The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 118th minute. Bayelsa United will replay every second of the added time for a week.
“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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A brace, and Simeon Umeh takes the afternoon — 8.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Simeon Umeh provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Warri Wolves moved on, Sadeeq Abubakar reports back to Wikki Tourists, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Wikki Tourists and Enyimba, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barau have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadWords at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Wikki Tourists close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barau have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Wikki Tourists ran out of time with Kun Khalifat. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Aliyu Abubakar was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. 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.
13 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.
“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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Wikki Tourists have done the hard part with Bayelsa United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Sani 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Shuaibu Ibrahim provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The deal with Plateau United is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Sani 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Kwara United had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
A 2‑2 draw with Kwara United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Abdullahi Lookman was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Wikki Tourists dressing room was either.
The deal with Barau is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Sani 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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Abdullahi Lookman after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Everything agreed with Nasarawa United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dennis Eguavoen 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ahmed Ekong is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Wikki Tourists dressing room in a hurry
Sani 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.
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.
“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.
14 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.
“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.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Wikki Tourists lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdullahi Usman and Wikki Tourists agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Aliyu Abubakar is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutSimeon Habila has become a man the manager trusts
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Tunde Micheal has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chizoba Okoh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Sani 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 standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Tunde Micheal
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Abdullahi Usman 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Ahmad Lamido
15Edition
The Wikki Tourists Herald
9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondentUneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Sani 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.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Wikki Tourists. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Tunde Micheal has written the date down.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Sani 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sani 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.
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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutChizoba Okoh knocks on the manager’s door
Sani 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.
Aliyu Mamuda 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salisu Abdullahi 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Abdullahi Usman 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Abdullahi Lookman chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Wikki Tourists are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sani 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.
He is 23 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.
Minute 91, against Katsina United, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Abdullahi Lookman chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
In brief
The dugoutSimeon Habila has become a man the manager trusts
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ahmad Lamido did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Sani 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ahmad Lamido 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Wikki Tourists are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Saifullahi Yusuf and Wikki Tourists agree another 2 years.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Wikki Tourists have done the hard part with Nasarawa United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani 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.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Wikki Tourists have done the hard part with Plateau United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Wikki Tourists asked and Barau said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani 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.
Ikorodu City have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simeon Habila did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Wikki Tourists is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Sani Ibrahim 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.
Wikki Tourists asked and Barau said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasarawa United have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Frank Lookman 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Isaac Olagunju 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Shehu Nwakali 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Joseph Ekong 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.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Chizoba Okoh 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.
Aliyu Mamuda 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.
A loan enquiry to Nasarawa United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Wikki Tourists have made the call to Bayelsa United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.