Rivers Utd, Remo Stars to Rekindle Rivalry in NPFL Youth League

The five teams that emerged from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) U17 Youth League zonal qualifiers held in Lafia, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Ado Ekiti will kickoff the Championship finals starting from Saturday, February 24at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.

The five teams, namely Plateau United, Katsina United,  Rangers International, Remo Stars and Rivers United will do battle to determine the team with the best youth squad.

Rivers United and Remo Stars junior teams will open the championship in the first fixture that starts at 2pm. The second fixture of the day will be between Plateau United and Katsina United at 4pm.

It looks to be a carryover of the rivalry in the senior cadre when Rivers United, winner of the South South zone takes on the Ikenne Billionaires, Remo Stars.

Adams Jesse Odoba-Yacham has keenly followed the competition from the zonal stages and watched all the games in Lafia, host city of the North Central zone.

He reckons that for Rivers United, a solid defence block led by Paul Jr Paul would have to contend with the strike force of Remo Stars spearheaded by Aribo Faith, the captain.

Fans would sit back from 4pmto watch Katsina United, the Northwest/Northeast zonal winners in the Kaduna zone file out against the North Central champions, Plateau United.

Again, Odoba-Yacham thinks Coach Sunday Boyi would build his assault against Katsina United around the trio of Dayong Elisha, Pede Ezekiel and the inspirational captain Abdul Musa.

Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye, the Chairman of the NPFL, while inaugurating the Organising Committee headed by Pastor Emeka Inyama, explained that the idea was consistent with FIFA’s developmental football plans which requires every club in the elite cadre of leagues in member Federations to have junior teams.

While the NPFL has been organising in partnership with LaLiga, the U-15 League, a closer examination  reveals that majority of the clubs in the country’s topflight are yet to properly set up teams as part of their Youth development 

programme.