New comers to the Federation Cup (FA Cup), FC Ifeanyi Uba of Nnewi and Nasarawa United of Lafia, will on Sunday test their might when they file out for the 74-year-old trophy.
FC Ifeanyi Ubah players during a training session The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FA Cup, virtually the oldest football competition in Nigeria, will witness for the first time, two teams that have never been to the final of the championship. The final will be played at the Teslim Balogun Stadium Surulere, Lagos on Sunday. The competition which started as War Memorial Challenge Cup in 1942, had ZAC Bombers of Lagos winning the maiden edition though it was then limited to clubs based in Lagos. The cup was renamed Governor’s Cup with improved format in 1945 and in 1954, it was again renamed Federation Cup after the promulgation of Nigeria Football Association (NFA). In 1960, after a revised format the competition, it was renamed Challenge Cup until 1999 when soft drink bottlers, Coca-Cola took up the sponsorship and consequently named it Coca-Cola FA Cup. At the expiration of a 10-year sponsorship deal with the then NFA, the competition went back to its former name, Federation Cup. The competition has a rich history of big teams contesting for honours; to them, winning is seen as a thing of pride; thereby engendering stiff competition by top teams. This has made the cup so glamorous and has also attracted unprecedented spectators to its finals wherever it is played. Shooting Stars Sport Club (3SC) of Ibadan is the most successful team in the competition, winning it eight times, while defunct Railway of Lagos won it seven times. Rangers International FC of Enugu followed winning it five times. However, in a new twist of fate, this year’s FA Cup will see two-year-old Ifeanyi Uba squaring up with other outsiders in the competition, Nasarawa United for the title. Both teams has never reached the final of the Federation Cup before; while high flying Ifeanyi Uba came fourth in the just-concluded Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL); Nasarawa United are 11th on the log. FC Ifeanyi Uba, funded by Oil Magnate, Ifeanyi Ubah took the NPFL by storm in the last two years with club’s investment worth over N200 million. The club at the beginning of the 2015/2016 season had announced a budget of N100 million to reposition the team and the purchase of high quality players. The Nnewi-based club also employed the services of a Bulgarian tactician, Mitko Dobrev, as the Technical Adviser and a number of foreign players. The club, however, gained an instant reward with a fourth place finish in the NPFL with astonishing record of 100 per cent unbeaten home record, two draws against Lagos-based MFM FC and Sunshine Stars of Akure. En-route to the final, the Anambra Warriors defeated Ebonyi United 1-0 in the round of 64 and also sent Lobi Stars of Markudi out with a lone goal in the round of 32. The Dobrev-tutored squad edged out Kastina United 2-0 and also beat Warri Wolves in the quarter-finals. To reach the final, Ifeanyi Ubah defeated the giant killers, Crown FC of Ogbomoso 2-1 in the semi-finals at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna. Speaking on the exploits of the team so far.
2016 Fed Cup Final: FC Ifeanyi Uba, Nasarawa Utd in Royal Rumble for 74yrs Trophy
