2024–25 Nigeria Premier Football League
Nigerian association football season
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The 2024–25 Nigeria Premier Football League was the 54th season of Nigeria's top-flight association football league, the 35th since attaining professionalism and the second under the current name. The season commenced early on 31 August 2024 with the defending champions, Enugu Rangers hosting El-Kanemi Warriors.[1][2]
| Season | 2024–25 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 31 August 2024 – 25 May 2025 |
| Champions | Remo Stars (1st title) |
| Relegated | Akwa United Heartland Sunshine Stars Lobi Stars |
| Champions League | Remo Stars Rivers United |
| Confederation Cup | Kwara United (as Federation Cup winners) Abia Warriors |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 784 (2.06 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Anas Yusuf (18 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Ikorodu City 6–0 Katsina United (10 April 2025) |
| Highest scoring | Nasarawa United 3–4 El-Kanemi Warriors (21 September 2024) Enugu Rangers 3–4 Kano Pillars (16 October 2024) Sunshine Stars 4–3 Ikorodu City (25 January 2025) |
| Longest winning run | Shooting Stars & Remo Stars (6 matches) |
| Longest unbeaten run | El-Kanemi Warriors (10 matches) |
| Longest winless run | Lobi Stars (21 matches) |
| Longest losing run | Lobi Stars (5 matches) |
← 2023–24 2025–26 →
All statistics correct as of 25 May 2025. | |
On 27 April 2025, Remo Stars defeated Niger Tornadoes to secure their first ever Nigeria Premier Football League title with 3 games to spare.[3] With this triumph, they became the first South-western club to win the title since Julius Berger in 2000.[4]
This season also saw an increase of N50 million in prize money for the champions from the previous season, with the winners taking home N200 million.[5] Additionally, the NPFL secured a sponsorship deal with British multinational television production company, IMG/JVco for broadcast of league games.[6]
Teams
Changes from previous season
Twenty teams, consisting of the top sixteen teams from the previous season and four promoted teams from the Nigeria National League, are competing in the league. The promoted teams are Nasarawa United and El-Kanemi Warriors who both got relegated two seasons ago, and newcomers Ikorodu City and Beyond Limits. Beyond Limits would be subsequently replaced by Heartland who were initially relegated the previous season as Beyond Limits and Remo Stars share the same owners.[7]
2023–24 National League |
2024–25 National League |
|---|---|
| Nasarawa United El-Kanemi Warriors Ikorodu City |
Sporting Lagos Doma United Gombe United |
Teams information
- Kano Pillars played some of their home games at Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina as their home stadium Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano was undergoing renovation works.[8]
- Lobi Stars play their home matches at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu and previously at Lafia Township Stadium, Lafia and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi instead of their regular home ground Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi due to renovation works.[9][10]
- Sunshine Stars play their home games at Dipo Dina International Stadium, Ijebu-Ode rather than their regular home ground, Akure Township Stadium, Akure due to renovation works.[11]
Managerial changes
Not including interim management.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of departure | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasarawa United | Sacked | 31 August 2024 | 3 August 2024[12] | ||
| Kwara United | Moved to Nasarawa United | 31 August 2024 | 31 August 2024[13] | ||
| Lobi Stars | Sacked | 6 October 2024 | 6 October 2024[14] | ||
| Ikorodu City | Resignation[15] | 6 October 2024 | 22 October 2024[16] | ||
| Sunshine Stars | Resignation | 11 November 2024[17] | 11 December 2024[18] | ||
| Bendel Insurance | Resignation | 22 November 2024[19] | 23 November 2024 | ||
| Enyimba | Sacked | 28 December 2024[20] | 29 December 2024[21] |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Remo Stars (C) | 38 | 22 | 5 | 11 | 49 | 31 | +18 | 71 | Qualification for the Champions League |
| 2 | Rivers United | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 64 | |
| 3 | Abia Warriors | 38 | 18 | 6 | 14 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 60 | Qualification for the Confederation Cup |
| 4 | Ikorodu City | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 60 | 44 | +16 | 59 | |
| 5 | Bendel Insurance[a] | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 56 | |
| 6 | Enyimba | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 55 | |
| 7 | Plateau United[b] | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 54 | |
| 8 | Shooting Stars | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 39 | 38 | +1 | 54 | |
| 9 | Kano Pillars | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 44 | 45 | −1 | 53 | |
| 10 | Enugu Rangers | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 42 | 34 | +8 | 52 | |
| 11 | Bayelsa United | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 39 | 36 | +3 | 52 | |
| 12 | Nasarawa United[c] | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 52 | |
| 13 | Niger Tornadoes | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 51 | |
| 14 | Kwara United | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 50 | Qualification for the Confederation Cup[d] |
| 15 | Katsina United | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 30 | 36 | −6 | 50 | |
| 16 | El-Kanemi Warriors | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 34 | 41 | −7 | 49 | |
| 17 | Heartland (R) | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 33 | 34 | −1 | 48 | Relegation to the National League |
| 18 | Akwa United (R) | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 44 | |
| 19 | Sunshine Stars (R) | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 34 | 51 | −17 | 41 | |
| 20 | Lobi Stars (R) | 38 | 6 | 10 | 22 | 29 | 56 | −27 | 28 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- Kwara United qualified to the CAF Confederation Cup as Federation Cup winners.
Results
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.
| Leader | |
| Qualification for the Champions League | |
| Qualification for the Confederation Cup | |
| Relegation to Nigeria National League |
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers
- As of 25 May 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nasarawa United | 18 | |
| 2 | Kano Pillars | 13 | |
| 3 | Abia Warriors | 12 | |
| Ikorodu City | |||
| 6 | 11 | ||
| 7 | Kano Pillars | 10 | |
| Bayelsa United | |||
| 9 | Kwara United | 9 | |
| Enugu Rangers |
Hat-tricks
- As of 3 March 2025
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anas Yusuf | Nasarawa United | El-Kanemi Warriors | 3–4 (H)[25] | 21 September 2024 |
| Abia Warriors | 3–0 (H)[26] | 16 October 2024 | ||
| Ahmad Liman | Sunshine Stars | Kwara United | 4–2 (H)[27] | 1 March 2025 |
- Note
(H) – Home; (A) – Away
Attendances
Enugu Rangers drew the highest average home attendance in this season.
| # | Football club | Average attendance |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enugu Rangers | 11,684 |
| 2 | Kano Pillars | 7,864 |
| 3 | Shooting Stars | 4,421 |
| 4 | Kwara United | 4,327 |
| 5 | Niger Tornadoes | 3,874 |
| 6 | Remo Stars | 3,842 |
| 7 | Enyimba FC | 3,742 |
| 8 | Ikorodu City | 2,684 |
| 9 | Plateau United | 2,284 |
| 10 | El-Kanemi Warriors | 2,146 |
| 11 | Bendel Insurance | 1,492 |
| 12 | Nasarawa United | 1,436 |
| 13 | Gombe United | 982 |
| 14 | Bayelsa United | 607 |
| 15 | Abia Warriors | 592 |
| 16 | Heartland FC | 512 |
| 17 | Katsina United | 364 |
| 18 | Akwa United | 348 |
| 19 | Sunshine Stars | 332 |
| 20 | Rivers United | 174 |