In 1945, the Governor's Cup was introduced, with 9 teams, all from Lagos, entering the initial competition (other source: 13 participants); the first team from outside Lagos to enter were Aebokuta in 1946, followed by Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri in 1948; it was renamed Challenge Cup after Nigeria's independence and developed into the main cup competition of Nigeria. It initially was played in four regional areas (North, East, West and Lagos Capital Territory) who sent their winners to the final play-offs in Lagos. In 1963 the Western Region was split into two, with the Mid-West becoming the fifth region. In 1958, Port Harcourt Red Devils beat Ikot Ekpene 18-0 for the record score in the competition; Ibadan once defeated Ekiti 17-0.
Governor's Cup
1945 Marine 1-0 Corinthians
1946 Lagos Railways 3-1 Port Harcourt
1947 Marine 3-1 Lagos Railways
1948 Lagos Railways 1-0 Warri
1949 Lagos Railways 3-0 Port Harcourt
1950 Lagos UAC 3-2 Port Harcourt [*1]
1951 Lagos Railways 3-2 Plateau United (Mid-West)
1952 Lagos PAN Bank 6-0 Warri (Mid-West)
1953 Kano Pillars 2-1 Lagos Dynamos
FA Cup
1954 St.Patrick's College Calabar 3-0 Kano Pillars
1955 Port Harcourt FC 4-1 Warri
1956 Lagos Railways 3-1 Warri
1957 Lagos Railways 5-1 Zaria [*2]
1958 Port Harcourt FC 6-0 Federal United
1959 Ibadan Lions 1-0 Lagos Police
Nigeria Challenge Cup
1960 Lagos ECN 5-2 Ibadan Lions
1961 Ibadan Lions 1-0 Lagos UAC [*3]
1962 Police 1-0 Plateau United [+]
1963 Port Harcourt FC 1-0 Plateau United [+]
1964 Lagos Railways 3-1 Plateau United [+]
1965 Lagos ECN 3-1 Plateau United [+]
1966 Ibadan Lions w/o Plateau United [+]
1967 Stationery Stores 3-1 Plateau United [+]
1968 Stationery Stores 3-1 Warri [+] [in replay]
1969 Ibadan Lions 5-1 Warri
1970 Lagos ECN 3-1 Plateau United
1971 WNDC Ibadan 2-1 Enugu Rangers
1972 Bendel Insurance 2-2 3-2 Mighty Jets
1973 no competition
1974 Enugu Rangers 2-0 Mighty Jets
1975 Enugu Rangers 1-0 IICC Shooting Stars
1976 Enugu Rangers 2-0 Alyufsalam Rocks (Ilorin)
1977 IICC Shooting Stars awd Racca Rovers [awarded 2-0; Racca walked off at 1-0]
1978 Bendel Insurance 3-0 Enugu Rangers
1979 IICC Shooting Stars 2-0 Sharks
1980 Bendel Insurance 1-0 Stationery Stores
1981 Enugu Rangers 2-0 Bendel Insurance
1982 Stationery Stores 4-1 Niger Tornadoes
1983 Enugu Rangers 0-0 DIC Bees [5-4 pen]
1984 Leventis United 1-0 Abiola Babes
1985 Abiola Babes 0-0 BCC Lions [6-5 pen]
1986 Leventis United 1-0 Abiola Babes
1987 Abiola Babes 1-1 Enugu Rangers [7-6 pen]
1988 Iwuanyanwu Nationale 3-0 Flash Flamingoes
1989 BCC Lions 1-0 Iwuanyanwu Nationale
1990 Stationery Stores 0-0 Enugu Rangers [5-4 pen]
1991 El-Kanemi Warriors 3-2 Kano Pillars
1992 El-Kanemi Warriors 1-0 Stationery Stores
1993 BCC Lions 1-0 Plateau United
1994 BCC Lions 1-0 Julius Berger
1995 Shooting Stars SC 2-0 Katsina United
1996 Julius Berger 1-0 Katsina United [aet]
1997 BCC Lions 1-0 Katsina United
1998 Wikki Tourists 0-0 Plateau United [3-2 pen]
Coca Cola FA Cup
1999 Plateau United 1-0 Iwuanyanwu Nationale
2000 Niger Tornadoes 1-0 Enugu Rangers
2001 Dolphin FC 2-0 El-Kanemi Warriors
2002 Julius Berger 3-0 Yobe Stars
2003 Lobi Stars 2-0 Port Harcourt Sharks
2004 Dolphin FC 1-0 Enugu Rangers
2005 Enyimba 1-1 Lobi Stars [aet, 6-5 pen]
