per match)
Top goalscorer	Silas Nwankwo & Charles Atshimene (19 goals)
Biggest home win	Kwara 5–0 Adamawa (21 March 2021)
Highest scoring	Nasarawa 5–3 Abia Warriors (28 March 2021)
Longest winning run	Kano Pillars & Enyimba (4 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Akwa United (18 matches)
Longest winless run	Sunshine Stars (18 matches)
Longest losing run	Adamawa United (5 matches)
← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of 6 August 2021.

Enyimba were the defending champions from the 2019 season but failed to defend their title after finishing third on the table.^[2]

The season was initially scheduled to commence on 6 December 2020 but after much delay, the League Management Company announced that the league would start on 27 December 2020 with all matches played behind closed doors.^[3]

This season featured the 20 teams from the 2019–20 season as no clubs were promoted nor relegated as the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[2]

The League Management Company announced that only 13 stadiums across the country were eligible to host league matches as part of a broader club licensing regime, they were certified to have met minimum requirements to host games. Another 11 were recommended for varying degrees of upgrade and repair works before they can be certified^[4]

This season saw a return of live NPFL matches. Selected matches were viewed live on NPFL TV and on NTA.

On 1 August 2021, Akwa United won their first NPFL title after a convincing 5–2 home win over MFM with a game left.^[5][6] Akwa United also set a league record with their 18-match unbeaten run, surpassing Enyimba in 2005 and Kano Pillars 2019–20 13-match unbeaten sequence.

Warri Wolves, Jigawa Golden Stars, Ifeanyiubah and Adamawa United were all confirmed relegated at the end of the campaign.

Nasarawa's Silas Nwankwo won the Eunisell golden boot award as the league topscorer for scoring lesser penalties having been tied with Akwa United's Charles Atshimene.^[7]

Teams information

MFM

Kano Pillars

Abia

Katsina United

Ifeanyi Ubah

Plateau United

Nasarawa

Wikki

Lobi Stars

Uyo

Kwara United

Sunshine Stars

Enugu

Enyimba

Owerri

Rivers

Adamawa United

Jigawa G.S.

Warri Wolves

Uyo teams:
Akwa United
Dakkada

Owerri team:
Heartland

Locations of the 2020–21 Nigeria Professional Football League teams

Clubs

The league consisted of 20 teams from the previous season.

Team	Location	Stadium	Head Coach
Abia Warriors	Umuahia	Okigwe Stadium[lower-alpha 1]	Imama Amapakabo
Adamawa United	Yola	Pantami Stadium	Justin Madugu
Akwa United F.C.	Uyo	Godswill Akpabio International Stadium	Kennedy Boboye
Dakkada	Uyo	Godswill Akpabio International Stadium	Lawrence Kingsley
Enugu Rangers	Enugu	Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium	Salisu Yusuf
Enyimba	Aba	Enyimba International Stadium	Fatai Osho
Heartland F.C.	Owerri	Okigwe Stadium	Fidelis Ilechukwu
Ifeanyi Ubah F.C.	Nnewi	Ifeanyi Ubah FC International Stadium	Uche Okagbue
Jigawa Golden Stars	Dutse	Ahmadu Bello Stadium	Gilbert Opana
Kano Pillars	Kano	Ahmadu Bello Stadium	Ibrahim Musa
Katsina United	Katsina	Muhammadu Dikko Stadium	Azeez Mohammed
Kwara United	Ilorin	Kwara State Stadium	Abdullahi Biffo
Lobi Stars	Makurdi	Aper Aku Stadium	Kabiru Dogo
MFM F.C.	Lagos	Agege Stadium	Gabriel Olalekan
Nasarawa United	Lafia	Lafia Township Stadium	Bala Nikyu
Plateau United	Jos	New Jos Stadium	Abdul Maikaba
Rivers United	Port Harcourt	Yakubu Gowon Stadium	Stanley Eguma
Sunshine Stars	Akure	Akure Township Stadium	Deji Ayeni
Warri Wolves	Warri	Delta State Polytechnic Stadium	Ortega Deniran
Wikki Tourists F.C.	Bauchi	Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium	Bala Jibrin

