City, State And Regional Derbies to Watch Out For, As 2023-24 NPL Season Draws Closer

City, State And Regional Derbies to Watch Out For, As 2023-24 NPL Season Draws Closer

By Gbenga Gboyega

Twenty teams will once again jostle for the Nigeria Premier League title for the 2023-24 season, with reigning champions Enyimba, unbeaten record setter's Bendel Insurance, and newly promoted side Sporting Lagos, all in the mix for domestic glory, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

If reports from the League's board are anything to go by, the season should resume activities from the 9th of September 2023, with matches getting sponsored for streaming and subscriptions to the viewing pleasure of fans at home and abroad.

One of the interesting points of the fixtures to look out for are the rivalries and derbies amongst teams domiciled within the same city, state, or region, adding some spice to the run up of the 38-MatchDay campaign.

The Northern region will produce only one derby, in the city of Gombe where Gombe United and Doma United lay bare. Both teams also play their home fixtures at the 12,000 capacity multi-purpose Pantami Stadium in the capital city of Gombe, Gombe State.

This derby resonates with its Italian counterpart where Associazione Calcio Milan (AC Milan) and Internazionale (Inter Milan) both share the San Siro stadium as home turf and the Milanello Sports Center as training ground in the Série À.

Moving to the Southeast, reigning champions Enyimba International Football Club share the same state with Abia Warriors Football Club albeit playing in different home turfs in two different cities, with the People's Elephant playing at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba while Abia Warriors find their niche at the Umuahia Township Stadium in the capital city of Abia State.

The Southwest on the other hand provides more of regional derbies than city or state, as Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan, Sunshine Stars Football Club of Akure, Remo Stars of Ikenne, and Sporting Lagos all ply their trades in different states.

Kwara United of Ilorin belong to the middle-belt region and technically do not star in the southwestern rivalry, as the Harmony Boys will hosts visitors at the Kwara State multipurpose stadium in Ilorin.

Plateau United, Kastina United, and Kano Pillars will jostle in the North-central derby, as Niger Tornadoes of Minna and Lobi Stars of Makurdi are the only teams in silos with no rivalry around.