From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
98 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Hilary Ekawu 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 Barau, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market20 Sep 2027
“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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Barau get the job done against Enyimba
A 1-0 win over Enyimba, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Barau have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Somebody is after Joseph Atule’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Joseph Atule suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Barau have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Squad20 Sep 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 Barau, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market20 Sep 2027
Barau have made Sani Ibrahim available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market20 Sep 2027
No fee and no drama: Prince Otubua has signed at Barau, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
Loan watch20 Sep 2027
3 appearances away from home and 1 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barau is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market30 Aug 2027
Sani Ibrahim 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 Barau can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces30 Aug 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market30 Aug 2027
Nasarawa United pay $380.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Chisom Chiaha
“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.
Match28 Aug 2027
0-1 to Kwara United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Barau, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Market30 Aug 2027
Barau have made Abdulmajid Aminu available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad30 Aug 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Usman Maidubuji keeps the shirt for now, at Barau's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2027
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The name of Abdulmajid Aminu has come up in conversations Barau were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market7 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barau is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match5 Jun 2027
Three points for Barau, 3-2 the final word against Abia Warriors in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Match5 Jun 2027
6 unbeaten for Barau
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Barau did not have in the autumn.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barau is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Mathew Samuel: 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.” Barau have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sani Ibrahim and Barau agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Feb 2027
Saidu Salisu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barau they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match13 Feb 2027
7 unbeaten for Barau
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Barau did not have in the autumn.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Bismark Duah 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Chisom Chiaha asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Match13 Feb 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Wikki Tourists came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Squad15 Feb 2027
At 26 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Barau are won quietly and lost loudly.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Barau's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Barau has to find a result from somewhere.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Barau have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market25 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Sani Ibrahim
“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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Barau will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
147% of the income goes out in wages at Barau
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
The manager makes an example of Sani Ibrahim
“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
Uneasy
Market30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Uzochukwu Ezeobi and Barau agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Barau can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Sani Ibrahim 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
Uneasy
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Barau's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Barau has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Sani Ibrahim
“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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Enyimba will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Barau's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Barau has to find a result from somewhere.
Match5 Sep 2026
1-2 to Rangers International, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 136% of everything Barau 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Abdulmajid Aminu asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market7 Sep 2026
Barau bring in an old head
Chinedu Ozor is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Aug 2026
Saidu Salisu 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 Barau can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Chisom Chiaha commits to Barau for another 4 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Barau have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Aliyu Sugau 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ikorodu City left with the points after a 0-1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.