1. Abia Warriors played their first two home games at the Enyimba International Stadium.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of departure	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Jigawa Golden Stars	Dodo Isah	Sacked	20 January	Gilbert Opana	20 January[8]
Katsina United	Bishir Sadauki	End of interim management	21 January	Baldwin Bazuaye	21 January[9]
MFM	Tony Bulus	Resignation[10]	10 February	Gabriel Olalekan	22 February[11]
Kano Pillars	Lionel Soccoïa	Resignation[12]	16 March	Ibrahim Musa	17 March
Warri Wolves	Evans Ogenyi	Sacked[13]	17 March	Ortega Deniran	20 May[14]
Katsina United	Baldwin Bazuaye	Demotion to assistant coach	3 May	Azeez Mohammed	3 May[15]
Wikki Tourists	Usman Abd'Allah	Resignation	18 May[16]	Bala Jibrin	20 May
Sunshine Stars	Gbenga Ogunbote	Resignation[17]	27 May	Deji Ayeni[18]	1 June

Summary

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Akwa United (C)	38	19	14	5	53	24	+29	71	Qualification for the Champions League
2	Rivers United	38	19	9	10	50	34	+16	66
3	Enyimba	38	18	12	8	41	33	+8	66	Qualification for the Confederation Cup
4	Kwara United	38	19	8	11	48	28	+20	65
5	Nasarawa United	38	20	5	13	55	38	+17	65
6	Kano Pillars	38	19	7	12	38	29	+9	64
7	Enugu Rangers	38	18	8	12	43	31	+12	62
8	Lobi Stars	38	17	7	14	43	39	+4	58
9	Plateau United	38	14	9	15	45	35	+10	51
10	MFM	38	13	12	13	34	35	−1	51
11	Dakkada	38	15	5	18	37	47	−10	50
12	Katsina United	38	14	7	17	35	42	−7	49
13	Heartland	38	13	9	16	43	50	−7	48
14	Abia Warriors	38	12	11	15	48	42	+6	47
15	Wikki Tourists	38	12	9	17	40	47	−7	45
16	Sunshine Stars	38	11	12	15	28	39	−11	45
17	Warri Wolves	38	11	8	19	30	45	−15	41	Relegation to the National League
18	Jigawa Golden Stars	38	10	10	18	27	48	−21	40
19	Ifeanyiubah	38	9	12	17	33	50	−17	39
20	Adamawa United	38	5	10	23	20	55	−35	25

Source: NPFL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	ABW	ADA	AKW	DAK	ENU	ENY	HEA	IFU	JGS	KAN	KAT	KWA	LOB	MFM	NAS	PLA	RIV	SUN	WWV	WIK
Abia Warriors		5–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–3	4–1	3–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	3–1	2–1	0–1	4–1	4–1	1–0
Adamawa United	1–1		0–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–2	2–0	0–0	3–3	0–0
Akwa United	2–1	2–0		0–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	3–0	5–2	2–1	1–0	3–0	2–1	3–0	1–1
Dakkada	2–1	4–0	0–2		1–1	1–3	1–0	2–1	2–1	3–2	1–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	4–2	1–2	2–0	2–1
Enugu Rangers	2–1	1–0	1–0	3–0		2–0	2–0	2–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–1	4–1	1–0	2–1
Enyimba	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1		0–0	2–2	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0
Heartland	2–2	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–0		1–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	2–0	1–2	0–0	2–2	0–1	1–1	2–0
Ifeanyi Ubah	1–1	3–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–1		2–2	0–1	3–0	2–1	1–0	0–2[lower-alpha 1]	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0
Jigawa GS	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	3–0		1–0	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–3[lower-alpha 2]	1–0	1–1	1–1
Kano Pillars	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–0		2–0	2–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0
Katsina United	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	3–2	3–0	1–0	1–1		1–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	5–1
Kwara United	1–1	5–0	1–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	3–0		2–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	3–1
Lobi Stars	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–0		1–0	3–2	3–2	4–1	2–1	3–0	0–0
MFM	0–0	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–0		1–0	3–1	2–2	1–0	2–1	1–0
Nasarawa United	5–3	1–0	2–1	3–0	3–0	1–2	3–1	3–0	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–0		2–0	2–1	4–0	3–1	2–1
Plateau United	2–1	3–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	3–0	4–0	3–0	0–0	2–0	0–2	0–0	3–1	1–0		1–1	3–1	2–0	4–1
Rivers United	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	3–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	3–1		1–0	2–1	1–1
Sunshine Stars	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	2–2	0–0	0–0	3–2	1–0		1–0	1–0
Warri Wolves	2–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–1		1–0
Wikki Tourists	1–0	2–0	2–2	2–1	2–1	1–2	4–2	4–3	2–0	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0

Source: NPFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. The match was initially awarded to MFM as a 3–0 win after Ifeanyiubah failed to show up for the game, however, after Ifeanyiubah appealed regarding the issue, the League Management Company decided the match would be played at a neutral venue on 30 July, MFM won the rescheduled fixture 2–0.^{[19] [20][21]}
2. Matchday 34 fixture between Jigawa Golden Stars and Rivers United initially ended a 2–1 win for the hosts. However, on 5 August, the NFF and LMC awarded the fixture as a 0–3 win for Rivers United after it appeared that Jigawa had fielded an ineligible player at the match.^[22] This decision consequently altered the teams positions at the end of the season.^[23]

