BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
They have been knocking since Season 2021-2022 when they finished third on the log.
In the following season, they were just a goal short of becoming the Nigerian champions.
Last season, they finished second again. But now, the door has finally opened, and on the club owner’s birthday!
Remo Stars have emerged as the Nigeria Premier Football League champions, even with three matches to spare! After a hard fought battle, they beat Niger Tornadoes 1-0 to attain an unassailable 10-point lead which confer the Nigerian championship to them.
The trailing team, Rivers United can only close the gap with nine points if they win all the remaining three matches and if Remo Stars fail to win theirs.
What a turnaround for a team that had twice been relegated in the past eight years. Perseverance, good planning and good structure have seen them taste the good wine.
What a feat! They become the first Nigerian champion to have come from a small town, the previously sleepy urban village of Ikenne.
Tension all the way!
And so, records come tumbling down. Ikenne is not just known for the production of eminent politicians and jurists, it is staking a claim to be the new destination of not just football, but sports generally.
A large proportion of the events of the 22nd National Sports Festival will be held in the ‘little’ town, which has become the smallest town to produce a Nigerian champion.
Roll out the drums in the 33 towns and settlements that make up Remo. Let the voices sing all over Ogun State, which is producing its first Nigeria League winners since the state was created on February 3, 1976.
Let the celebration start all over the federation as a model club with proper structure has finally emerged as Nigeria’s champions!
History still beckons to them. With nine more points obtainable from their remaining three matches, Remo Stars can still exceed the 77-point mark established by the current worthy runners-up, Rivers United, who in the 2021-22 season set a record of 77 points in a season since the 20-team format was institutionalised 21 years ago.
Remo Stars still have more records to assail. Their 1-0 defeat of Niger Tornadoes is their 21st win this season. They need two more wins to equal the 23 established by Port Harcourt sides, Dolphins in 2009/2010 and Rivers United in the 2021/22 season.
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