NPFL mourns exit of former club owners, Iwuanyanwu, Ubah
29 July 2024 |
3:52 am
Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Gbenga Elegbeleye, has expressed grief over the demise of two former frontline investors in club ownership in the country. Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah rank amongst private investors in the NPFL, through club ownership at different dispensations in league football in the country.…
Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Gbenga Elegbeleye, has expressed grief over the demise of two former frontline investors in club ownership in the country.
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah rank amongst private investors in the NPFL, through club ownership at different dispensations in league football in the country.
The two football and political heavyweights passed on within two days of each other during the week. The late Chief Iwuanyanwu was handed the former Spartans FC and now, Heartland FC of Owerri, in 1986, and oversaw the meteoric rise of the club to continental reckoning after winning all available laurels in the nation’s club competition between 1986 and 2002. He died on Thursday, July 25 at the age of 82.
The late Senator Ubah delved into club football when he bought controlling hold of Gabros International FC, renaming it FCIfeanyiUbah and steering the club through to the NPFL. He breathed his last in London, in the early hours of Saturday, July 27, at the age of 52.
Elegbeleye said both happenings constituted a sad week for the NPFL at a time when Nigerian league followers are gravitating toward more private investments in club ownership.
“Death is inevitable in our earthly journey, but I am saddened that the two gentlemen who are part of the torch bearers in private investment in club football completed their earthly journey at a time their experience would have counted most”, remarked the NPFL chairman.
“We take condolence in the knowledge that they made their mark in our sphere and would be remembered for good in the history of the evolution of professional football in Nigeria,” Elegbeleye stated.
Iwuanyanwu Nationale was one of the few Nigerian clubs that reached the finals of the old format African Champions Club Cup in 1988 but lost 4-1 on aggregate to Entente Setiff Club of Algeria.
Following their FA Cup triumph in 2016, FC IfeanyiUbah lost via penalty shootout to Egyptian side Al Masry in the CAF Confederation Cup in 2017.
The two clubs funded by the late businessmen had respectively contributed important players to the national teams at various levels at different times. Elegbeleye prayed for the repose of their souls while commiserating with their families, the government, and the people of Imo and Anambra states.
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