By Danjuma Attah, Gombe
Fans of demoted Gombe United football Club have hailed the appointment of Coach Bala Nikyu as the new technical adviser of the club.
The club was relegated from Nigeria’s elite league to the National League and sports analyst have attributed fans unruly behaviour in the stadium as some of the factors that caused the club’s relegation.
It will be recalled that six points were deducted from the club as a punitive measure due to unruly behaviour of fans during one of their matches last season in the premier League.
All efforts to get out of relegation at the end of the season proved abortive even when Coach Nikyu was drafted to save the situation.
However, Coach Bala Nikyu officially penned down his signature to a one year deal Tuesday afternoon (03/09/2024) with the sole mandate to return the Gombe darling team to the elite league.
Shortly after signing the dotted lines by management of the Club led by Abubakar Abubakar, General Manager of the Club and Coach Bala, a famous supporter of the Club, Haruna Idris, expressed excitement over the appointment.
He described Bala Nikyu as an experienced Coach following his successful three decades football coaching career in and outside Nigeria.
He pledged on behalf of other supporters, to give the new gaffer all the maximum cooperation he needs to succeed in taking back the club to Nigeria’s premier League next season.
He called on fans to calm down especially while they are inside the stadium as hooliganism cannot bring in the desired results for the club.
According to him, “fans must exhibit patience during games as the results can come either ways. Even in advanced leagues in Europe, teams can start well and later drop in position in the league at the end of the season or even go to relegation.
“The same goes for Nigeria. No one gave Enugu Rangers a chance of winning the league at the beginning, but as God will have it, it was their turn and they became the lucky winners of the league.
“Gombe United started the league last season very well beating highly rated teams such as Rivers United, Bendel Insurance, Eyimba and no one believed we could go on relegation. But the tide later turned against us resulting in our unfortunate relegation.
“He decried the existence of unpatriotic supporters who only come into the stadium to spoil the show for the club by committing offences. We hope this will never happen again”, he vowed.
Coach Bala Nikyu was an integral part of Gombe United’s technical crew during the second half of last season.
He has now signed a new one-year contract, officially taking charge as the team’s Technical Adviser. His primary objective will be to lead the club back to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
