Rivers United
Wikipedia - Rivers United F.C.
Rivers United Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that participates in the Nigerian Professional Football League, the highest level of domestic Nigerian football. The club was formed by the merger of Sharks F.C. and Dolphins F.C. in 2016. Their home stadium was the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, formerly Liberation Stadium, in Elekahia that has a seating capacity of 30,000. They moved to the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium stadium in 2020. The stadium, renovated in 2020, has a capacity of 40,000. There is also a female team, Rivers Angels F.C., which is one of the best in Nigeria and Africa.
Rivers United FC has remained in the top flight since its first season. In the 2020-2021 CAF Confederation Cup season, Rivers defeated South African opponent Bloemfontein Celtic home and away to set up a highly anticipated matchup against neighbors Enyimba in the final qualifying round for a spot in the group stage. They lost the tie on penalties after a 1–1 aggregate scoreline
History
Rivers United was founded in 2016 after the Rivers state government got permission to merge Dolphins FC and Sharks FC. Both clubs were run by the state government and were experiencing financial difficulty. Sharks were relegated to the First Division in 2015 while Dolphins had barely escaped relegation after drawing their final match. Rivers United' crest contains both a shark and a dolphin as a result of the merge.
Stanley Eguma was appointed coach and led them to a win in their first league match, 1–0 over Enyimba.
The club finished second in the 2016 Nigerian Premier League which qualified them for the 2017 CAF Champions League for the first time. A four-goal second-leg win over Mali's AS Bamako with Esosa Igbinoba and Bernard Ovoke each scoring braces put Rivers past the preliminary round. However, they were eliminated by Sudan's Al-Merrikh 4–3 on aggregate in the first round after losing a 3–0 first round lead.
2021–22: Nigerian Professional League Champions
On June 25, 2022, Rivers United won their first Nigeria Professional Football League title with four games to spare after Akwa United beat their nearest challengers, Plateau United 2–1 in Uyo.
Rivers United ended the season with 77 points, breaking the league record of 73 points in a season.
The 2021–22 Nigeria Professional Football League title is their first league title since the merger between Dolphins and Sharks FC of Port Harcourt in 2016. It is also the first NPFL title by a Rivers-based side since the Dolphins won in 2011.
Rivers United won 23 games, drew 8, and lost 7 of their 38 league games as they claimed the 2021-22 league title with 10 points ahead of their closest rivals, Plateau United.
Rivers united players and officials were awarded $20,000 each by the Rivers state government for their league triumph in 2022 and were promised another $40,000USD if they qualify for the 2022-2023 Caf champions league group stage.