Nigeria Professional Football League season
Football league season
The 2021–22 Nigeria Professional Football League was the 51st season of Nigeria's top-flight association football league and the 32nd since attaining professionalism. The season started on 17 December 2021 and was concluded on 17 July 2022.[ 1]
This season saw Shooting Stars returning to the top-flight after a four-year hiatus, likewise Niger Tornadoes who won the National League play-offs. They were also joined by Remo Stars and Gombe United after securing promotion from the second division.[ 2] Akwa United were the defending champions.
On 25 June 2022, Rivers United won their first league title with 4 matches to spare.[ 3]
Kano Pillars were relegated for the first time in 20 years[ 4] .This occurred as a result of the team suffering a six point deduction from the league committee and the club's poor form during the season,[ 5] [ 6] they were joined by MFM , Heartland and Katsina United . Remo Stars secured a continental ticket for the first time in the club's history.[ 7]
Locations of the 2021–22 Nigeria Professional Football League teams
Clubs
Note : Several clubs played home matches at other stadiums due to their regular stadia not meeting the league requirements or being banished by the LMC.
Team
Location
Stadium
Capacity
Head Coach
Abia Warriors
Umuahia
Umuahia Township Stadium
5,000
Imama Amapakabo
Akwa United F.C.
Uyo
Godswill Akpabio International Stadium
30,000
Deji Ayeni
Dakkada
Danlami Kwasau
Enugu Rangers
Enugu
Ifeanyi Ubah FC Stadium Awka City Stadium
18,000
Abdul Maikaba
Enyimba
Aba
Enyimba International Stadium
16,000
Finidi George
Gombe United
Gombe
Pantami Stadium
12,000
Aliyu Zubairu
Heartland F.C.
Owerri
Dan Anyiam Stadium
10,000
Erasmus Onuh
Kano Pillars
Kano
Sani Abacha Stadium
16,000
Salisu Yusuf
Katsina United
Katsina
Muhammad Dikko Stadium
35,000
Azeez Mohammed
Kwara United
Ilorin
Kwara State Stadium
18,000
Abdullahi Biffo
Lobi Stars
Makurdi
Aper Aku Stadium
20,000
Mohammed Babaganaru
MFM F.C.
Lagos
Teslim Balogun Stadium
24,325
Festus Allen
Nasarawa United
Lafia
Lafia Township Stadium
5,000
Bala Nikyu
Niger Tornadoes
Minna
Minna Township Stadium
5,000
Abubakar Bala
Plateau United
Jos
New Jos Stadium
60,000
Fidelis Ilechukwu
Remo Stars
Ikenne
Dipo Dina Stadium Remo Stars Stadium
20,000
Gbenga Ogunbote
Rivers United
Port Harcourt
Yakubu Gowon Stadium
16,000
Stanley Eguma
Shooting Stars
Ibadan
Lekan Salami Stadium
10,000
Edith Agoye
Sunshine Stars
Akure
Dipo Dina Stadium Akure Stadium
20,000
Emmanuel Deutsch
Wikki Tourists F.C.
Bauchi
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium
15,000
Kabiru Dogo
Managerial changes
Not including interim management.
Team
Outgoing manager
Manner of departure
Date of departure
Incoming manager
Date of appointment
Heartland
Hassan Abdallah
Resignation
2 February
Erasmus Onuh
5 February[ 8]
Akwa United
Kennedy Boboye
Resignation
13 February[ 9]
Deji Ayeni
23 March
Lobi Stars
Eddy Dombraye
Sacked
14 March
Mohammed Babaganaru
24 March
Sunshine Stars
Deji Ayeni
Left for Akwa United
23 March
Emmanuel Deutsch
2 April
MFM
Gabriel Olalekan
Sacked
11 May
Festus Allen
11 May[ 10]
League table
Source:
NPFL Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
Notes:
^ Kwara United qualified for the Confederation Cup as the 2022 Aiteo Cup could not be completed.[ 11]
^ Niger Tornadoes initially had 2 points deducted by the LMC but were restored by the NFF .[ 12] [ 5]
^ Kano Pillars had 3 points deducted by the LMC and a further 3 points by the NFF.[ 5] [ 6]
Results
Source:
NPFL Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Positions by round
To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.
