Keresifon Essien, Uyo
The proprietor and chairman of Vandrezzer FC of Ibiono Ibom in the amateur Nigeria National League (NNL), Joseph Udofia, has admitted giving a tall order to the management and technical crew of his club to spend just one season in the NNL before gaining elevation to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) next season.
Udofia told Sporting Sun in an exclusive chat in Ibiono Ibom that he has issued an ultimatum of one season for his club to spend in the NNL before they graduating to the premiere league the following season.
“We are in the Nigeria National League class at the moment as a special brand. We are building an international standard club with foreign professional character and attributes in the NNL and our intention is to spend only one season in the national league before elevating to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) the following season,” he said.
“Our target is to spend only one season in the NNL and gain promotion to the premier league. We have recruited quality players from across the country and its our intention to build and administer a truly professional football team in an amateur league in preparation for us to gain promotion to where we rightly belong in Nigerian football, which is the premiership next season,” Udofia further said.
“I’ve spoken to the management and technical crew as well as the players on the need for us to be steadfast in our collective desire to achieve a goal. We’ve got to make impact in Nigeria as a whole like the defunct Leventis United FC of Ibadan which won the league crowns successively in three divisions, Div 3 in 1984, Div 2 in 1985 and Div 1 in 1986 and represented Nigeria in the CAF Africa Cup of Winners Tournament in 1987, when they reached the quarter-final stage. We want to surmount that record this season. That’s our unstoppable target,” he continued.
“Its because of our big ambition to rule the Nigerian soccer scene that we had to employ a foreign coach from Brazil to lead the team to the premier league. Our intention is also to feature in the continental scene of Africa,” Udofia explained.
“That is the more reason we are spending time and money to build a strong team at the moment. We are planning to build a 5,000 capacity stadium in Ibiono Ibom to serve as our training ground and home ground,” Vandrezzer boss added.