The Glamour of the Nigerian F.A. Cup (Alive or Extinct)

I had the rear privilege of attending this year's final of the Lagos State F.A. Cup at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos; It was my first final in over 15years and i was shocked at the apparent and evident decay that has befallen  the local game. This year's final was between First Bank F.C and C.O.D United; these clubs ply their trade in the lower regions of the Nigerian League cadre; First Bank in the second tier of the so called professional League and C.O.D United in the First Division of the Amateur League. Both clubs are well funded; with First Bank relying on the benevolence of one of the Largest Banks in Nigeria; which it gets its name from; First Bank, whilst C.O.D United is bank rolled by the City of David parish of one of Nigeria's biggest churches (The Redeemed Christian Church of God). These are two well funded teams and i make bold to say that C.O.D United is better run than most of the so called professional teams we have in Nigeria; the game itself ended with First Bank emerging as winners with a two-nil score line.

The game itself is not the purpose of this write up, but to address the apparent demise, death or extinction of  all the glamour that is otherwise associated with such an elite cup competition; the oldest in the land. The days when the likes of Stationery Stores, Julius Berger F.C.(now known as the Bridge Boys F.C.) and ACB F.C. held sway in Lagos vying for supremacy year after year with the evergreen Onikan Stadium serving as the ancestral battle ground always filled to capacity. As a little boy; my Dad would take me to home games of the glorious Flaming Flamingoes (Stationery Stores) as they dominated the Lagos State Challenge Cup in the 80s and early 90s; Stores won a record 13 Lagos Challenge Cup and were victorious in the National F.A.Cup four times (1967,1968,1982,1990). Julius Berger F.C., backed by the German construction company Julius Berger started its domination of the Lagos Football landscape in the 90s and at the turn of the century with two National F.A. Cups and two league titles in 1996 and 2002; 1991 and 2000 respectively. The Lagos State Challenge Cup is what eventually metamorphosed into the Nigeria F.A.Cup from 1945 replacing the War Memorial Challenge Cup.

Fast forward to 2011, these clubs that formed the existence of the local and national game are either non existent, under going restructure or neither here nor there. The demise of the local game as also had an adverse effect on the national game as a whole; the reasons for this decline or total decay are not far fetched and can be summarized as been the following;

• Lack of a Stadium going culture 

Over the last ten years to fifteen years or there about; Nigerians in general have abandoned the culture of visiting the stadium to watch our League and Cup Matches; some have attributed this to the influx of European football on our television screens especially the English Premiership. However, i do not attribute the
emergence of the European game on our telly as a reason for the complete boycott of our local game; issues such as poor security, poor maintenance, poor facilities, poor structures (our stadia do not have a modern feel), lack of a grand atmosphere at our stadias.
These factors have made our stadias unattractive to attend/visit and there is no system in place that encourages fans participation or involvement.

•   Poor Organisation and Management of the F.A. Cup Brand

The F.A. Cup in most countries of the world is the oldest knock out tournament and its a big brand; In Nigeria as well as in most states of the country; the F.A.Cup seems more like an after thought; the romance is out of it, due to constant neglect. The format has changed a lot so many times over time; from the standard straight forward knock out series; to the grouping and regional system which was used subsequently; these took the sting out of the Cup, destroyed the romance and invariably killed the interest of football fans.
A proper plan has not been in place to ensure the revival of this once illustrious cup competition; to make matters worse; there's been a name change to the Federation Cup which is due to the confused nature of the football body not knowing what name it wants to be known as.

• Lack of Sponsorship

If my memory serves me well; Coca Cola have been in the forefront of sponsoring the F.A.Cup, but over the years there has been a drought of sponsors for the cup. This can be attributed to the poor organisation and management of the cup over the years; this has made it unattractive to potential sponsors.
In a period of less than 5 years; the English F.A.Cup has been sponsored by two different sponsors; AXA and E-on; the Nigerian Football Association/Federation or whatever they are called now; have continued to show their inability to present a solid marketing platform for such a glorious tournament that has in more ways than one aided the unification of the country.