It is just about a week to the first match of the 2026/27 Nigeria Premier Football League season, and across the country, clubs are putting the finishing touches to their preparations. Coaches are fine-tuning tactics, players are fighting for places, new signings are settling in and everyone is hoping that the work done behind closed doors will eventually translate into points when the real business begins.
The preseason landscape has been busy. From the Tico/Select Preseason Tournament to the ValueJet Cup, Ahlan/Gusau Cup, Gold Cup and the NPFL Preseason Invitational, there has been no shortage of football. Even an NLO side received an invitation to the NPFL Preseason Invitational and went on to record a victory over a continental-bound NNL side. Football, as usual, has a way of reminding us that the badge on the shirt does not always win the match.
There have also been friendly matches for teams that either did not make it to those tournaments or simply chose not to participate. Preparation is preparation, after all, and teams need games to test fitness, combinations, tactical ideas and squad depth, whether there is a trophy at stake or only bragging rights.
For reasons best known to the club, Enyimba have either been left out of these preseason tournaments or have deliberately chosen a different route. Instead, we have taken the high-profile friendly path, facing Rivers United, Rangers, Warri Wolves, Akwa United and, most recently, Heartland FC. Five traditional names in Nigerian football, even if the last two currently find themselves in the lower tier. Big names are still big names, and these fixtures have at least provided a decent level of opposition.
Our latest test came in Owerri, where Enyimba defeated Heartland 3-1. It was another opportunity for the yet-to-be-named new signings to get minutes, and this time they did more than simply make up the numbers. Some of them found their way onto the stats sheet and gave supporters something positive to take from the performance.
At this point, I honestly do not care whether they are unveiled tomorrow or next week. There is obviously a proper and professional way to introduce new players, but it was still encouraging to see them involved and, more importantly, contributing on the pitch.
What was particularly amusing was following the match updates. The names of some new players were carefully avoided while the familiar ones appeared boldly, almost as if the new boys were playing under witness protection. I still have not figured out exactly what the club is trying to achieve with that strategy, but perhaps there is a grand plan somewhere that the rest of us have not been invited to see.
Regardless, 3-1 is a good result, and from the reports, the performance was encouraging too. Of course, preseason has a notorious reputation for flattering teams. A side can look like prime Barcelona in August and struggle to string three passes together once the points become real, so nobody should be getting carried away just yet.
But preseason can still provide clues. It can show the technical team which combinations are working, where the weaknesses remain, which players are ready and which ones still need time. That should be the real value of these matches now. Not the scorelines, but the information they provide before Enyimba step onto the pitch in Minna against Niger Tornadoes.
The countdown is no longer a distant one. The experiments are almost over, the friendlies will soon be forgotten and the season will start demanding answers that can no longer be hidden behind preparation.
We have made “we are going to win the league” something of an unofficial Enyimba motto. At this point, it almost deserves to be printed on the back of the training shirts. Saying it is the easy part. The difficult part is turning those words into a season-long reality.
That will require more than a strong opening week. It will require consistency, discipline, better decision-making and a squad capable of surviving the inevitable difficult periods. Preseason victories can build confidence, but once the league starts, every dropped point begins to carry weight and every mistake becomes part of the standings.
So let us take whatever positives these friendly matches have given us, fix the weaknesses they have exposed and enter the new season with purpose. The goal is clear, the expectation is known and the road is waiting.
May we have the wisdom, quality and consistency to reach the destination.
Because success has a beautiful way of eliminating complaints.
EnyimbaEnyi.
