WatchmanPost Sports
With Chris Umosen
FA Cup at a glance
Before saying what FA Cup competition is, it is pertinent to have a glance at how the beautiful game of football came to Nigeria.
Football was introduced to Nigeria by a Briton by name Baron Mulford, in the twentieth century. He used to organise matches between European and Nigerian youths in Lagos. But the first recorded football match in Nigeria was in 1904. By 1950, the game of football had become a national spectacle.
FA Cup competition is the oldest national sporting event in Nigeria. The competition, which began in 1945, was referred to as ‘Governors Cup’ and was dominated by Lagos teams.
The competition, however, metamorphosed into Challenge Cup, and again to another name, “Nigeria FA Cup”. This last name reigned from 1950 to 1959. From 1960 to 1998, this yearly competition among local football clubs in the country was re-christened “Nigeria Challenge Cup.” Between 1999 and 2008, it was referred to as “Coca-Cola FA Cup”,and then from 2009 to 2010, the competition was referred to as “Nigeria Federation Cup”, before the current name, “President Federation Cup”.
However, no matter the name, the aims and objectives of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) organising this competition was to bring unity among football clubs in the country, and most importantly, to expose young talented footballers to the outside world for future career engagements.
The competition also attracts some financial benefits to winning football clubs. Since the commencement of this competition the only football club that has picked up the title for a record eight times is the Shooting Stars of Ibadan, followed by the defunct Lagos Railways, seven times. Enugu Rangers International have picked it six times, while the current defending champions, El-Kanemi Warriors, have done so three times.
The big question now is, who picks the title this year, as the race is almost running to an end?
