RESTRUCTURING NPFL CLUBS

RESTRUCTURING NPFL CLUBS

(Case study; Akwa United FC of Nigeria)

PART 1

Club-Society/community ownership

The restructuring of Akwa United is certainly necessary in order to re-establish the club into a modern society or community club as seen in most countries where football clubs are been established not just for the purpose of  football but also to be a medium which people could use to meet and interact with people. Most football clubs of today have realised the necessity to involve people in the dealings of the club’s activity, and also with the aim of providing an avenue for people to meet, interact and also as a symbol of unity. For example, FC Barcelona in Spain has adopted this method of running the club for a long time now. In the aspect of restructuring the club, the football club’s name should be changed from Akwa United to Akwa Ibom Football Club (AIFC). My reason for this is that many clubs in Nigeria use the word “United” in accordance with its name, and this is too common. Rather, we (Akwa Ibomites) should be proud of our state’s name by naming the major club representing the state in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). The shares of the club should also be sold to club members or citizens in the state in order for the growth and betterment of the club. In this way, people would have interest in the club and value it. If the shares of the club is sold to shareholders, they would consider making the club an advanced football club in Nigeria, this is because, they would not want to make loss in what they have invested in.

Increasing fan base

In Nigeria, most football clubs in the country cannot get their stadium to be occupied to full capacity. This is because of many reasons, some of which may range from the manner in which the stadium are not adequately protected, poor infrastructural facilities in the stadium, time of scheduled matches in the NPFL, inability to pay for match tickets, etc. Well, as observed in Akwa united case, it can also be said to be eminent that the above reasons still persist in Akwa United Football Club. Best possible solutions could also be administered to get the home ground of Akwa United to always be occupied to full capacity by football lovers in the state. In order to get meaningful fan bases in every football match involving Akwa United at its home ground, introduction of the sales of flyers, match-day programmes with information of various players in the team, including matches for the month or the season could also be inserted in such programmes. Approaches to banks and sensitive business area could also be made to enhance sales of match-day tickets. Prices of tickets should not be too expensive so as not to discourage fans from showing up. The club can also go into collaboration with a security agency so as to help secure the home ground during matches. Also, technological advancement can also be enhanced in other to make the club venue much friendlier. For example, Wi-Fi provisions could be made as this would encourage more youths to the match venue.