Positions by round

To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Abia Warriors	16	20	19	20	20	19	19	19	19	17	16	17	14	12	10	12	10	11	10	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	15	14	15	14	14	14	14	14
Adamawa United	9	15	18	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20
Akwa United	11	17	11	12	13	15	13	9	6	7	6	6	5	5	6	5	4	3	3	1	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Dakkada	12	4	3	5	7	12	8	12	7	9	12	15	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	10	12	9	12	12	12	12	12	11	10	11	9	10	9	9	9	10	11
Enugu Rangers	17	10	8	2	4	6	10	5	5	5	4	5	2	2	2	4	2	5	6	5	6	6	6	6	6	9	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Enyimba	5	6	5	10	5	3	2	1	1	2	2	3	3	4	3	7	6	6	5	7	9	10	7	7	7	6	7	5	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	3	5	3
Heartland	13	19	20	18	18	17	18	18	15	12	11	8	11	11	13	11	11	12	11	8	7	7	8	10	11	11	10	11	10	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13
Ifeanyi Ubah	6	11	14	17	17	18	15	17	18	18	17	18	18	19	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	17	17	17	18	18	19	18	19	19	19	19
Jigawa GS	7	7	12	8	11	14	12	14	11	13	9	11	12	16	16	15	15	13	14	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	16	14	16	16	17	17	17	16	16	16	15	18
Kano Pillars	10	3	9	3	6	5	9	4	4	3	3	1	4	3	5	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	1	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	3	4	3	6
Katsina United	2	14	6	11	15	13	16	15	16	14	15	16	17	17	17	16	17	18	18	16	16	16	17	16	15	15	14	15	14	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	11	12
Kwara United	1	5	13	14	9	7	6	3	3	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	3	3	3	3	5	3	5	4	6	4	6	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	4
Lobi Stars	18	12	4	6	3	4	5	8	9	11	8	10	9	10	9	10	9	10	9	11	8	9	11	8	8	7	8	8	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
MFM	3	8	7	7	8	9	11	13	14	16	14	14	10	15	15	17	14	15	15	14	13	11	12	9	10	10	11	10	12	11	10	11	11	11	11	11	12	10
Nasarawa United	4	1	2	4	2	1	3	6	8	6	7	4	6	6	4	1	5	4	7	6	5	4	5	3	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	5
Plateau United	20	18	10	13	10	10	7	10	13	15	18	13	13	9	12	9	12	9	12	10	11	8	10	11	9	8	9	9	8	9	9	10	9	10	10	10	9	9
Rivers United	8	2	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	4	5	7	8	7	7	6	7	7	4	4	4	5	4	4	5	4	5	4	6	4	6	3	5	5	5	5	4	2
Sunshine Stars	19	13	15	15	12	8	4	7	10	8	10	12	16	14	14	14	16	17	16	18	17	18	18	18	19	19	19	18	18	18	16	16	16	17	17	16	17	16
Warri Wolves	14	9	16	9	14	16	17	16	17	19	19	19	19	18	19	18	18	16	17	17	18	17	16	17	16	17	17	19	19	19	19	19	18	19	18	18	18	17
Wikki Tourists	15	16	17	16	16	11	14	11	12	10	13	9	15	13	11	13	13	14	13	15	15	15	15	15	17	16	15	16	15	15	14	15	14	15	15	15	16	15

	Leader
	2021–22 CAF Champions League
	2021–22 CAF Confederation Cup
	Relegation to Nigeria National League

Source: World Football

Statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Silas Nwankwo	Nasarawa United	19
	Charles Atshimene	Akwa United
3	Rabiu Ali	Kano Pillars	14
	Michael Ohanu	Kwara United
5	Zulkifilu Rabiu	Plateau United	13
	Sad'eeq Yusuf	Sunshine Stars
7	Ossy Martins	Lobi Stars	11
	Chukwuemeka Obioma	Abia Warriors
9	Jude Steven	Kwara United	10
	Christian Nnaji	Enugu Rangers
	Samuel Stone	Jigawa Golden Stars

Hattricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Jude Steven	Kwara United	Adamawa United	5–0 (H)[24]	21 March 2021
Silas Nwankwo	Nasarawa United	Abia Warriors	5–3 (H)[25]	28 March 2021
Nazifi Yahaya	Wikki Tourists	Ifeanyiubah	4–3 (H)[26]	13 June 2021
Michael Ohanu	Kwara United	Wikki Tourists	3–1 (H)	22 July 2021
Chukwuemeka Obioma	Abia Warriors	Adamawa United	5–1 (H)	28 July 2021
Charles Atshimene	Akwa United	MFM	5–2 (H)[27]	1 August 2021

Notes

(H) – Home team

Top assists

Updated to match(es) played on 11 April 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Auwalu Ali Malam	Kano Pillars	6
2	Umwana Asuquo	Dakkada	5
	Stephen Jude	Kwara United
4	Ndifreke Effiong	Akwa United	4
	Christian Ekong	Dakkada Enyimba
	Elijah Akanni	MFM

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Dele Aiyenugba	Kwara United	16
	Adewale Adeyinka	Akwa United
3	Stanley Nwabali	Lobi Stars	14
4	Abubakar Adamu	Plateau United	10
	Sharp Uzoigwe	Ifeanyiubah
6	Chinedu Anozie	Plateau United	8
	Chijioke Ejiogu	Heartland

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		References
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
January	Gbenga Ogunbote	Sunshine Stars	Sad'eeq Yusuf	Sunshine Stars	[28]
February	Fatai Osho	Enyimba	Ndifreke Effiong	Akwa United

Season's award

Eunisell golden boot

The golden boot award was won by Nasarawa's Silas Nwankwo. He won having scored lesser penalties than Akwa United's Charles Atshimene as they were tied at 19 goals.^[7]

References

1. "LMC affirms December 27 date for league kickoff". Guardian.ng. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
2. "2019–20 NPFL season cancelled without promotion or relegation". Goal.com. 10 July 2020.
3. "NPFL 2020/21 season to start on December 6". aclsports. 9 November 2020.
4. "LMC certifies 13 stadiums ahead of 2020–21 NPFL season". vanguardngr. com. 1 November 2020.
5. "Akwa United beat MFM to win first ever Nigeria Premier League title". The Punch. 1 August 2021.
6. "Impressive Akwa United lift first NPFL title". The Nation. 2 August 2021.
7. "Silas Nwankwo wins the NPFL Eunisell golden boot". whogoz.ng. 6 August 2021.
8. "Jigawa new coach proud of Dakkada's feat". kick442.com. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
9. "Katsina United unveils coach Bazuaye". blueprint.ng. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
10. "No crisis in MFM FC - Goodwin Enakhena". bsnsports.com. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
11. "MFM names Olalekan Gabriel new head coach". Guardian.ng. 23 February 2021.
12. "Lionel Soccoïa quits Kano Pillars after four months". brila.net. 18 March 2021.
13. "Warri Wolves sack Evans Ogenyi". brila.net. 17 March 2021.
14. "Warrior Wolves appoints Ortega Deniran as new technical adviser". brila.net. 20 May 2021.
15. "New gaffer Azeez Mohammed ready to lead Katsina United out of trouble". brila.net. 4 May 2021.
16. "Usman Abd'Allah leaves Wikki Tourists". busybuddiesng.com. 18 May 2021.
17. "Sunshine Stars coach Ogunbote resigns over lack of welfare support". daily post.ng. 27 May 2021.
18. "Deji Ayeni replaces Gbenga Ogunbote as Sunshine coach". bsnsports.com.ng. 1 June 2021.
19. "MFM FC awarded 3 points against FC Ifeanyiubah". vanguardngr.com. 9 May 2021.
20. "FC Ifeanyiubah vs MFM match to be replayed at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Ifeanyiubah to pay MFM FC two million naira before rescheduled date". sports247.ng. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
21. "NPFL Matchday 20:MFM FC condemns FC Ifeanyiubah to the bottom in rescheduled fixture". bsnsports.com.ng. 30 July 2021.
22. "CASE:Jigawa Golden Stars FC vs Rivers United FC". TheNFF. 5 August 2021.
23. "NFF committee's decision takes Rivers United to second position". The Guardian. 5 August 2021.
24. "Kwara United's Jude Steven delights in first professional hattrick". brila.net. 22 March 2021.
25. "Silas Nwankwo nets hattrick for Nasarawa". TheCable. 28 March 2021.
26. "Wikki Tourists whip FC Ifeanyiubah". TheEagleOnline.com.ng. 13 June 2021.
27. "Charles Atshimene nets hattrick as Akwa United lifts NPFL trophy in seven goals thriller". platformtimes.com.ng. 2 August 2021.
28. "Sadeeq Yusuf claims NPFL player of the month award for January". ojbsport.com. 15 February 2021.

External links

• Nigeria 2020/21 RSSSF