The Nigerian top-flight reached its dramatic
conclusion just over a week ago, but the inability
of teams to win away from home is alarming
ANALYSIS
By Chris Myson
Last week the 2013 Nigeria Premier League reached its
conclusion with Kano Pillars ultimately retaining their
title by just one point over Enyimba.
It was a dramatic ending to a dramatic domestic
season.
Enyimba were four points adrift of the champions going
into the last game so were out of the running and only
chasing a CAF Champions League spot, but the title was
a long way from being wrapped up.
This was because two others sides, Bayelsa United (who
finished third) and El Kanemi Warriors (fourth), also
went into the final weekend with an opportunity to win
the league.
Thus when Kano Pillars suffered a 1-0 away defeat to
Lobi Stars, the door was open to those two sides to seal
the title. However, the two rival teams both lost away
games too and it was only Enyimba (playing at home)
who picked up a victory and surged into second spot.
At first glance, all three title-challengers losing on the
final matchday is, on the face of it, a huge shock.
But on closer inspection there was nothing remarkable
about it at all. The Nigerian Premier League is a
competition where winning regularly away from home
is almost impossible.
The statistics make for absolutely astonishing reading.
In 380 matches last season, only 18 (less than 5 per
cent) ended with a win for the visiting side.
Only one of the Premier League’s 20 teams reached the
milestone of just three (yes, three) away wins from 19
matches on the road – but that was still not enough to
save Kwara United from relegation.
Back-to-back champions Kano Pillars won two, drew
two and lost 15 of their away matches and scored just
10 goals on their travels.
Bizarrely, that poor record actually proved to be the
difference in the title race as they picked up more
points away than most of their other title rivals.
Only second-placed Enyimba picked up more points,
despite scoring only four goals and obtaining one win
in their 19 away games.
None of the league’s top five teams lost a match at
home all season. Their combined records at home
reads: Played 95, Won 87, Drawn 8, Lost 0.
Runners-up Enyimba did not even concede a goal at
home all season. Such is the dominance of home
teams, even second-from-bottom side Wikki Tourist
picked up 46 points from a possible 57 in front of their
own fans and still went down.
Goal Nigeria Chief Editor Lolade Adewuyi says the
dominance of home sides is damaging the popularity of
the league locally.
“Home teams are always expected to win their
matches,” he explains.
“This trend has been going on for a long time and has
caused a lack of interest in the Nigerian league as a
result.
“It drains the energy of away teams and takes the shine
off the league. Many neutrals would rather tune into
European football on TV than go to the stadiums to
watch the local leagues.
“This doesn't mean that there's no good football being
played because there is an abundance of talent, but
many people no longer care as they used to. Up until
the turn of the century, many of the clubs still had a
huge following - that is no longer the case.
“Many say there is no joy knowing that your club will
almost always win their home clashes.”
Failure to win a home match is so rare that such an
occurrence can cause panic amongst a club’s fans. With
the margins in the league so tight, even dropping points
once at home can have disastrous consequences for a
club’s ambitions that season.
Incredibly, this year’s champions Kano Pillars finished
up just 17 points better off than last-placed Shooting
Stars.
The middle of the table was very closely-matched – only
five points separated sixth-placed Warri Wolves and
relegated ABS in 18th position.
As a result, there is huge pressure on teams to win their
home matches and many games in the league have a
trend of being settled by late penalties in favour of the
home side.
Lolade continues: “Personally, I remember attending a
Sunshine Stars game in 2009 where they drew at home
in Akure.
“Afterwards, fans got angry at the team. They called for
a change in personnel at the club and protested –
which was bizarre considering it was just the first game
of the season.
“But this kind of pressure from the fans to win home
matches makes administrators fight to ensure their
teams win at home at all costs.
“I'm not aware of another country in Africa where this
type of situation occurs. I know the leagues in Ghana,
South Africa, Kenya and Egypt are very competitive and
sides do regularly pick up points in away games.”
It is not only this past season that has produced
remarkable statistics in the home and away records of
Nigeria's top teams.
Over the last six seasons, a top-five team suffering
defeat at home has only happened on four occasions -
so rare that it occurs less than once per campaign on
average.
In each of those seasons, even the team finishing
bottom has lost a very small number of games at their
own stadium (one, two, six, five, four and one
respectively).
In those six league campaigns, the champions have won
a total of 18 away matches – an average of three per
season, remarkably little for the best team in the
competition each year. Even though those statistics are
already incredibly low, the 2013 season came in
further below that mark.
The phrase 'home, sweet home' has never been more
appropriate in world football.
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