Team ╲ Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Abia Warriors 15 8 7 11 17 8 12 14 14 14 13 15 15 16 15 15 16 13 13 15 13 15 15 14 14 18 13 14 13 14 15 12 15 13 16 12 16 13 Akwa United 1 3 2 5 7 4 6 9 7 7 7 8 6 5 6 4 6 6 6 8 9 8 7 7 5 6 5 7 5 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 Dakkada 20 11 14 14 8 13 16 17 16 18 17 18 18 19 18 19 17 19 16 18 15 16 14 15 16 15 17 18 19 20 20 19 18 17 19 19 17 14 Enugu Rangers 5 7 8 3 4 3 3 3 3 4 6 4 3 4 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 Enyimba 4 2 5 9 3 5 7 4 4 5 4 5 7 7 8 7 8 9 10 7 8 7 9 8 9 7 7 6 7 6 4 6 4 6 5 6 6 7 Gombe United 12 15 17 10 16 15 18 13 15 15 14 10 8 9 10 9 10 10 11 9 11 9 8 10 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 9 9 9 9 7 8 Heartland 7 16 10 17 9 12 17 19 19 19 19 19 19 18 17 18 15 18 18 20 20 20 20 18 19 17 19 17 18 17 18 18 19 18 18 18 18 18 Kano Pillars 19 17 20 15 20 11 15 12 10 11 11 14 16 14 14 14 12 14 12 13 14 13 16 19 17 19 18 19 17 12 14 16 16 19 13 16 19 19 Katsina United 16 19 15 18 13 18 14 18 18 16 18 17 17 17 19 17 19 16 15 17 18 19 19 17 15 14 16 15 14 15 13 14 13 14 14 17 15 17 Kwara United 2 5 4 4 5 9 5 10 8 8 5 7 5 6 5 6 5 4 5 4 5 5 5 5 6 5 6 5 6 5 6 5 6 5 6 4 4 4 Lobi Stars 9 13 6 13 6 10 11 8 13 13 15 12 13 13 13 13 14 17 19 16 17 17 17 16 18 16 15 16 16 18 17 17 14 16 12 14 13 15 MFM 18 20 16 19 14 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 18 18 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 Nasarawa United 8 12 11 7 11 7 10 7 11 10 9 9 11 10 11 11 11 12 14 12 10 11 12 13 12 13 12 13 12 13 11 11 11 11 10 11 11 6 Niger Tornadoes 6 9 9 16 19 20 13 16 17 17 16 16 12 15 16 16 18 15 17 14 16 14 13 12 13 12 14 12 15 16 16 15 17 15 17 13 10 12 Plateau United 17 10 13 8 12 6 4 5 5 3 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Remo Stars 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 3 4 4 3 3 3 5 4 5 4 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 3 3 3 3 3 Rivers United 10 4 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Shooting Stars 11 14 18 12 18 17 19 15 12 6 10 6 10 12 12 12 13 11 9 11 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 11 12 13 12 12 15 15 14 16 Sunshine Stars 14 18 19 20 15 14 8 11 9 12 12 13 14 8 9 8 9 7 8 6 7 6 6 6 7 8 10 8 9 8 9 7 7 7 7 7 9 11 Wikki Tourists 13 6 12 6 10 16 9 6 6 9 8 11 9 11 7 10 7 8 7 10 6 10 10 9 10 10 9 10 11 10 10 10 10 10 11 10 12 10
Results by matches played
Statistics
Scoring
Top scorers
As of 17 July 2022
Hat-tricks
Notes
(H) – Home team
References
Domestic leagues Domestic cups Super cups CAF club competitions International competitions