Haruna Aliyu

Central Defender - Wikki Tourists
13 Sep 2029
Thursday
Process

Marked for Haruna Aliyu

163 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Wikki Tourists's wait for a win

18 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Gideon Iliya breaks a bone — 46 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Daniel Afful asks to leave Wikki Tourists

“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.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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 ratings

Nothing got past Abba Musa

22 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Haruna Aliyu was immovable

19 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Squad

Dapal Monday signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dapal Monday and Wikki Tourists agree another 4 years.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Emmanuel Iroanya

Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

Back issues
161 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

27 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Wikki Tourists's wait for a win

16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.

The terraces

The mood at Wikki Tourists has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Gideon Iliya breaks a bone — 60 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Wikki Tourists are in real trouble now

Position 19, 27 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Mohammed Faisal

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Carl Eyong keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Wikki Tourists may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Ola Okereke asks to leave Wikki Tourists

“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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Molokwu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ibrahim Muhammad

Marked 8.53 — 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.

In brief

160 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

20 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

15 matches without a win for Wikki Tourists

The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Wikki Tourists are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Gideon Iliya breaks a bone — 67 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Ékené Awazie in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Wikki Tourists come up short against Plateau United

Plateau United left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Haruna Aliyu was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.86. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

In brief

158 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

6 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Wikki Tourists's wait for a win

13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Gideon Iliya breaks a bone — 81 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

John Taiwo puts it in writing

“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.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Wikki Tourists

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Gideon Iliya 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.

Squad

Christian Molokwu falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

A bad afternoon for Wikki Tourists against Niger Tornadoes

1‑2 to Niger Tornadoes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The terraces

Wikki Tourists supporters have found a favourite in Haruna Aliyu

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Haruna Aliyu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Haruna Aliyu

Marked 8.49 — 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.

In brief

155 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

16 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gideon Iliya breaks a bone — 104 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

No end in sight to Wikki Tourists's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Emmanuel Iroanya shuts the door

Defensive actions: 32, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Abba Musa says Wikki Tourists went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Molokwu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Ékené Awazie runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Haruna Aliyu stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.97 on the card, and the Wikki Tourists support went home talking about one name.

Player ratings

Chijioke Ekpemadu was immovable

16 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

In brief

154 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

9 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gideon Iliya breaks a bone — 111 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

No end in sight to Wikki Tourists's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Mohammed Faisal keeps Wikki Tourists in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Ékené Awazie in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

Wikki Tourists supporters have found a favourite in Haruna Aliyu

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Haruna Aliyu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

Shuaibu Ibrahim runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Adamu Duguri

Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Haruna Aliyu

7.95, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Wikki Tourists had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

In brief

150 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

11 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mohammed Faisal keeps Wikki Tourists in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings

Gideon Iliya was immovable

28 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

5 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Gideon Iliya 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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Sadeeq Abubakar 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.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Chijioke Ekpemadu

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Shuaibu Ibrahim

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Haruna Aliyu

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

In brief

148 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

28 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Usman Abba asks to leave Wikki Tourists

“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.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Gideon Iliya

20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Player ratings

Haruna Aliyu was immovable

19 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Chijioke Ekpemadu

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Ékené Awazie runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Getting past Mohammed Faisal has become the hardest job in the division

7 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.

Squad

Ibrahim Muhammad has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

145 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

The terraces

Anger at Wikki Tourists spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

Mohammed Faisal keeps Wikki Tourists in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings

Gideon Iliya was immovable

23 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Squad

Ékené Awazie in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

Wikki Tourists supporters have found a favourite in Usman Abba

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Usman Abba has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

John Taiwo 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.

Match

Usman Abba sends Wikki Tourists past Katsina United

It finished 1‑0, and it was Usman Abba’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Wikki Tourists.

Player ratings

Haruna Aliyu in the eights

A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

144 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Usman Abba puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Shuaibu Ibrahim runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Sadeeq Abubakar 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.

