Rangers International

Enugu Rangers or Rangers International
Basic data
Surname	Enugu Rangers International
Seat	Enugu , Nigeria
founding	1970
First soccer team
Venue	Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium , Enugu , Nigeria
Places	25,000
league	Nigerian Premier League
2017	14th place
home Away

The Rangers International or Enugu Rangers are a football club from Enugu in Nigeria . Besides Heartland FC, the Rangers are the only Nigerian team that has never been relegated from the Premier League . The club plays its home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium . The team is known by its supporters as the “Flying Antelopes” (German: Flying Antilopen).

history

1970–2000: emergence and first successes

The association was founded in 1970. Just five years later, the team made it to the final of the CAF Champions League . The Rangers were the first Nigerian team in the final of the African Champions League. There the club lost to Hafia FC from Guinea 1-0 and 2-1. But even the semi-finals went down in the history of the club. In the first leg, the team was a guest at the Egyptian representative Ghazl Al-Mehalla . This game ended with a late goal with 1: 3 from the Rangers' point of view. At that time players like Mattias Obianika , Emeka “Owusu” Onyedika and captain Christian Chukwu were in the antelope's squad. Due to injuries, the former team captain Dominic Ezeani and Kenneth “Kendo” Illodigwe , a student in the United States at the time, were brought back into the team for the second leg . A wave of enthusiasm broke out in Enugu when they made it to the semi-finals .

Spectators camped at the stadium days before the second leg to get tickets for the event. The Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium was already full by seven in the morning . Thanks to the great support of fans, the first leg result could be turned around and the team moved into the final with a 2-0 victory. In the same year (1975) James Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo became president of the club and led him to his greatest success to date, the African Cup Winners' Cup . This trophy can be compared to the European Cup Winners' Cup competition. 1979 Nwobodo left office.

2000 - today: Current development

In 2005 the championship in a league was decided by a round trip. In 38 games, the Enugu Rangers could bring in twenty wins, only one less than the later table first FC Enyimba . With seven more draws, the team earned 67 points and thus secured the runner-up. A year later, the system changed to host the Nigerian championship. The twenty teams in the first division were divided into two groups, with the top two in each group playing the championship in a short tournament.

During the 2006 season, the Rangers recorded seven wins, two draws and seven losers. This meant 6th place in Group A of the Premier League. With 25 points, the team missed qualifying for the final round of the championship by six points.

For the 2007 season, the team qualified as runners-up in Group A for the Super 4 play-off round, where they won a game against the other three participants and lost two. This resulted in fourth place. The only win came on June 6, 2007 after a 1-0 away win against Gombe United FC . After this season the game system was changed. There were no more two seasons and the Super 4 finals were also canceled. The new system adapted to the European one, with a total of twenty teams playing out the winner between two summers. Previously, the championship was held in one calendar year.

The good performance of the previous year was followed by a modest season in which eighth place was achieved. However, the team remained undefeated in front of their home crowd and achieved seventeen wins. Only four draws were made on foreign soil. No further points could be gained.

In November 2008 it was announced that the Rangers were the first Nigerian soccer team to be run as a company and able to sell its own capital. But at the beginning of 2009, the deal fell through and the Rangers fell into debt. In the league, the team improved and finished the 2008/09 season in sixth place. However, with three draws in the last five games, the club missed a better placement. In 2009/10 the team improved again and moved up to fifth place at the end of the year. But as in the previous year, the performance decreased again this year and the team only scored seven out of fifteen possible points in the last five matchdays.

Stadion

The Enugu Rangers play their home games at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium . The multi-purpose sports facility has a capacity of around 22,000 spectators. It was named after Nnamdi Azikiwe , the first president of Nigeria.

successes

• Nigerian Premier League (championship title): 1974, 1975, 1997, 1981, 1982, 1984, 2016
• Nigerian FA Cup Winner (Cup Winner): 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1993
• Nigerian FA Cup Finalist: 1971, 1978, 1987, 1990, 2000, 2004, 2007
• African Cup Winners' Cup Winners : 1977
• CAF Champions League finalist : 1975

Well-known former players

(Selection)

Name of the player	Period	comment
Donald Agu	(Youth) 2005-2007	• Active for FC Augsburg , Eintracht Frankfurt and SSV Reutlingen 05 , among others
Festus Agu	1994 2005-present	• for FC St. Pauli , SC Fortuna Köln and 1. FC Schweinfurt 05, among others
Derick Amadi	2006-2007	• Between 2003 and 2005 with the amateurs of SC Freiburg
Onyekachi Apam	(Youth) 2004-2005	• Current Nigerian national player
Joseph Enakarhire	1998-1999
Jay-Jay Okocha	(Youth) 1969–1980	• Active for Borussia Neunkirchen and Eintracht Frankfurt between 1990 and 1996 • Former team captain of the Nigerian national team
Christian Okpala	(Youth)	• Active for SpVgg Unterhaching , FC Augsburg and Stuttgarter Kickers , among others
John Utaka	1997-1998	• Current Nigerian national player
Albert Yobo	1995-1997	• Active for VfL Osnabrück , among others
Kenneth Zeigbo	1997	• Former Nigerian international

Trainer

(incomplete)

Name of the trainer	Period	comment
Daniel Anyiam	1970–?	• first coach in club history
Kosta Papic	?
Okey Emordi	2008?
Christian Chukwu	2008 - August 2009	• Former team captain of the club
Alphonsus Dike	September 2009 -

Web links

• Profile at Weltfussball.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ernest Okonkwo Golden Classics
2. ↑ Biography of James Nwobodo
3. ↑ Table of the Nigerian Premier League 2005 on soccerway.com
4. ↑ Table of the Nigerian Premier League 2006 - Group A on soccerway.com
5. ↑ Table of the 2007 Nigerian Premier League - Group A on soccerway.com
6. ^ Table of the 2007 Nigerian Premier League Finals on soccerway.com
7. ↑ Match statistics Gombe United FC vs. Enugu Rangers International FC - 0-1 (0-0) June 6, 2007 on soccerway.com
8. ^ Table of the 2007/08 Nigerian Premier League on soccerway.com
9. ↑ Glo League Side Hit Stock Market ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on completesportsnigeria.com 
10. ↑ Table of the Nigerian Premier League 2008/09 on soccerway.com
11. ↑ Table of the 2009/10 Nigerian Premier League on soccerway.com
12. ↑ ^{a b} Enugu Rangers Replace Coach Christian Chukwu With Alphonsus Dike from September 7, 2009 on goal.com