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Kano Pillars F.C.

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Kano Pillars
Kano Pillars F.C. logo
Full nameKano Pillars Football Club
Nickname(s)Sai Masu Gida
Founded1990; 34 years ago (1990)
GroundSani Abacha Stadium
Kano
Capacity16,000[1]
ChairmanAlhaji Ali Nayara
ManagerCoach Usman Abdullah
LeagueNigeria Professional Football League
2023–24Nigeria Professional Football League, 11th of 20

Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They play their home games at Sani Abacha Stadium.

Kano Pillars FC was founded in 1990, the year the professional association football league started in Nigeria, and it is also among the oldest clubs in Nigerian history alongside Bendel Insurance and Enugu Rangers. It was an amalgamation of three amateur clubs in Kano State.

Kano Pillars Football Club is the most popular Nigerian Premier League club in Nigeria.[2] The Pillars drew an average home attendance of 8,894 in the 2023-24 edition of the NPFL, the 2nd highest in the league.

History

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Founded in 1990, by Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, former chairman of Nigeria Football Association and former sports commissioner of Kano, from the combination of WRECA FC, Kano Golden Stars and Bank of the North FC, Kano Pillars achieved outstanding success by winning the 2007–08 Nigerian Premier League. Kano Pillars produced players like Abiodun Baruwa who has since played for Swiss, Austrian, Welsh and British Clubs and Sani Kaita who later plays for Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Another Prominent player is Ahmed Garba 'Yaro Yaro' who later plays for AB in Denmark and a notable player from Kano Pillars FC is Ahmed Musa who played for Leicester City in the English Premier league after joining from CSKA Moscow. It was registered as a limited liability company with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigeria, and then registered with the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) as a professional football club. The Kano Pillars drew an average home league attendance of 10,000 in the 2016 league season.[citation needed]

In the 2020/2021 NPFL season, Kano Pillars were fined a whopping sum of ₦7,500,000.00 for failing to follow the orders of the LMC and NFF, which prohibited fans from viewing live games in the stadium. Fans disrupted a top table clash between Akwa United and Kano Pillars. The game ended 0–0 after it was concluded the following day.[3]

They were relegated from NPFL on 16 July 2022 following the confirmation of a verdict against them for the deduction of 3 points, despite an appeal which the NFF committee disregarded against their complaint. The verdict on them was a penalty for what their former chairman did to match officials in their encounter with Dakkada FC[4]

2009 Champions League

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They are also nicknamed "Ahly Killers" as they scored 2 magnificent goals in Egypt and drew with Al Ahly Cairo in Egypt 2–2 and 1–1 in Nigeria, so the Ahly Killers went to the Group stage in the African Champions League on the away goals rule. They made it to the semi-finals before being eliminated against fellow Nigerian team Heartland.

Achievements

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Champions (4): 2007–08, 2011–12, 2013, 2014.
Runners-up (1): 2009–10.
Winners (2): 2019, 1953
Runners-up (2): 1991, 2018.
  • Nigerian super cup. 1.winners 2008.
  • "'Nigerian super four"'. (runners up)2.

Performance in CAF competitions

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Kano Pillars arrival to Ahmadu Bello Stadium for a friendly match.
2009 – Semi-finals
2011 – First Round
2013 – First Round
2014 – Preliminary Round
2015 – First Round
2020 – Preliminary Round

Current players

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As of 8 February 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Ghana GHA Ibrahim Iddrisu
2 DF Nigeria NGA Ali Abdullahi
3 DF Nigeria NGA Ismaila Nasir
4 MF Nigeria NGA Shehu Abdullahi
5 DF Nigeria NGA Abdullahi Musa
6 MF Nigeria NGA Suleiman Idris
7 FW Nigeria NGA Ahmed Musa
8 MF Nigeria NGA Yusuf Maigoro
9 FW Nigeria NGA Auwalu Ali Malam
10 MF Nigeria NGA Rabiu Ali (Captain)
11 FW Nigeria NGA Mustapha Umar
12 MF Nigeria NGA Aminu Mohammed
14 DF Nigeria NGA Ibrahim Abubakar
16 FW Nigeria NGA Mustapha Salisu
18 MF Nigeria NGA Sani Mubarak
19 FW Nigeria NGA Ibrahim Mustapha
20 FW Nigeria NGA Ibrahim Abdullahi
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 FW Nigeria NGA Muhammad Yakubu
23 DF Nigeria NGA Sani Faisal
24 MF Nigeria NGA Aminu Sani
25 MF Nigeria NGA Joshua Dua
26 DF Nigeria NGA Habibu Yakubu
27 DF Nigeria NGA Ibrahim Nura
28 FW Nigeria NGA Yusuf Abdullahi
29 MF Nigeria NGA Mubarak Lawan
30 DF Nigeria NGA Fahad Usman
31 GK Nigeria NGA Mohammed Galadima
33 GK Nigeria NGA Muttaka Musa
34 DF Nigeria NGA Attairu Mushinu
36 MF Nigeria NGA Muhammed Usman
38 FW Nigeria NGA Umar Shehu
40 FW Nigeria NGA Abba Adam

Staff

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Head Coach/Technical Adviser
Chairman
  • Babangida Umar Little
general manager
  • Umar Babangida (Little)
General Coordinator
  • Salisu Yaro
Kit Manager
  • Habibu Zubair Abubakar
Marketing Manager
  • Kano Pillars transportation car.
    Sani Lawal Mohammed

Notable coaches

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Salisu Yusuf Okey Emordi Evans Ogenyi

Notable players

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References

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  1. ^ "BBC News Online | Africa | Sport | Cup of Nations | Venue Guide | Kano". Archived from the original on 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  2. ^ https://www.noi-polls.com/post/6in10nigeriansfollowtheenglishpremierleague
  3. ^ "LMC fines Pillars N7.5m over fans violence". Punch Newspapers. 2021-06-14. Archived from the original on 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
  4. ^ "Pillars relegated after losing appeal (Goal.com)". Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
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