Player ratings

Haruna Aliyu was the difference for Wikki Tourists

Marked 7.74. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

In brief

143 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

23 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The cup run ends for Wikki Tourists

1‑2 against Rangers International, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Gideon Iliya 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 ratings

Nothing got past Haruna Aliyu

22 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad

Christian Molokwu falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ékené Awazie

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Wikki Tourists get the job done against Bendel Insurance

A 1‑0 win over Bendel Insurance, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Ibrahim Muhammad was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.52. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jonathan Mairiga

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Costly mistake from Mohammed Faisal

An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Mohammed Faisal knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.

In brief

142 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

A brace, and Ékené Awazie takes the afternoon — 9.04

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ékené Awazie provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

6 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.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Wikki Tourists and El-Kanemi Warriors in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Haruna Aliyu

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Shuaibu Ibrahim at his very best

Marked 8.60. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Wikki Tourists.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Haruna Aliyu at his very best

Marked 8.58. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Wikki Tourists.

Match

Wikki Tourists share the spoils with El-Kanemi Warriors

A 3‑3 draw with El-Kanemi Warriors leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

136 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

5 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Both of them Haruna Aliyu's — 9.58

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.58, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Sadeeq Abubakar signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sadeeq Abubakar commits to Wikki Tourists for another 4 years.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Wikki Tourists find a way past Rivers United

Rivers United made Wikki Tourists work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Shuaibu Ibrahim was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

Ibrahim Muhammad runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Sadeeq Abubakar dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Boardroom

The Wikki Tourists dressing room answers

Whatever was said behind that door, it worked: the pressing is back, the arguing has stopped, and the manager’s job is being defended in the only language that counts.

In brief

135 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

6 matches without a win for Wikki Tourists

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Wikki Tourists are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Bina Tombiri keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Wikki Tourists may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Gideon Iliya 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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Gideon Iliya

Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

No hiding place for John Taiwo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to John Taiwo, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ékené Awazie

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Haruna Aliyu takes the honours

Marked 7.56 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Wikki Tourists had the best player on the pitch.

Player ratings

Chijioke Ekpemadu was immovable

14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

In brief

134 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Usman Abba says Wikki Tourists went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Mohammed Faisal keeps Wikki Tourists in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

5 matches without a win for Wikki Tourists

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Wikki Tourists are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Molokwu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Wikki Tourists come up short against Barau

Barau left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Haruna Aliyu

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Haruna Aliyu

Marked 8.51 — 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 ratings

Naziru Auwalu runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

126 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Wikki Tourists sink to position 20

26 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Christian Molokwu 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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

108 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Wikki Tourists's wait for a win

20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Ékené Awazie

115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wikki Tourists lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Wikki Tourists

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Market

Wikki Tourists turn down Niger Tornadoes for Chizoba Okoh

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Abba Musa keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Wikki Tourists may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Gideon Iliya 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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Haruna Aliyu

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Market

Shooting Stars watching Abdullahi Usman

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Wikki Tourists have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

In brief

105 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

17 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.

The terraces

The mood at Wikki Tourists has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Market

John Taiwo hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.

Market

John Taiwo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Wikki Tourists they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

The goals have deserted Wikki Tourists

5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Christian Molokwu 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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Gideon Iliya

18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad

No hiding place for Usman Abba

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Usman Abba, and the manager let it.

In brief

103 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

17 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

15 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Abdullahi Usman

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdullahi Usman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wikki Tourists the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Christian Molokwu 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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

The goals have deserted Wikki Tourists

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.

Player ratings

Shuaibu Ibrahim runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Sadeeq Abubakar

“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 ratings

Gideon Iliya was the difference for Wikki Tourists

Marked 7.71. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Squad

The manager has not finished forgetting Mohammed Faisal's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

In brief

102 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

10 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

14 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.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Wikki Tourists

Position 19 and 21 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Chizoba Okoh

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Simeon Habila says Wikki Tourists went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Only the photograph left for Aliyu Abubakar

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aliyu Abubakar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Wikki Tourists the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Eyes on Chizoba Okoh again

The phone has started ringing about Chizoba Okoh again, and this time the name on the line is El-Kanemi Warriors. Wikki Tourists are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Gideon Iliya 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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Haruna Aliyu

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief

99 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

19 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

11 matches without a win for Wikki Tourists

The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Wikki Tourists are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Chizoba Okoh

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

The goals have deserted Wikki Tourists

4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Christian Molokwu 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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Haruna Aliyu

20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad

Mohammed Faisal 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Shuaibu Ibrahim

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Point won or two lost for Wikki Tourists?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Enyimba? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

In brief

96 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

John Taiwo breaks a bone — 21 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Wikki Tourists

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Wikki Tourists is running low.