2006 Dolphin FC 2-2 Bendel Insurance [aet, 5-3 pen]
2007 Dolphin FC 1-1 Enugu Rangers [aet, 3-2 pen]
2008 Ocean Boys 2-2 Gombe United [aet, 7-6 pen]
Federation Cup
2009 Enyimba 1-0 Sharks
2010 Kaduna United 3-3 Enyimba [aet, 3-2 pen]
2011 Heartland 1-0 Enyimba
2012 Heartland 2-1 Lobi Stars
2013 Enyimba 2-2 Warri Wolves [aet, 5-4 pen]
2014 Enyimba 2-1 Dolphin FC
2015 Akwa United 2-1 Lobi Stars
2016 Ifeanyi Ubah 0-0 Nasarawa United [aet, 5-4 pen]
AITEO Cup
2017 Akwa United 0-0 Niger Tornadoes [3-2 pen]
2018 Enugu Rangers 3-3 Kano Pillars [4-2 pen]
2019 Kano Pillars 0-0 Niger Tornadoes [4-3 pen]
2020 no competition
2021 Bayelsa United 2-2 Nasarawa United [4-3 pen]
2022 apparently not held
2023 Bendel Insurance 1-0 Enugu Rangers
2024 El-Kanemi Warriors 2-0 Abia Warriors
[*1] UAC = United African Company; Lagos UAC also listed as GO Union.
[*2] Warri beat Igala 18-0 in an early round, the record result in the competition.
[*3] Ibadan Lions beat Redoubtables FC 3-0 aet in the semifinals.
[+] according to other sources, Plateau United lost the cup final of 1968 but
not those of 1963 and 1967; [Bak 97] says Mighty Jets lost 5 finals between
1962 and 1968; in fact the team involved apparently was called Jos Plateau
Highlanders and is considered a predecessor of Mighty Jets.
Number of Wins (77; since 1945)
8 Shooting Stars (Ibadan) [includes Ibadan Lions and WNDC (now defunct)]
7 Lagos Railways
6 Rangers International (Enugu)
4 BCC Lions (Gboko)
Bendel Insurance (Benin City)
Dolphin FC (Port Harcourt) [formerly known as Eagle Cement]
Enyimba (Aba)
Stationery Stores (Lagos)
3 El-Kanemi Warriors (Maiduguri)
Heartland (Owerri) [formerly known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale]
Lagos ECN (later renamed NEPA)
Port Harcourt FC [now defunct]
2 Abiola Babes (Mashood) [now defunct]
Akwa United (Uyo)
Julius Berger (Lagos)
Kano Pillars
Leventis United (Ibadan)
Marine [now NPA]
1 Bayelsa United FC (Yenagoa)
Ifeanyi Ubah FC (Nnewi)
Kaduna United
Lagos PAN Bank
Lagos UAC
Lobi Stars (Makurdi)
Niger Tornadoes (Minna)
Ocean Boys (Brass)
Plateau United (Jos)
Police (Abuja)
St. Patrick's College (Calabar)
Wikki Tourists (Bauchi)
Losing finalists known to be defunct:
Alyufsalam Rocks (Ilorin)
DIC Bees (Kaduna)
Number of League-and-Cup Doubles (9)
3 Rangers International (Enugu) [1974, 1975, 1981]
1 BCC Lions (Gboko) [1994]
1 Dolphin (Port Harcourt) [2004]
1 Enyimba (Aba) [2005]
1 Iwuanyanwu Nationale (Owerri) [1988] [now known as Heartland]
1 Leventis United (Ibadan) [1986]
1 3SC Shooting Stars (Ibadan) [1995]
Beverley Cup
NB: first ever football competition in Nigeria, for teams from Calabar, for a cup
donated by captain W.H.Beverley; first held in 1906;
by 1911 the competition had become something of a league with 9 teams competing:
Roman Catholic Mission, Duke Town School (Duke Town is the old name of Calabar),
Hope Waddell Traning Institution, Creek Town School, East End Lions, Teasers,
Athletic Club, Adiabo, and Christ Church;
in 1939 it was replaced by the Trenchard Cup, which was competed for by teams
from in and around the city of Calabar and dominated by school teams such as
the Hope Waddell Institute, the Duke Town School and the West African Peoples
Institute.
