Over the years the GLO Premier League has had it’s fair share of critics and at times, deservedly so.
But the just concluded season went some
way to debunk the negative stereotypes surrounding our domestic league.
It is poorly run, no doubt, and riddled with dodgy officiating, unpaid
players salaries and unscrupulous club officials fixing matches and
lining their pockets. This has been helped to a large extent by the
advent of the League Management Committee, which has brought a measure
of sanity and sanitisation to the running of the GLO PL. I say a measure
of sanity because there were still hiccups, organisational glitches and
perfectly inexplicable logic that defy board room decisions taken
during the course of the season. Nevertheless it’s work in progress and
the most salient issue is that with the LMC, we are headed in the right
direction.
The introduction of the N50m prize money
to all the the teams in the GLO PL is part of the progression. I know
many a season, if not most, where the league champions didn’t win a kobo ( I’m sure the kobo
is still legal tender, if you can find it). A deplorable state of
affairs. This is a good initia tive by the LMC and must be applauded.
The N50m is spread pro rata across the 20
teams in the league with, for example, the top 4 teams, Kano Pillars,
Enyimba International, Bayelsa United and El Kanemi getting N10m, N7.5m,
N5m and N2.5m respectively. The relegated teams ABS FC, Kwara United,
Wikki Tourists and Shooting Stars earned N1.25m, N1.2m, N1.05m and N1m n
that order. Not exactly a princely sum, though and scant consolation
for the relegated sides, but it’s a good start.
In 380 GLO PL matches in the 2013 season,
a total of 802 goals were scored. An average of over two goals a match.
657 were scored by home teams, while 145 were scored by away teams. A
total of 329 games were won, with 312 won at home and only 17 won away –
a disturbing but eminently predictable statistic.
Congratulations to Kano Pillars FC for
holding their nerve and winning the league on the last day of
proceedings.Their third title since 2007= 2008 season. Considering they
were also runners up in the 2009=2010 season, they have done quite well
for a club founded as recently as 1990.
In a thrilling finale to the league,
three teams stood a chance of being crowned champions. Pillars , Bayelsa
United and newly promoted El Kanemi of Maiduguri, While as many as ten
teams faced the very realistic prospect of relegation. In an
unprecedented and highly dramatic final day of the GLO PL, only Shooting
Stars of Ibadan were adrift at the bottom of the table with 46 points.
Even at that, they were still not mathematically relegated. The four
teams above 3SC were tied on 49 points, separated only by goals
difference, while a further 5 teams were locked on 50 points.
In a quirky twist of fate and fixtures,
the three title chasing teams had tough away games. Pillars and Bayelsa
were away at Lobi Stars and Gombe United, teams fighting for their
lives in an ultra tight relegation battle. While El Kanemi had the less
onerous task of taking on 5th placed Rangers International of Enugu. It
seemed an easier task because Rangers, in fifth place, were going into
the match with 55 points. They had only their pride to play for. Win or
lose, their position on the table wasn’t going to change. The biggest
challenge that El Kanemi faced was their poor recent history at the
Nnmadi Azikwe International Stadium where the Warrriors have lost on
their last for visits.
I was in Enugu with SuperSport to cover
the potential league decider live and watched a team of youthful Rangers
fringe players totally extinguish any pretensions that El Kanemi had
for the title. In spite of the fact that at half time, the whole stadium
knew Pillars were a goal down to Lobi Stars in Katsina Ala, a lack
lustre El Kanemi simply couldn’t raise their game. They were over run by
Rangers, who took the game to them from the first blast of the whistle
and should have won by a much wider margin than their solitary goal.
Whether it was stage fright or sheer ineptitude, El Kanemi let a golden
opportunity slip through their fingers. Since both Pillars and Bayelsa
lost, they would have been crowned champions.
El Kanemi’s loss to Rangers had some
ramifications off the field too. It allowed Enyimba to sneak in, snatch
the runners up spot and clinch that all important second CAF Champions
League berth by virtue of their 2 nil victory over Sharks of Port
Harcourt. This means that El Kanemi won’t even be playing in the CAF
Confederations Cup despite their 4th place finish, due to the fact
Enyimba are the Federation Cup winners and will invariably give up their
spot in the CAF Confederations Cup to beaten finalists, Warri Wolves.
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