Match

No end in sight to Wikki Tourists's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Chizoba Okoh

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Gideon Iliya shuts the door

Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Christian Molokwu in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Yusuf Mohammed

Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Haruna Aliyu

Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

92 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

John Taiwo breaks a bone — 49 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Wikki Tourists boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Market

John Taiwo puts it in writing

“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.

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

4 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Gideon Iliya 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.

Squad

Christian Molokwu falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Naziru Auwalu

“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 ratings

Nothing got past Gideon Iliya

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Shuaibu Ibrahim runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

91 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Idris Guda damages knee ligaments — 14 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

John Taiwo breaks a bone — 56 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Christian Molokwu 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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Shuaibu Ibrahim

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Haruna Aliyu

7.52, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Wikki Tourists had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

In brief

88 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

3 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Chizoba Okoh

There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Idris Guda damages knee ligaments — 35 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

John Taiwo breaks a bone — 77 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

John Taiwo puts it in writing

“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.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Wikki Tourists boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Player ratings

Gideon Iliya shuts the door

Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Naziru Auwalu runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Gideon Iliya 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 ratings

One of those days for Haruna Aliyu

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

87 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

27 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Idris Guda

43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wikki Tourists lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules John Taiwo out for 85 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wikki Tourists will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Chizoba Okoh

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

No end in sight to Wikki Tourists's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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.

Match

No goals between Wikki Tourists and Shooting Stars

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Shooting Stars will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

83 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Idris Guda damages knee ligaments — 72 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 72 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

John Taiwo breaks a bone — 114 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Gideon Iliya

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Abdullahi Usman 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 ratings

One of those days for Shuaibu Ibrahim

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Molokwu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Wikki Tourists see off Rivers United

Three points for Wikki Tourists, 1‑0 the final word against Rivers United in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Aliyu Mamuda runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Haruna Aliyu shuts the door

Defensive actions: 11, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

82 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

21 matches without a win for Wikki Tourists

The run now stands at 21, and the questions being asked around Wikki Tourists are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Idris Guda damages knee ligaments — 79 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 79 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

John Taiwo breaks a bone — 121 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Gideon Iliya was immovable

27 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Squad

Christian Molokwu in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Shuaibu Ibrahim runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Haruna Aliyu

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Haruna Aliyu

A mark of 7.72, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

In brief

79 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

17 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.

Squad

Idris Guda damages knee ligaments — 100 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 100 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Usman Abba: 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.

Squad

Gideon Iliya in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Shuaibu Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

One of those days for Haruna Aliyu

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.94, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Shuaibu Ibrahim in the eights

A performance of 8.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

Haruna Aliyu rescues a point for Wikki Tourists

It needed Haruna Aliyu to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Warri Wolves, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Naziru Auwalu

Successful dribbles: 10. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

78 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

16 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.

Squad

Idris Guda damages knee ligaments — 107 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 107 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Abdullahi Usman puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

One of those days for Haruna Aliyu

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Haruna Aliyu

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Squad

No hiding place for Emmanuel Iroanya

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emmanuel Iroanya, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Shuaibu Ibrahim was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.52. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

Aliyu Mamuda in a row with a teammate

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.

In brief

76 Edition

The Wikki Tourists Herald

10 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Wikki Tourists

14 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.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Idris Guda

122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wikki Tourists lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Aliyu Mamuda puts it in writing

“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.

Match

The goals have deserted Wikki Tourists

5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Tempers go at Wikki Tourists

Mohammed Faisal 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.

Squad

Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shuaibu Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Abdullahi Usman told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Abdullahi Usman has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Wikki Tourists.

Squad

Abdullahi Usman 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.

Player ratings

Gideon Iliya takes the honours

Marked 7.57 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Wikki Tourists had the best player on the pitch.

In brief