Fans Excited As MFM FC Brings Back Continental Football

As Expected, Lagos fans are once again witnessing their most cherished continental football made possible by Lagos-based MFM FC after about 21 years.

The Olukoya Boys, debutants in the CAF Champions League, began their campaign to win the continent’s coveted soccer shield when they squared up against AS Real Bamako in the first round of the money-spinning tournament with prize money of 2.5 million dollars on Feb. 21.

They won the second leg of the first round 1-0 at the newly refurbished Soccer Temple, Agege Stadium. MFM had drawn 1-1 with their counterparts in Bamako in the first leg and secured a birth in the second on a 2-1 aggregate.

The Fidelis Ilechukwu-tutored team, just in their third season in the elite division of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) was able to ignite the fond memories of continental football in Lagos which has been elusive for about 21 years.

The metropolitan city of Lagos last enjoyed continental championships in 1997 when Julius Berger FC was knocked out in the then CAF Cup Winners Cup, now Confederation Cup in the second round.

Perhaps the most exciting moment was when the Bridge Boys were finalist at the same competition in 1995 but lost to JS Kayblie of Algeria.

On the timeline of the event that led the Julius Berger losing to the Algerian side, the Lagos-based team played a dramatic 1-1 draw in front of the roaring football fanatics at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

The team, however, narrowly lost to the Algerian club 2-1 at the Stade 5 Juilet in Algeria in the return leg of the final, leaving them to win 3-2 on aggregate.

Back to the memory lane, Julius Berger had Stationery Stores of Lagos to contend with fighting for the hearts of Lagosians as the traditional club of Lagos after the demise of earlier NEPA FC.

Both teams are bitter rivals during local derby and it was always explosive matches playing at their respective traditional grounds.

However, the Stationery Stores nicknamed “Flaming Flamingoes’’ by their fans have had their own beautiful moments in the continental championships, while one cannot easily forget their exploits in the continental football competitions, especially in the 1980s.

The Adebajo Boys in 1981 at the finals of the Africa Cup Winners Cup played in front of the boisterous Lagos fans at their fortress, Onikan Stadium against Union Doula of Cameroun which ended goalless.

The Flaming Flamingoes, however, lost the return leg 1-2 away in Doula, Cameroun. It then took the team 12 years to return to the competition’s knockout stage in the semi-finals of the same Cup.

The Stationery Stores yet again qualified for the semi-finals of the Africa Cup Winners Cup against Zamalek of Egypt, winning the first leg 1-0 at Onikan Stadium.

The team then succumbed to the superior firepower of the North African powerhouse in Egypt as they were spanked 3-1 which foreclosed their campaign in the continental football for some time now.

For MFM FC, it is the dawn of a new era for the team to start from where their predecessor stopped.

The team now has a big task ahead in satisfying the continental football starved fans of the metropolitan city of Lagos.

For a team that is presently riding on the crest of good support from fans right from their burst into the limelight of NPFL, much is expected of them.

The team did not disappoint as within three years of campaign in NPFL, they could secure a continental ticket.

MFM FC continental ticket came with no easy passage as in 2016/2017 NPFL season, the Ilechukwu-tutored team had to battle a relegation scare; a fate that also befell the other Lagos-based team, Ikorodu United in the previous season.

A modest club, MFM FC after the 2015/2016 NPFL debacle had to pick up their pieces for an inspirational second place finish in the 2016/2017 season to the astonishment of many.

The team had to force the eventual winner Plateau United to the wire before they were eventually crowned.

Suffice it to say that second place finish in the league for a team with a tag as rookie was not a bad campaign after all.

With all intents and purposes, MFM FC looks like a team ready to sustain the tempo for years to come as they quickly moved from being underdogs in the league to potential winners.

On the note that this was achieved within the space of three years of campaign in the elite division; it is such an unprecedented achievement only previously enjoyed by the disbanded Leventis FC of Ibadan and Abiola Babes.

With the return of continental football to Lagos, many fans are ecstatic about the foray of MFM. The club did not disappoint in their first match at home with comfortable narrow 1-0 win over AS Bamako of Mali.

The team had surprisingly held the same AS Bamako to a 1-1 draw away in Mali.

However, it is pertinent to know that MFM has been enjoying the unrelenting goodwill of the Lagos State Government led by Akinwumi Ambode who has been physically present in some of their NPFL matches.

Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode has also doled out a physical cash of N500 million for their efforts at picking the second ticket to the CAF Champions League.

Not that alone, the government also made effort at making the club comfortable in their home ground by upgrading the Agege Stadium formerly a Township Stadium to an international sports centre.

The history of the turnaround of Agege Stadium started as a playground, then to a community stadium, to a Township Stadium, national and now international stadium.

The facelift of the stadium would have cost the state some funds but it still went ahead to upgrade the facility to meet the CAF standard.

Agege wears new look and is now the cynosure of eyes. Such is the goodwill enjoyed by MFM FC from the state government.

But the state government is not stopping at that, it has also promised not to hesitate in supporting the team in any way it could, an assurance given by the Chairman, Lagos State Football Association (LSFA), Seyi Akinwunmi.

Akinwunmi who is the 1st Vice-President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), said he was excited to see continental football return to Lagos after many years of inactivity.

“I am excited to see this and it is the grace of God that we are witnessing this record in our lifetime. We thank the fans for their support and also MFM FC for restoring the pride of Lagos.

“It is a long time from here before we can have this. I am very happy today that we are here as state FA to witness the game in a newly refurbished stadium made possible by the government.

“Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of the country and we cannot afford not to have a club playing in the continent. There should be a concerted effort to support this course.

“The government is giving us support and we give kudos to the governor and his team; without him, the refurbishment of this stadium wouldn’t have been possible,’’ he said.

The Chairman of Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Kweku Tandor, said the state would not shy away in fulfilling its own obligation of providing enabling environment for sports to thrive.

“The government is ready to provide the enabling environment for sports to thrive. There are many sports infrastructure development ongoing throughout the state.

“The project will not be limited to Agege Stadium alone but throughout the state as Onikan Stadium is also going through re-modeling that will make it an international sports centre.

“We will support in any way we have the capacity as we want sports to also drive the economy,’’ he said.

MFM Media Officer Olawale Quadri boasted of the team’s readiness to take on any opposition in the CAF Champions League, adding that the policy of the club suits their campaign.

“Our policy as adopted by the club is the key to our success. The owners of the club emphasise nothing but quality and effectiveness and that is what we are pursuing.

“Our target is high and we are set to achieve it. We will give a good account of ourselves in the continental campaign,’’ he said boastfully.

MFM will now take on MC Alger of Algeria in the first leg of the second round of the competition on March 6 or March 7 at the Agege Stadium, while the return hold on March 16 to March 18 in Algiers.

With the high expectations on the shoulders of MFM FC, it is left for the club to measure up to the yearnings of the fans which may not be a difficult task if they can get their onions right.