Rivers United F.C.

Rivers United Football Club is a professional football club based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State that participates in the Nigerian Professional Football League, the highest level of domestic Nigerian football. The club was formed by the merger of Sharks F.C. and Dolphins F.C. in 2016. Their home stadium is the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, formerly Liberation Stadium in Elekahia that has a seating capacity of 30,000.[2]

Rivers United
Nickname(s)The Pride of Rivers
Founded2016
GroundYakubu Gowon Stadium
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
Capacity30,000
ManagerStanley Eguma [1]
LeagueNigerian Professional Football League
20162nd
WebsiteClub website

Rivers United FC has remained in the top flight since its first season. They have been performing well in this seasons Caf Confedrations Cup where they defeated a South African opponent to set up mouth watering cracker against Enyimba

History

Rivers United was founded in 2016 after the Rivers state government got permission to merge Dolphins FC and Sharks FC. Both clubs were run by the state government and were having difficulty with finances off the pitch.[3] Sharks were relegated to the First Division in 2015 while Dolphins had barely escaped after a 2–2 draw on the final day.[4] Rivers United' crest contains both a shark and a dolphin as a result of the merge.[5]

Stanley Eguma was appointed Rivers' first coach and led them to a win in their first ever league match, 1–0 over Enyimba.[6]

The club finished second in the 2016 Nigerian Premier League which qualified them for the 2017 CAF Champions League for the first time.[7] A four-goal second-leg win over Mali's AS Bamako with Esosa Igbinoba and Bernard Ovoke each scoring braces put Rivers past the preliminary round.[8] However, they were eliminated by Sudan's Al-Merrikh 4–3 on aggregate in the first round after losing a 3–0 first round lead.[9]

Staff

Head Coach

  • Stanley Eguma

Acting General Manager

  • Okey Kpalukwu

Welfare Secretary

  • Albert Chinwo

Media Officer

Current squad

As of March 2020

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  NGA Akande Abiodun
2 MF  NGA Justice Charles
3 DF  CIV Konan N'Gouan
4 MF  NGA Nasiru Auwalu
5 DF  NGA Azubuike Egwekwe
6 DF  NGA Kazie Enyinnaya
7 MF  NGA Bright Onyedikachi
8 FW  NGA Ossy Martins
9 FW  NGA Stephen Gopey
10 FW  NGA Ogbonna Onuoha
11 MF  NGA Joseph Abiodun
12 FW  NGA Junior Osaghae
13 MF  NGA Lookman Binuyo
14 MF  NGA Orji Kalu
15 MF  CIV Bamba Bakary
16 MF  NGA Shuji Oshobe
17 DF  NGA Chigozie Ihunda
18 MF  NGA Michael Enaruna
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF  NGA Festus Austin
20 MF  NGA Obomate Fredrick
21 MF  NGA Cletus Emotan
22 GK  NGA Ospino Egbe
23 FW  NGA Fortune Omoniwari
24 MF  NGA Onyeali Ifeanyi
25 FW  NGA Malachi Ohawume
26 DF  NGA Peter Ubakanma
27 MF  NGA Christian Weli
28 MF  NGA Victor Chidume
29 MF  NGA Esor Nelson
30 GK  CIV Drissa Bamba
31 MF  NGA Rafiu Ishaq
32 DF  NGA Kunle Odunlami
33 DF  NGA Temple Emekayi
35 MF  NGA Patrick Kingsley
36 DF  NGA Joshua Akhabue

Notes
  1. "Blue tide rising as United stun Enyimba". supersport.com.
  2. "Dolphins, Sharks merged, now Rivers Utd F.C." Vanguard. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  3. "Dolphins, Sharks F.C merge to form new club". Pulse Nigeria. 19 February 2016.
  4. Orevba, Babajide (19 February 2016). "Dolphins, Sharks change name to Rivers United". Legit.ng - Nigeria news.
  5. "Dolphins renamed Rivers United Football Club | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  6. "'We can't lose to Enyimba'- Rivers United coach Stanley Eguma stokes up the fire ahead of must win title cracker this week". Linda Ikeji's Blog. 6 June 2016.
  7. "CAF clubs competitions draws: North African ties for Rangers, FC Ifeanyi Ubah". 22 December 2016.
  8. "Rivers United trash Real Bamako". supersport.com.
  9. Agberebi, James. "CAFCL: Rivers United Blow Big First Leg Lead Vs Al-Merrikh, Crash Out". Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  10. "Rivers Utd get management team". supersport.com.
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