The NPFL explained: Nigeria's top football league
The Nigeria Premier Football League, usually shortened to NPFL, is the top level of club football in Nigeria. This guide explains how it works, in plain language, for fans who are new to it or who follow European football and want to compare.
Who runs it
The league is organised by the League Management Company (LMC), working with the Nigeria Football Federation. The LMC handles the fixtures, the rules for clubs and the competition's commercial deals. Clubs themselves are owned and funded in different ways: some by state governments, some by private owners.
How a season works
The NPFL is a round-robin league. Each club plays every other club at home and away, and gets three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat. The club with the most points at the end of the season is champion. A season usually starts in the second half of one year and ends in the following summer, and the exact dates change from year to year.
The number of clubs has varied over the years, with around 20 in the top division in recent seasons. The weakest teams at the bottom of the table are relegated to the lower division, and the best clubs from that division are promoted in their place.
Playing in Africa
The best NPFL clubs qualify for the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup, the two main club competitions in Africa. The champion of the NPFL usually goes into the Champions League, and a cup winner or another high-placed club can enter the Confederation Cup. Nigerian clubs have a proud record in these competitions: Enyimba of Aba won the CAF Champions League in 2003 and 2004, and clubs such as Shooting Stars and Enugu Rangers won the African Cup Winners' Cup in the 1970s.
Clubs to know
Names you will often see in the NPFL include Enyimba (Aba), Rivers United (Port Harcourt), Kano Pillars, Enugu Rangers, Remo Stars, Shooting Stars (Ibadan), Plateau United (Jos), Heartland (Owerri) and Bendel Insurance (Benin City). Which clubs are in the top division changes each season through promotion and relegation, so check the current table for the latest list.
Following the NPFL on ScoreHub
ScoreHub lists NPFL matches in the football section when our data sources provide them. You can filter the football page by competition to see only the NPFL, and you can follow any club by name to get alerts for kick-off, goals and full time. League coverage depends on what our data providers publish, so some matches may appear later than the big European leagues.