Newly promoted amateur team, Udala Fc of Awka are gunning to cause a sensation in the Nigeria National League by winning promotion to the Nigeria Professional Football League in just one season.
The chairman of the club, Chief Udala Philip Nonso who is elated after his wards picked the NLO playoff ticket to the NNL told Blueprint Sports in Abuja that “Udala Fc will create upsets and set new records in the Nigeria National League.
“Our target is to spend one season in the NNL and win promotion to the NPFL by the special grace of God” he said
Though the Clearing and Forward businessman admitted that running the club is “not easy” and he’s willing to and interested in getting sponsors for the club with overtures to the Anambra Sports Commission to take over the club.
According to him, Udala Fc started in 2016 with “a novel idea- there was a tournament and a group of boys came to me to buy jerseys for them which I did. They went ahead and wrote Udala Fc at the back of the jersey. They won the tournament my general manager pressurized me to make it a team eventually I gave him the go ahead and we registered with the Anambra Independent League and they won it on three consecutive occasions which really gave me the impetus to put more interest in the team.
Two years ago, we started playing in the NLO division 2 and we got promotion to division 1. We played division 1 last season but we are unable to make it but thank God now the story has changed as we got promotion and we are set to play in the Nigeria National League.
Udala disclosed that “As a businessman, I never make profit from football but I know that in the nearest future it will surely come.
He attributed the success of Udala Fc in the playoff to the fact that he “has a good team”. According to him, the team was in camp even during the time of Covid-19 lockdown last year with no going out or coming-in, perfecting strategy in camp with serious training.
He thumbs up officiating during the NLO play-off . “The referees are human beings and they are prone to make mistakes too. To me the officiating 80% ok which is good enough.
Chief Udala commended the NLO secretariat for their many innovations and commitment towards driving the league to a global standard as one of the best in Africa.
