NWFL Premiership
{{short description|Top-level women's soccer league in Nigeria}}
{{Infobox football league
|name = NWFL Premiership
|logo = NWFL_Premiership_logo.png
|pixels = 165
|country = {{flag|Nigeria}}
|confed = CAF
|founded = 1990
|folded =
|divisions =
|teams =12
|feeds =
|relegation =NWFL Championship
|levels =1
|domest_cup = Nigerian Women's Cup
Champions Shield
|confed_cup = CAF W-Champions League
|champions = Edo Queens (1st title)
|season =
|most successful club = Rivers Angels & Pelican Stars (7 titles)
|tv =
|website = [http://www.thenwfl.com The NWFL]
|current = 2024–25 NWFL Premiership
}}
The NWFL Premiership (formerly Nigeria Women Premier League) is the top-level league for women's association football in Nigeria.{{cite web | url=http://www.punchng.com/news/onigbinde-optimistic-about-better-womens-league/ | title=Onigbinde optimistic about better Women's league | access-date=6 November 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106164637/http://www.punchng.com/news/onigbinde-optimistic-about-better-womens-league/ | archive-date=6 November 2014 }}{{cite web | url=http://leadership.ng/sports/388956/nigeria-women-football-league-incorporated | title=Nigeria Women Football League Incorporated | access-date=6 November 2014}} It is the women's equivalent of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) for male players.{{cite web | url=http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/sport/185270-nff-wants-dame-jonathan-to-lead-falcons-to-canada | title=NFF wants Dame Jonathan to lead Falcons to Canada | access-date=6 November 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20141106154733/http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/sport/185270-nff-wants-dame-jonathan-to-lead-falcons-to-canada | archive-date=6 November 2014 }}{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/1226860.stm |title=Flourishing league kicks off again |date=17 March 2001 |publisher=BBC |access-date=28 October 2014}} The Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) organizes the Nigeria Women Premier League and the Nigeria Women Pro-league. In November 2017, Aisha Falode was elected chairperson of the league board, and was officially designated in January 2017.{{Cite web |url=https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/sports/falode-okenwa-head-new-nnl-nwfl-boards/171729.html |title=Falode, Okenwa head new NNL, NWFL boards |website=Daily Trust |access-date=2017-10-05}}
History
Women's football in Nigeria started in 1978 with the foundation of the NIFFOA (Nigeria Female Football Organising Association), renamed NIFFPA (Nigeria Female Football Proprietors Associations) in 1979, and joined by clubs like Jegede Babes, Ufuoma Babes, Larry Angels, Kakanfo Babes and others. The first championship was organised by the NFA in 1990. Ufuoma Babes were dominant in the 1990s, before succumbing to Pelican Stars, who won the league between 1997 and 2002. By the 2010s, Rivers Angels became more frequent in the super tournaments, a mini-tournament held annually among the top-placed teams, to determine the overall winner of the league. Despite the high frequency of the abridged format over the years, the 2014 league season saw a straight round-robin season in determining the league winners. However, by 2015, there was a reintroduction of the group system.
Since 2015, the league has enjoyed considerable success and improvement under the auspices of Aisha Falode, and have produced several players for the national team and cadet teams, with more than 70% of players who have been capped for the national team having played in the NWFL.{{cite web|url=https://inside.fifa.com/womens-football/news/aisha-falode-pushing-the-boundaries-in-nigeria|title=Aisha Falode pushing the boundaries in Nigeria|work=inside FIFA|date=16 July 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://bestchoicesports.com.ng/invitation-of-players-of-nigerian-descent-to-super-falcons-will-kill-nwfl-fc-robo-chairman/|title=“Invitation of players of Nigerian descent to Super Falcons will kill NWFL“ FC Robo coach|work=bestchoicesports.com.ng|accessdate=13 June 2024}} Since 2021, the league winners qualifies for the CAF Women's Champions League.
In the 2024 season, Edo Queens became the newest champions with their debut league win.{{cite web|url=https://punchng.com/edo-queens-win-first-ever-nwfl-title/|title=Edo Queens win first ever NWFL title|work=Punchng.com|date=26 May 2024}}
Renaming
On 5 March 2020, the Nigeria Women Football League, the governing body of professional women's association football in Nigeria, announced the re-branding of the women's league, by unveiling a new logo and renaming the three tiers of the league under the tutelage of the NWFL.
