Kano Pillars F.C. Explained

Clubname:Kano Pillars
Upright:0.9
Fullname:Kano Pillars Football Club
Nickname:Sai Masu Gida
Ground:Sani Abacha Stadium
Kano
Capacity:16,000[1]
Chairman:Alhaji Ali Nayara
Manager:Coach Usman Abdullah
League:Nigeria Professional Football League
Season:2023–24
Position:Nigeria Professional Football League, 11th of 20
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Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They play their home games at Sani Abacha Stadium. Kano Pillars FC was founded in 1990, the year the professional association football league started in Nigeria, and it's also among the oldest clubs in Nigerian history alongside Bendel Insurance and Enugu Rangers.It was an amalgamation of three amateur clubs in Kano State.

History

Founded in 1990, by Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, former chairman of Nigeria Football Association and former sports commissioner of Kano, from the combination of WRECA FC, Kano Golden Stars and Bank of the North FC, Kano Pillars achieved outstanding success by winning the 2007–08 Nigerian Premier League. Kano Pillars produced players like Abiodun Baruwa who has since played for Swiss, Austrian, Welsh and British Clubs and Sani Kaita who later plays for Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Another Prominent player is Ahmed Garba 'Yaro Yaro' who later plays for AB in Denmark and a notable player from Kano Pillars FC is Ahmed Musa who played for Leicester City in the English Premier league after joining from CSKA Moscow. It was registered as a limited liability company with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigeria, and then registered with the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) as a professional football club. The Kano Pillars drew an average home league attendance of 10,000 in the 2016 league season.

In the 2020/2021 NPFL season, Kano Pillars were fined a whopping sum of ₦7,500,000.00 for failing to follow the orders of the LMC and NFF, which prohibited fans from viewing live games in the stadium. Fans disrupted a top table clash between Akwa United and Kano Pillars. The game ended 0–0 after it was concluded the following day.[2]

They were relegated from NPFL on 16 July 2022 following the confirmation of a verdict against them for the deduction of 3 points, despite an appeal which the NFF committee disregarded against their complaint.The verdict on them was a penalty for what their former chairman did to match officials in their encounter with Dakkada FC[3]

2009 Champions League

They are also nicknamed "Ahly Killers" as they scored 2 magnificent goals in Egypt and drew with Al Ahly Cairo in Egypt 2–2 and 1–1 in Nigeria, so the Ahly Killers went to the Group stage in the African Champions League on the away goals rule. They made it to the semi-finals before being eliminated against fellow Nigerian team Heartland.

Achievements

Champions (4): 2007–08, 2011–12, 2013, 2014.

Runners-up (1): 2009–10.

Winners (2): 2019, 1953

Runners-up (2): 1991, 2018.

Performance in CAF competitions

6 appearances

2009 – Semi-finals

2011 – First Round

2013 – First Round

2014 – Preliminary Round

2015 – First Round

2020 – Preliminary Round

0 appearance

Current players

As of 8 February 2024

(Captain)

Staff

Head Coach/Technical Adviser
Chairman
general manager
General Coordinator
Kit Manager
Marketing Manager

Notable coaches

Salisu YusufOkey EmordiEvans Ogenyi

Notable players

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: BBC News Online | Africa | Sport | Cup of Nations | Venue Guide | Kano. 2020-01-14. 2020-01-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20200127205021/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/sport/football/africa/cup_of_nations/kano.stm. live.
  2. Web site: 2021-06-14 . LMC fines Pillars N7.5m over fans violence . 2022-12-11 . Punch Newspapers . en-US . 2022-07-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220707173103/https://punchng.com/lmc-fines-pillars-n7-5m-over-fans-violence/ . live .
  3. Web site: Pillars relegated after losing appeal (Goal.com) . 2022-07-18 . 2022-07-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220717180657/https://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/kano-pillars-four-time-npfl-kings-relegated-after-losing-appeal-against-dakkada-fc/blt2991e354dc7261d7 . live .