History was made on Sunday, April 27, in Ikenne as Remo Stars emerged champions of the 2024-2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season for the first-time after the Sky Blue Stars edged Niger Tornadoes 1-0 in the tension-soaked week 35 match played yesterday at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne.

Victory didn’t come on a platter for the hosts as they had to wait till the 84th minute when Olamilekan Adedayo broke the deadlock to hand them the major silverware.

Going by the hard fought win against Tornadoes, Remo Stars  who have amassed 68 points have opened an unassailable 10-point gap as their closest rivals, Rivers United are on 58 points with only three matches to the end of the season.

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Mathematically, Remo Stars won the league even before yesterday’s match because Kano Pillars’ 2-0 victory over Rivers United on Friday had paved the way for them to clinch their historic title if they win their next home match which they did.

The triumph of Remo Stars comes on the back of two consecutive second place finishes in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons, making the victory a jinx breaking one.

The club owned by Nigerian business mogul and billionaire, Kunle Soname, who celebrated his 59th birthday on the day of victory made its debut in the Nigerian topflight in 2016 but was relegated in 2018.

However, since 2021 when Remo Stars bounced back to the elite division, the inarguably most organised club in the NPFL has consistently qualified for continental football.

It will be recalled that on their return to the NPFL in the 2021-2022 season, Remo Stars finished third and qualified for the Confederation Cup. They built on the achievement to earn second place finishes in the next two seasons before yesterday’s victory on home turf.

However, Remo Stars will have to wait until their next home match, which is the week 37 fixture against regional rivals Ikorodu City, on May 7 to be presented with the trophy that eluded them twice.

Remo Stars’ outstanding performance

The Sky Blue Stars showed intent to win the league title right from Matchday One when they produced a stunning 2-0 away victory against Abia Warriors in Umuahia. Buoyed by the impressive start, Remo Stars went on to secure four more away wins and three away draws without a home defeat, making themselves clear favourites for the 2025 NPFL title.

After away wins against Abia Warriors, Kano Pillars, Akwa United, Sunshine Stars and regional rivals 3SC, and away draws at Enyimba, Ikorodu City as well as relegated Lobi Stars, Remo Stars successfully garnered 18 points on the road.

However, the two crucial victories that helped Remo Stars to win the title are the Sky Blue Stars’ south-west derby win over 3Sc in Ibadan and Kano Pillars’ win against Rivers United.

So, the victory in Ibadan and the fall of Rivers United in Kano contributed immensely to lifting Remo Stars to their first-ever NPFL title.

Rivers United’ futile chase

In the course of the pursuit of the elusive title, Remo Stars benefitted from some results that went against their closest rivals, Rivers United, who dropped some crucial points at home and on the road.

A major setback for Rivers United was the 0-1 loss at home to south-south rivals Bayelsa United in week 11. Apart from the home defeat, the ‘pride of Rivers’ also drew home matches against El-Kanemi Warriors (1-1), Plateau United (1-1) and Bendel Insurance (2-2).

What this means is that despite picking 15 points on the road from six away draws against Katsina United, Remo Stars, Sunshine Stars, Nasarawa United, Akwa United, and 3SC, and three away wins against Lobi Stars, Tornadoes and El-Kanemi Warriors, Rivers United equally dropped six points at home to the advantage of Remo Stars.

The significance of Remo Stars’ victory

Remo Stars’ success makes them the first privately owned club to win the league since 1996 when Udoji United last won the crown. With the victory they etched their name in gold  among private clubs like Iwuanyanwu Nationale and Udoji United that won the title in the past. In a remarkable performance, Nationale won four titles in a row from 1987 to 1990.

Furthermore, Remo Stars’ victory is capable of motivating other wealthy Nigerians to sponsor clubs in the NPFL since the Sky Blue Stars have shown that with right structure, hard work and perseverance, privately owned clubs can beat government sponsored clubs to the league title.

Enyimba keep continental ticket in sight

In other NPFL week 35 matches played yesterday, former African Champions, Enyimba, stunned the defending champions, Enugu Rangers, 2-1 at the ‘Cathedral to move to the fifth position on the table.

The ‘Peoples elephants’ will be hoping for slips from Abia Warriors and Ikorodu City in the remaining matches to sneak into the third position.

Elsewhere, Nasarawa United defeated Heartland 1-0 in Lafia, 10-man Ikorodu City fell 1-2 to Akwa United in Uyo, Katsina United lost 0-2 to Sunshine Stars, while Abia Warriors edged 3SC 3-1 in Umuahia.

In Jos, Plateau United earned 2-1 victory over Insurance, Bayelsa tamed El=Kanemi Warriors 2-1 in Yenagoa while Kwara United hammered relegated Lobi Stars 4-0 in Ilorin.