Ijele Sports Club have vowed to bounce back stronger following their relegation from the Nigerian National League (NNL) after what the club’s Chief Executive Officer, Barrister Ferdinand A. Naza, described as a season of “learning, growth, and gratitude”, Completesports.com reports.
In an emotionally charged end-of-season message released on Saturday, 29 June 2025, Naza acknowledged the Enugu-based club’s slip to the Nationwide League One (NLO 1) but was quick to highlight key positives from their maiden NNL campaign.
“While the results did not always go our way, what cannot be disputed is the courage, belief, and growth that our team exhibited,” Naza said in his message to coaches, players, sponsors, partners, and supporters.
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The CEO pointed to numerous challenges faced during the season, including logistical hurdles, inconsistent officiating, and structural issues within the league itself. However, he praised the technical team and players of Ijele Sports Club for their dedication, describing them as “passionate, professional, and persevering.”
“To our coaches…you worked with limited resources, yet continued to inspire our players,” he noted. “To our players…you gave your all on the pitch and fought until the final whistle,” Naza hailed.
He also paid tribute to the Ijele Sports Club fans and sponsors, whose support he said gave the club the strength to keep pushing amid tough conditions. “You have shown that Ijele is more than just a team—it is a movement,” he told fans.
Despite finishing the campaign with relegation, Naza expressed confidence that Ijele Sports Club would use the experience to bounce back stronger in the upcoming season.
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“We are returning to the NLO 1 not with bowed heads, but with renewed focus and an iron resolve to correct our shortcomings. We will restructure, we will reinforce, and we will rise,” he vowed.
The Ijele Sports Club now shifts focus to regrouping ahead of the new season in the NLO 1, with plans already underway to retool and position themselves for a return to the country’s second-tier league.
Founded with the ambition to serve as a beacon of sporting excellence in the South-East and beyond, Ijele Sports Club’s spirited debut in the professional ranks, despite its outcome, appears to have laid the groundwork for a promising future.
By Chigozie Chukwuleta
