Everything that has a beginning, has an end. Sunday, September 30, 2023, marked the beginning of what was an incredible season in the Nigeria Premier Football League and Sunday, June 23, 2024, saw the end.

The 2023/24 NPFL season proved to be tightly contested in all areas – The fight for the title, continental places, surviving relegation, golden boot and golden gloves.

The Fight For the Title ( Champions)

Rangers International of Enugu won the title battle on matchday 37 to clinch their eighth Nigeria Premier Football League trophy, following a 2-0 victory over Bendel Insurance. However, The Flying Antelopes were crowned champions on the final day of the league – Sunday, June 23, 2024, with a 2-1 away win against Gombe United at the New Jos Stadium, Plateau.

The champions were welcomed into the New Jos Stadium with a guard of honour by their relegated opponents, Gombe United. Worthy of note in the champions’ last game of the season was the general manager of the side, Amobi Ezeaku who made his second appearance in the league and captained the Flying Antelopes to victory, bringing home the ultimate prize: 150 Million Naira.

Continental Battle ( Worthy Consolation)

Remo Stars who were going toe-to-toe with the champions in the title chase, failed to win on matchday 37 to keep the competition alive, as well as holders Enyimba who lost to Sporting Lagos in Onikan.

With the title out of Remo Stars’ and Enyimba’s reach, both sides fought for continental spots. It was Daniel Ogunmodede’s men who got the job done in Ikenne, winning 2-1 against Katsina United to seal the second spot and a continental ticket for the third time in their history. The Elephants of Aba had to settle for CAF Confederation Cup football.

Survivors ( Near Death Experience)

Nigeria Premier League 2009 and 2021 champions Bayelsa United and Akwa United, respectively, survived relegation on the last day of the season.

Bayelsa United conquered Bendel Insurance winning 2-0 in Benin City to move up to 15th on the table with 50 points while the Promise Keepers, Akwa United, registered a 3-1 win over Rivers United at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium to end the season with 49 points, just behind the Prosperity Boys on 16th position.

Drop Zone featuring Heartland FC, Gombe United, Sporting Lagos and Doma United.

Sporting Lagos’ fall

Despite all the positive publicity, flair and poise, Sporting Lagos brought to the NPFL, they returned to the second tier of Nigerian football, the Nigeria National League, after a 1-0 defeat at Shooting Stars.

The Lagosians who had only spent a year in the NPFL, needed a victory against the Oluyole Warriors to confirm safety, provided other results worked in their favour, failed at their primary job.

The Lagos-based side began the season with manager, Paul Offor, who guided them to promotion, but was sacked with eight games remaining in the League with the management citing poor run of form.

Veteran Abdullahi Biffo was then contracted to keep them for the second year in the promise land but he only dragged them deeper into the wilderness: losing four games, drawing two and winning only two of their final matches which left them 17th in the table with 46 points.

Doma Dip

Doma United became synonymous with the term ” title pretenders” as they finished the first half of the season in third place, being the team with the longest streak of matches without conceding a goal this season (nine), only to see their season take a terrible turn in January, losing 12 matches plus seven draws and managing three wins.

The Savannah Scorpions ended their 2023/24 campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Abia Warriors and winless in their last five matches.

Golden Boot

Enyimba striker Chijioke Mbaoma won the NPFL Eunisell Golden Boot with 17 goals, two goals clear of Remo Stars’ Sikiru Alimi who ended the season with 15.

Prior to the final day of the league, he led the goal chart with 16 goals, one more than Remo Stars’ Sikiru Alimi and he added one more on Sunday to further widen any chance of the Remo’s man outscoring him.

Mbaoma succeeds his former Enyimba teammate, Emeka Obioma as the winner of the Award.

Mbaoma who started the season slowly, scoring just twice in his first 10 appearances, found his scoring boots and smiled to the bank with N3.4m, with each goal valued at N200,000 by the sponsors.

Golden Gloves

Bendel Insurance goalkeeper, Amas Obasogie shone despite his side’s unimpressive season as he finished the season with 18 clean sheets, three more than Remo Stars’ Kayode Bankole and Doma United’s Kingdom Osayi who both had 15.