12 Best Football Academies in Nigeria 2022

Looking for the best 12 Football Academies in Nigeria 2022 probably to kick start your football career? Let’s get started right away!

Undeniably, football is one of the multi-million dollar businesses in the world. Besides bringing about a lasting feel of entertainment, football has remained a vital source of staggering revenue for many companies across the world.

If you’re an unstinting lover of football and believe you’re rich enough to own and run a football academy in Nigeria, this article could be the well-written startup guide that you need.

Over the past decades, football has metamorphosed from a mere pastime or leisure to a trillion-dollar industry and way of life. From the huge wages to profit from player sales to ticket sales, money is being earned from various outlets in the game. This has caused football clubs to set up youth teams that can not only fetch results for them but also substantial profit. These youth teams picketed around the world are called academies, and this article reviews some of the best football academies in Nigeria.

Nigeria is one of the most fanatic countries when it comes to admiration for the beautiful game. With friendly divisions and factions supporting their own European teams, watching football is one of the most popular pastimes in the African country. However, no matter the allegiance, every viewer longs to see a player of Nigerian origin in action.

Are you one of those players seeking to make it big in Europe? Or do you have a relative who is quite dexterous with their feet? Well, you will find this article on the best football academies in Nigeria very helpful.

Football academies in Nigeria have been responsible for unearthing some talents in the last few years. Feeding either a team in the Nigerian Professional Football League or one in Europe. To make it to the big time in football, your best route is through one of the various football academies in Nigeria.

Firstly, let us consider the steps on how to start a football academy in Nigeria

What are the steps for starting a football academy in Nigeria?

1. Select an Identity for Your Football Academy

Needless to say, your football academy will be identified with a specific name and that’s why it’s incumbent on you to brand the football academy using details (name, logo, etc.,) that clearly depict what you have in mind about the proposed academy.

2. Select Befitting Individuals for the Managerial Board

This clearly involves recruiting the appropriate persons into your academy’s administrative and technical teams. Indeed, this is a crucial step as any mistake made herein can have a long-lasting negative effect on your football academy.

Advisably, choose only the befitting individuals for important managerial roles such as head coach, technical director, player recruiter, etc. Rather than dwelling on your relationship with specific persons, select such individuals on the basis of their experience and achievements.

3. Register with the Nigeria Football Association

Registering a football club could come as a demanding task but considering that you’re starting with an academy, you may have to contact only the Nigeria Football Association to get registered. To ensure you’re running your football academy legally and to avoid heavy sanctioning, familiarize yourself with the dos and don’ts of any association you’re registering with.

4. Equip Your Football Academy with Supplies

The job of running a football academy necessitates some expenditure. At the preamble level, you should be ready to expand on the purchase of supplies such as boots, jerseys, etc.

Do well to liaise with a reliable manufacturer of jerseys so that you’re confident of procuring quality and well-designed kits for your academy players. Notably, some of the other essential supplies you should provide at this level must include first-aid kits.

5. Start Recruiting Players into Your Academy

This is really a crucial step which involves selecting the raw talents that will make up your football academy. For the most part, you’ll rely on the backbone of a competent technical crew in order to do this successfully. Advisably, ensure the recruiters aren’t selecting the players on the basis of nepotism or favouritism. In all sincerity, you need skilled young players who are passionate about making a success out of football.

While you’re encouraged to select passionate and skilled young players, it’s also recommended that you allow the players to double up with other activities (away from football). This way, you may not have to bear the financial burden of paying them as full-time players. Instead, the players will be satisfied with getting little remuneration in addition to the earnings from their engagements outside of football.

In player recruiting, one important thing you should incorporate is a contractual agreement that will familiarize the players with the sort of commitment required of them. That contractual agreement may imply that they are not allowed to serve as players under another football academy without your approval.

6. Secure Necessary Insurance for Your Players

You’ll have to secure insurance for your entire football academy inclusive of the managerial board (technical and administrative teams) and the team of players. This is to ascertain that necessary provisions are available for your academy members in the event of injury, death, etc.

7. Secure a Space for Player Training

Securing a pitch (for conducting player training) will likely be your best bet considering that you may find it difficult to incur the cost of erecting a stadium at the startup level. Do well to secure a befitting pitch with requisite facilities as that pitch might serve as both your training ground and your home pitch (during football competitions).

8. Start Engaging in Local Competitions

Provided that you’ve satisfied all the aforementioned requisites for starting a football academy in Nigeria, you’re then eligible to put up your academy for local competitions. Of course, you’ll have to begin with football competitions at the grassroots level and by the time your team has progressed significantly, you can start dreaming of partaking in the country’s main league.

In no particular order, here are the best football academies in Nigeria.

