From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Naheem Odugbemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Naheem Odugbemi, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Victor Ejukah commits to Ikorodu City for another 4 years.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Naheem Odugbemi is on it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Victor Ejukah knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Victor Ejukah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibifubara Dagogo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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.
The dugout23 Nov 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Naheem Odugbemi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uche Onyemaechi, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Alfred Odinaka 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Gift Udoh talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ikorodu City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 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 Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Naheem Odugbemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Ikorodu City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Mouscron runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tosin Oyedokun trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Kelechi Onwe gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kelechi Onwe is on it.
Market9 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Onyeuche Ujunwa’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ibifubara Dagogo is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ikorodu City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“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 Ikorodu City, and 5 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ibifubara Dagogo 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Seun Agboola, and the manager let it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout26 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
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Michael Atata
“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
Squad19 Oct 2026
Michael Atata is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Naheem Odugbemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alfred Odinaka, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Something was said to Chidera Oparaocha and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Aliu Salawudeen 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anderson Pere was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Kelechi Onwe has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ikorodu City 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Rasheed Owolabi
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Ikorodu City will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Goodluck Anuba 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Oct 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Ikorodu City have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Chidera Oparaocha’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ikorodu City.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
7.79, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Ikorodu City had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Voices raised on the Ikorodu City training ground
Two players, one bad tackle and a session that had to be stopped. It was over in a minute; it was outside the gates in an hour.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Stephen Oduya on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Sep 2026
A 2‑0 win over Kun Khalifat, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market28 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Naheem Odugbemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Uche Onyemaechi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tosin Oyedokun 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
A goal on 95 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 7.68 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Ikorodu City had the best player on the pitch.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Nasarawa United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Daniel Idoko
“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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Stephen Oduya was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Ikorodu City dressing room was either.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Ibifubara Dagogo 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Gift Udoh gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gift Udoh is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
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 Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bayelsa United have kept their man, and Ikorodu City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout14 Sep 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Abia Warriors left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Emmanuel Mathias 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Stephen Oduya to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Kelechi Onwe gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kelechi Onwe is on it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Alfred Odinaka
Nobody at Ikorodu City is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 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 Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Ikorodu City until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market7 Sep 2026
The bid was some way short and Ikorodu City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Naheem Odugbemi and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Ikorodu City asked and Shooting Stars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout7 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
Plateau United are out and Ikorodu City go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market31 Aug 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 Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
US Bougouni come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ikorodu City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Ikorodu City asked and Bendel Insurance said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tosin Oyedokun, and the manager let it.
Match29 Aug 2026
Rivers United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
$570.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 2‑6 by Remo Stars, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match19 Aug 2026
Rivers United are out and Ikorodu City go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match19 Aug 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Ikorodu City scored in the 104th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ikorodu City people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market24 Aug 2026
AS Police come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ikorodu City did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Aug 2026
Kelechi Onwe 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 Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
A 3‑2 win over Warri Wolves, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match12 Aug 2026
Joseph Arumala wins it after the whistle should have gone
96 minutes played. Joseph Arumala found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Warri Wolves went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.39 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from Rangers International for Kammonke Willie 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.
Squad17 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 Ikorodu City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
At 20 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Barau, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Ikorodu City have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Aug 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Ikorodu City scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Market10 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ikorodu City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Ikorodu City have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. John Osayi-Samuel has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Wilfred Iwobi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Match8 Aug 2026
Enyimba made Ikorodu City work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Aug 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 Ikorodu City can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 7.62 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tosin Oyedokun and Ikorodu City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tosin Oyedokun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
At 20 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Ikorodu City have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Ikorodu City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel Mathias 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match1 Aug 2026
A goal on 92 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.