1906 Southern Nigeria Regiment bt Duke Town School
1907 Southern Nigeria Regiment
1908 The Hope Waddell Institute
1909 The Hope Waddell Institute
1910 The Hope Waddell Institute
1911 The Hope Waddell Institute
1912 The Hope Waddell Institute
1913 The Hope Waddell Institute
1914 The Hope Waddell Institute
1915 The Hope Waddell Institute
Lagos War Memorial Cup/Frederick "Baron" Mulford Cup
1918 King's College
1919 King's College
1920 Merchant's Athletic Club
1921-30 not played
1931-38 not known
1939 Lagos Marine
1940 Lagos Marine
1941 Lagos Marine
1942 ZAC Bombers 1-0 Services
1943 Lagos Marine 3-2 RAF
1944 Lagos Railways 2-0 Marine
1945 Lagos Railways 1-1 Lagos United [4-1 pen]
Lagos City Cup
NB: instituted in the early 1920s; the 1923 winners included Frederick Baron Mulford
and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe as players
1923 Diamond FC
1932 Zik's Athletic Club (ZAC)
Lagos State Challenge Cup
NB: served as preliminary round for the Nigerian FA Cup;
won by Stationery Stores on 13 occasions
Bergedorf/Zard Cup
for junior sides
1938 ZAC 4-3 LTC Junior [replay after draw]
1942 ZAC 2nd XI ('Spitfires')
for secondary schools
1948 Methodist Boys HS (Lagos) 2-0 Baptist Academy
1949 St Gregory's College bt Baptist Academy
1950 St Gregory's College
1951 St Gregory's College bt Baptist Academy
1952 St Gregory's College bt Baptist Academy
1953 King's College
1954 St Gregory's College
1955 Baptist Academy bt St Gregory's College
1960 Ahmadiyya College bt CSM Grammar School
Lagos League's Roger Shield
1948 Lagos Railways
1949 Lagos Railways
1950 Lagos Railways
1951-53 not known (not Railways, not PWD)
1954 Public Works Department
1955 Lagos Railways
1956 Lagos Railways
Alex Oni Cup
NB: Inter-tribal tournament; Efik and Igbo did not enter 1953 edition.
1948 Yoruba bt Non-Nigerian Africans
1949 not held
1950 Yoruba 2-0 Igbo
1951 Igbo bt Yoruba
1952 Yoruba bt Igbo
1953 Yoruba bt Non-Nigerian Africans
1954 Yoruba bt Igbo
1955 Yoruba bt Igbo
1956 Yoruba bt Edo
1957 Yoruba bt Igbo
Sources: Vanguard Daily, [Akp 85], [ArG 04], [Boe 03], [Kea 12]
Prepared and maintained by Djidenou Medjigbodo and Hans Schöggl for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Djidenou Medjigbodo
(d.medjigbodo@ucl.ac.uk)
and Hans Schöggl
Last updated: 29 Jun 2024
(C) Copyright Djidenou Medjigbodo, Hans Schöggl and RSSSF 1997/2024
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the authors. All rights reserved.