The Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) has announced Bayelsa State as the host of the 2023–2024 NWFL Premiership Super Six.
The highly-anticipated NWFL Premiership title championship is scheduled to run from May 18th to May 26th, 2024, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Bayelsa was confirmed as the host by the NWFL following a review of bid interests from various states to stage the playoff competition.
“On behalf of the board and management of the NWFL, let me congratulate Bayelsa State for being selected as the hosts for the NWFL Premiership Super Six,” NWFL chairman Nkechi Obi said. She added, “We hope this opportunity to host a great Super Six will further boost women’s football in Bayelsa and raise the profile of the sport in Nigeria.”
This will be the first time that the NWFL Premiership playoff tournament will be hosted by Bayelsa State. Yenagoa is also the home ground of Bayelsa Queens, who had a memorable 2022 NWFL Premiership campaign. They famously won the domestic title, the WAFU-B playoff, and finished third at the 2022 CAF Women’s Champions League held in Morocco.
Regarding the tournament’s schedule, Modupe Shabi, the NWFL’s Chief Operating Officer, said the Super Six playoff will be played in a round-robin format, with each participating team playing five matches in the race for the coveted title.
Shabi mentioned that the participating clubs are expected to arrive in Yenagoa on Thursday, May 16, 2024, followed by the draw and pre-match meeting to be held on Friday, May 17, at 10 am.
The playoff tournament would begin on Saturday, May 18, with Matchday 1 and end with Matchday 5 on Sunday, May 26. Three matches will be played on each Match Day, with breaks in between match days.
With holders Delta Queens missing out, six giants will battle for the coveted Nigerian league crown, having qualified as the top three finishers from two groups during the regular season of 14 matches. The six teams include the host team Bayelsa Queens, Edo Queens, Rivers Angels, Confluence Queens, Nasarawa Amazons, and Heartland Queens.
In Group A, Nasarawa Amazons finished as group winners with 27 points from 14 matches, followed by Confluence Queens in second with 25 points and Heartland Queens in third with 24 points.
Sitting atop Group B was Rivers Angels with 27 points, four ahead of the Edo Queens in second and Bayelsa Queens in third with 22 points from 14 games.
The winner of this year’s Super Six tournament will represent the country in the WAFU-B qualifiers to qualify for the 4th CAF Women’s Champions League.
