The finals of the President Federation Cup, 2025, comes up on Saturday, the 28th of June, at the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, popularly known as Onikan Water Front. The joy of it is that the two teams are yet to taste victory at this level. But the balance is that one is an old soldier, the other a freshman.
History has it that it was 41 years ago, 1984, that a certain Leventis United, led by Skipper Matthew Onyema, lifted the oldest cup in Nigerian football competition as a 3rd-tier division club side. And that is the element of surprise that the Abakaliki FC hopes to exhibit on Saturday. But the coach of Kwara United, Tunde Sanni, made it clear to newsmen that “we are the Surprise Team of the FA Cup this year. We, as an old State, have waited for 49 years to get to this stage. A stage Alyufusalam Rocks got in 1976, before Enugu Rangers stopped them with 2 unreplied goals, to lift the cup. Ironically, it was the same Rangers that we stopped in the semis before getting here now. So, we are on a mission. Our Continental ticket is waiting for us.”
He went further to explain how prepared they are: how they arrived Lagos eight days ahead of the finals; training as if their lives depended on this cup; how their fans have promised that they have turned a new leave, attitude-wise, promising they will fill up Onikan Water Front on Saturday, cheering their team to victory.
” Even our Emir and the Governor are solidly behind us. And we are highly motivated.”he added.
The journey to the top has been a fairly tale of dog-eat-dog, not minding your status. Abakaliki FC brought some slices of mixed fortunes as they got relegated to the National League One, NLO, from Nigerian National League, NNL. But got to the President Federation Cup final beating four NPFL teams. Kwara United, also known as the Harmony Boys, had both top teams and others for breakfast and lunch before coming to dinner with the Rice Boys.
The 28th of June, 2025, promises to re-live the nostalgic times of East and West, when Enugu Rangers and IICC of Ibadan, used to turn Onikan to a great fun-filled ground.
