Lovers of grassroots football in Ibadan were excited seeing the oldest city league in Nigeria return over the weekend in Ibadan after it was rested for five years as Shooting Stars mauled CRIN FC by four goals to one in the opening match of Ibadan Football Association (IFA) League at the refurbished Olubadan Stadium.
IFA according to record was formed in 1937 as Ibadan District Amateur Football Association (IDAFA) with the principal aim of popularizing and developing soccer within the district and beyond. This IDAFA metamorphosed into the present Ibadan Football Association (IFA) when Ibadan relinquished its District status to become a metropolitan city.
The new chairman of IFA, Barr. Rotimi Alli in his remark after the opening match expressed his delight seeing their dreams of reviving IFA League and re-building the monumental Olubadan Stadium becoming a reality.
“It has not been easy achieving this little thing we have done, and that is why I will like to thank my friends and private sectors who believed in me, we have been able to raise all the funds used from the private sectors hundred percent, and also from our personal drive of the sales of the seasonal cards that we just introduced.
“People have been patronizing the Platinum, Gold and Silver cards that give the owner the opportunity to watch all the matches with it, and of course friends that have been donating their widows mite towards the renovation of Olubadan Stadium, and I would still do my best to get more commitments from the corporate world to undertake more infrastructures within the complex”, Alli noted.
He added that more projects are still in the pipeline after erecting the green pitch and good watering system to maintain it, a five-aside pitch would also be constructed for team’s training and recreational purposes while a 3,000 sitting pavilion would also be erected at the west-end side of the pitch to improve and increase the capacity of the stadium while dressing rooms and demarcation will be built.
Packaged by Olanrewaju Agiri