With the rebranding, the Nigeria Women Premier League is now known as the NWFL Premiership, the second-tier league known as NWFL Championship (formerly NWFL Pro-League) while the third-tier division becomes the NWFL Nationwide (formerly NWFL Amateur League).{{cite news |title= NWFL re-brands, unveils new logo in Lagos |url=https://www.channelstv.com/2020/03/05/nwfl-re-brands-unveils-new-logo-in-lagos/?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi90_ywuLPqAhWHGBQKHRaoAsMQ9QF6BAgJEAI |work= Channelstv |date= 5 March 2020}}
Format
The women's top division league in Nigeria usually follows an abridged format with a super tournament at the end of the season. The top teams in each group (sometimes 1, 2 or 3) will form the super tournament at the end of the regular season to determine the overall winner of the league. The last placed teams are normally relegated to the second division, while promoted teams from the lower division are also admitted into the league. Despite the high frequency of the abridged format over the years, the 2014 league season saw a straight round robin season in determining the league winners, however by 2015, there was a reintroduction of the group system.
Champions
The list of champions and runners-ups:{{cite web|title=Women: Nigeria: Championship|url=http://sports123.com/foo/wngr.html|publisher=sports123.com|access-date=18 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128045341/http://sports123.com/foo/wngr.html|archive-date=28 November 2010}}{{cite web|title=Nigeria - List of Women Champions|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nig-womchamp.html|website=RSSSF|access-date=18 July 2011}}
Most successful clubs
| class="wikitable"
! Club !! Champions !! Runners-up !! Winning Seasons !! Runners-up Seasons |
| Pelican Stars FC (Calabar)
|{{center|8}} |{{center|3}} | 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2010{{efn|Shared title |name="shared"}} | 1995, 2004, 2014 |
| Rivers Angels SC (Port Harcourt)
|{{center|7}} |{{center|5}} | 1994, 2010,{{efn|name="shared"}} 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020–21 | 2009,2011, 2012,2013, 2023–24 |
| Bayelsa Queens (Yenagoa)
|{{center|6}} |{{center|4}} |
| Delta Queens FC (Asaba)
|{{center|6}} |{{center|2}} | 2003, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2022–23 |
| Ufuoma Babes (Warri)
|{{center|4}} |{{center|–}} | 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996 | {{center|–}} |
| Nasarawa Amazons (Nasarawa)
|{{center|2}} |{{center|6}} | 2013, 2017 |
| Jegede Babes (Lagos)
|{{center|1}} |{{center|1}} | 1990 | 1995 |
| Mande River State (Port Harcourt)
|{{center|1}} |{{center|–}} | 1991 |{{center|–}} |
| Edo Queens (Benin City)
|{{center|1}} |{{center|–}} | 2023–24 |{{center|–}} |
{{notelist}}
Individual honours
= Top scorers =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
| Year
!Player !Team !Goals |
|---|
| 2013
|6 |
| 2014
|Amarachi Orjinma |17 |
| 2015
|Rofiat Sule |11 |
| 2016
|9 |
| rowspan=2|2017
|rowspan=2|8 |
| Rasheedat Ajibade |
| 2018
|8 |
| 2019
| | | |
| 2020–21
|Gift Monday (regular season only) |10 |
| 2021–22
|Gift Monday |10{{efn|Regular season only}} |
| 2022–23
|Mercy Omokwu |9 |
| 2023–24
|Ijamilusi Folashade |8 |
{{notelist}}
= Player of the Season =
Notes
{{notelist-ua}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://thenwfl.com}}
- [https://theinformant247.com/nwfl-naija-ratels-bankole-olowookere-bags-december-coach-of-the-month-award/ NWFL: Naija Ratels’ Bankole Olowookere bags December ‘Coach of the month award’] via [https://theinformant247.com/category/sport/ The Informant247 Naija Sport]
{{Nigeria Women Premier League}}
{{Football in Nigeria}}
{{CAF women's leagues}}
{{Top level women's association football leagues around the world}}
Category:Women's association football leagues in Nigeria
Category:Sports leagues established in 1990