Ikorodu City director, Tobi Adepoju has said the team will be ‘ready’ and ‘competitive’ when they play in the Nigeria Premier Football League next season.
The Lagos-based side will play in the topflight for the first time after gaining promotion from the Nigeria National League.
Speaking in a radio interview on Lasgidi FM, Tobi spoke of the joy of promotion and plans for next season.
“We are very happy. When we started in 2022, the goal was to try and make an impact in the ecosystem and be different. We don’t have a billionaire owner, so we had to put in a lot of work. It was initially a four-year plan but once it became possible that it might happen this year, we decided to go for it.”
To be honest, we couldn’t sleep ???? Don’t blame us #OgaBoys | #WeAreIkoroduCityFC pic.twitter.com/WNulCghgTi
— IkoroduCityFC (@IkoroduCityFC) June 13, 2024
Seeking Help From Other Teams
Ikorodu City is the fifth privately owned team to be promoted to the top flight in the last four seasons after Remo Stars, Doma United, Sporting Lagos, and Beyond Limits. Tobi believes some lessons can be learned from the teams that did it before them.
“We are putting contacts together. We will talk to people at Doma, Sporting, Remo, and even the defunct Ikorodu United and MFM FC. We hope they will be open to sharing their experiences. We need to know what they did right or wrong so it can guide us.”
Competing With A Young Squad
‘Oga Boys’ as the team is otherwise known have a very young squad and there are questions if the team will retain its current structure or go out to get more experienced heads in the top flight.
“There’s nothing in the NPFL,” quipped Tobi. “Beyond Limits have shown that you don’t need too many old men to play football. MFM also did it with the likes of Stephen Odey, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Opara, and the rest.”
“We have a squad with an average age of 22 and the majority started the team with us in 2022. We don’t need to panic buy or gather old men to play in the NPFL.”
“If the boys believe in themselves(we will try to help them)then we can do well. We know the first season will be tough but if we survive and learn, we can continue.”
Funding And Sustainability
The NPFL is known to sap finances and except for the team that wins the league or qualifies to play in the main stage of continental football, there isn’t much financial gain and most teams run at a loss.
Tobi admits that the club isn’t sorted financially and are working behind the scenes for funding.
“The funding is the headache. We don’t have a billionaire owner. If we can solve that problem, we can compete.
The NPFL season wraps up this weekend after which the club owners’ annual general meeting will be held. It’s at this meeting that the four promoted teams will be inducted into the league. It is still unclear when the AGM will happen but it is only after it that the fixtures and schedule for next season will be done.
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