Agege is the battleground as Akwa United and Niger Tornadoes seek a second Federation Cup title, reports Idris Adesina
New champions of the Federation Cup were bound to emerge after Niger Tornadoes defeated 2016 champions IfeanyiUbah 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-final.
The Minna-based side, winners in 2000, will be seeking to complete their triumph when they take on fellow Nigeria Professional Football League side, Akwa United, who have also won the competition once, in the final of the competition at the 5,000 capacity Agege Stadium on Sunday (today).
This is the first time in three years that a non-winner will not be appearing in the final. The last time two former champions competed in the final was in 2014, when Enyimba defeated defunct Dolphins to lift the title.
The two sides are making their second appearances in the final of the competition, with the winners having the honour of representing Nigeria at the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup alongside Enyimba, who finished third in the just-concluded NPFL season.
Also, in the women’s version of the competition, defending champions, Rivers Angels, will be seeing to retain the title they won last year in the final.
Brief history
The Federation Cup started as the War Memorial Challenge Cup in 1942 with only Lagos-based teams competing in it. The defunct ZAC Bombers of Lagos were the winners of the maiden edition while Lagos Marine won the 1943 edition and Lagos Railways won the title in 1944.
The competition was however renamed Governor’s Cup in 1945 and given a more national outlook and in 1953 Kano Eleven (who are now known as Kano Pillars) became the first non-Lagos side to win the competition after defeating Lagos Dynamos 2-1 in the final.