The lid has been blown off a secret policy that restricted the highest age of any player wishing to play for Sporting Lagos FC to 23 years, and famously powered their promotion back to the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).
Sports247 reports that this revelation was made by the club’s chairman, Godwin Enakhena, who disclosed emphatically that capping the average age of players in the squad to 22/23 years turned out as a master stroke for them in the Nigerian National League (NNL).
Sporting Lagos are now among four teams promoted from the lower division and they are already bracing for action in the top-flight, where they previously campaigned two seasons ago, but Enakhena affirmed that they will do much better this time.
He admitted that he is banking on the experience they gained during their previous campaign in the Nigerian top-flight, which he believes will be a huge benefit for them now that they have booked a return, after competing in the tough ranks of the NNL.
Before then, though, Enakhena admitted that their focus for now is fully on the impending NNL Super-4 in Ikenne, Ogun State, where his squad will be up against the other three promoted clubs – Inter Lagos, Ranchers Bees and Doma United.
The highly acclaimed sportswriter and broadcaster assured teeming fans of Sporting Lagos that the team will put up brilliant displays of football artistry, as the players have strict instructions to entertain the crowd, even as they gun for ultimate glory.
“Last year, we decided that none of our players will be more than 22, 23 years at the most. A lot of the players are from our academy, so we have a lot of young players.
“I always tell them, boys go and enjoy football. So, we are going to Ikenne to enjoy football and play fair. Though we want to win, but it’s not at all costs,” Enakhena pointed out.
