Marked for Klinshak Longbak
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Jun 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Abubakar Taheer’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Wikki Tourists.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
A masterclass from Abba Musa
Marked 8.97 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.48, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market28 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Remo Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Usman Abba. The answer from Wikki Tourists has not changed — yet.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Jun 2027
3 goals and a season average of 7.26. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Yusuf Mohammed knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Mar 2027
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market15 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match13 Mar 2027
Nasarawa United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Marked 5.72, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
A mark of 5.76 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
A 1‑4 beating by Remo Stars was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match20 Feb 2027
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Wikki Tourists are no longer polite ones.
Market22 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Klinshak Longbak: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market22 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Imamu Bala
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Imamu Bala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wikki Tourists the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Zilkifilu Rabiu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.79, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Abba Musa gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
Zilkifilu Rabiu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
113% of the income goes out in wages at Wikki Tourists
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Saifullahi Yusuf: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Abubakar Taheer was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 136% of everything Wikki Tourists earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Wikki Tourists may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Zilkifilu Rabiu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 136% of everything Wikki Tourists earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Wikki Tourists may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ahmad Lamido commits to Wikki Tourists for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Zilkifilu Rabiu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
249% of the income goes out in wages at Wikki Tourists
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Wikki Tourists have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Ahmad Lamido: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
Katsina United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from Kun Khalifat for Abubakar Taheer was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market10 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Ismaila Mayaki
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ismaila Mayaki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wikki Tourists the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 9.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Usman Abba commits to Wikki Tourists for another 3 years.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Shooting Stars leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.