Rivers United F.C.

Rivers United Football Club is a professional football club based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State that participates in the Nigerian Professional Football League, the highest level of domestic Nigerian football. The club was formed by the merger of Sharks F.C. and Dolphins F.C. in 2016. Their home stadium is the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, formerly Liberation Stadium in Elekahia that has a seating capacity of 30,000.[2]

Rivers United
Nickname(s)The Pride of Rivers
Founded2016
GroundYakubu Gowon Stadium (formerly Liberation Stadium)
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Capacity30,000
ManagerStanley Eguma [1]
LeagueNigerian Professional Football League
20162nd
WebsiteClub website

Rivers United FC has remained in the top flight since its first season.

History

Rivers United was founded in 2016 after the Rivers state government got permission to merge Dolphins FC and Sharks FC. Both clubs were run by the state government and were having difficulty with finances off the pitch.[3] Sharks were relegated to the First Division in 2015 while Dolphins had barely escaped after a 2–2 draw on the final day.[4] Rivers United' crest contains both a shark and a dolphin as a result of the merge.[5]

Stanley Eguma was appointed Rivers' first coach and led them to a win in their first ever league match, 1–0 over Enyimba.[6]

The club finished second in the 2016 Nigerian Premier League which qualified them for the 2017 CAF Champions League for the first time.[7] A four-goal second-leg win over Mali's AS Bamako with Esosa Igbinoba and Bernard Ovoke each scoring braces put Rivers past the preliminary round.[8] However, they were eliminated by Sudan's Al-Merrikh 4–3 on aggregate in the first round after losing a 3–0 first round lead.[9]

Staff

Head Coach

  • Stanley Eguma

Acting General Manager

  • Okey Kpalukwu

Welfare Secretary

  • Albert Chinwo

Media Officer

Current Squad

As of March 2020

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Akande Abiodun
2 MF Justice Charles
3 DF Konan N'Gouan
4 MF Nasiru Auwalu
5 DF Azubuike Egwekwe
6 DF Kazie Enyinnaya
7 MF Bright Onyedikachi
8 FW Ossy Martins
9 FW Stephen Gopey
10 FW Ogbonna Onuoha
11 MF Joseph Abiodun
12 FW Junior Osaghae
13 MF Lookman Binuyo
14 MF Orji Kalu
15 MF Bamba Bakary
16 MF Shuji Oshobe
17 DF Chigozie Ihunda
18 MF Michael Enaruna
No. Position Player
19 DF Festus Austin
20 MF Obomate Fredrick
21 MF Cletus Emotan
22 GK Ospino Egbe
23 FW Fortune Omoniwari
24 MF Onyeali Ifeanyi
25 FW Malachi Ohawume
26 DF Peter Ubakanma
27 MF Christian Weli
28 MF Victor Chidume
29 MF Esor Nelson
30 GK Drissa Bamba
31 MF Rafiu Ishaq
32 DF Kunle Odunlami
33 DF Temple Emekayi
35 MF Patrick Kingsley
36 DF Joshua Akhabue

Notes
  1. "Blue tide rising as United stun Enyimba". supersport.com.
  2. "Dolphins, Sharks merged, now Rivers Utd F.C." Vanguard. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  3. "Dolphins, Sharks F.C merge to form new club". Pulse Nigeria. 19 February 2016.
  4. Orevba, Babajide (19 February 2016). "Dolphins, Sharks change name to Rivers United". Legit.ng - Nigeria news.
  5. "Dolphins renamed Rivers United Football Club | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  6. "'We can't lose to Enyimba'- Rivers United coach Stanley Eguma stokes up the fire ahead of must win title cracker this week". Linda Ikeji's Blog. 6 June 2016.
  7. "CAF clubs competitions draws: North African ties for Rangers, FC Ifeanyi Ubah". 22 December 2016.
  8. "Rivers United trash Real Bamako". supersport.com.
  9. Agberebi, James. "CAFCL: Rivers United Blow Big First Leg Lead Vs Al-Merrikh, Crash Out". Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  10. "Rivers Utd get management team". supersport.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.