Best Football Academies in Nigeria 2022

1. Midas Football Academy

Location: Ground, Gospel Camp, Command Rd, Ipaja 100278, Lagos

Midas Football Academy Nigeria was formed in November 2006 to discover young soccer talents in Nigeria and the rest of Africa to make them better persons in society. The academy is duly registered and affiliated with the Nigeria Football Federation and Lagos state Football Association.

They claim to have a network of international football clubs and football management organisations spread around the world. They have links to scouts across Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Americas, to whom they present their talented graduates.

2. Juventus Football Academy

Location: Abuja and Lagos.

The official academy of the eponymous Italian giants, Juventus Football Academy is one of the best football academies in Nigeria. With ex-big brother Nigeria housemate, Ozo, as its ambassador, it is also one of the most reliable in the country.

They employ the services of qualified coaches based in Turin, including the Juventus Academy Area Manager, who provides constant support to projects with periodic visits to ensure that the standards of the Juventus Academy project are upheld.

The Juventus Academy Program in Nigeria is more camping than full-time, as it only runs on specific dates, precisely during the holiday. The camp is open to interested participants between the ages of 6-17 with training sessions held between 9 am to 3 pm on weekdays.

3. Pepsi Football Academy

Location: Agege Stadium, Agege, Lagos, Nigeria

Arguably the most popular in the country, the Pepsi Football Academy runs over 14 training centres consisting of about 3000 students, which ranks them as one of the biggest football academies in Nigeria.

They have been so successful in the past few years that some famous players owe their career trajectory to them. Their graduates include:

•  Yinka Adedeji
•  Joseph Akpala
•  Derick Amadi
•  Kola Anubi
•  Onyekachi Apam
•  Ezekiel Bala
•  Femi Joseph
•  John Obi Mikel

The academy currently hosts a scheme that provides some of their talents with the opportunity to advance in their academic as well as sports careers in the UK.

Applicants between the ages of 5 – 16 years can apply to join the Academy, with registration capped at ₦3,000.

4. Papilo Football Academy

Location: Kanu’s private estate at Egbu Owerri Road, Imo.

Papilo Academy was founded in 2000, with the aim of grooming young players and training them to become full-grown pro footballers. The purpose of the academy is in line with Kanu Nwankwo’s career path, as the Arsenal legend was nurtured through a similar system.

Papilo Football Academy has developed a handful of talented players that have progressed to the national team levels, such as Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidiebere Nwakali.

Interestingly, the academy has established a partnership with Leeds United Football Club, United Kingdom. This ranks them up there as one of the best football academies in Nigeria.

5. HOFFNUNG INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ACADEMY

Location: HIFA Street off Church Street, Taike Ikosi, Ketu Lagos – Nigeria

Hoffnung International Football Academy (HIFA) is a private organization founded by Mrs Hope Kole. Its intent is to serve the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of the GLOBAL HOPE SPORTS MANAGEMENT COMPANY. HIFA is dedicated to developing young boys with football talents, especially those from financially-challenged backgrounds, in the field of education and total football interest.

Presently, the cost of running the academy is being generated from funds from donations from founders, families, friends and sponsors.

The academy are partners with the Professional Football Scouts Association, the first and only registered and recognized Professional Football Scouts Association worldwide.

6. Rivers States Academy – Real Madrid Foundation

Location: Stadium Rd, Rumuola 500272, Port Harcourt, Rivers

The official Real Madrid academy in Nigeria was established in 1997 as a Non-Profit Organization. The academy’s secondary goal is to develop social and educational programs as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

In 2008 it was appointed as an “ONGD” by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID). Its framework is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

7. Tripple 44

Location: Km 10, off Akala Road, Elowura, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

Self-acclaimed as the football academy that allows you to train as a full-time professional footballer. The football academy encourages development in football skills while understanding the need for continued education.

Tripple 44 runs a variety of football training and study programmes, where football players can gain internationally recognized qualifications. Their flagship product is U-20 player, Peter Olawale, who was signed by Hapoel Ra’anana in 2020. They also had participants for the u-17 World Cup in 2019.

As one of the best football academies in Nigeria, Tripple 44 is a partner of the UK’s Diamond Football Management.

8. Ayicrip Football Academy

Location: 10 Oladimeji Street by Sholabomi Crescent Gate, Aguda, Surulere, Lagos Nigeria.

Ayicrip is one of the few academies that looks above the U-20 age range for their talents which enlists them as one of the best football academies in Nigeria. They primarily target talented youths between the ages of 17 and 23 both within urban and semi-urban areas of Nigeria.

Interested players are expected to pick an interest form which admits them to participate in the open camp trials, where young footballers with great football potential will come to exhibit their skills after which the best players will be selected to join.

After the trials, 18 players will be selected for the International Football Trial Tour in chosen countries.

Sequel to the conclusion of the open camp trials, selected players will be invited for a two-week camp in Lagos in preparation for international trials tours which will afford the players the opportunity to play matches with some selected clubs in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America, North America and Africa.

Finally, during the international friendly matches, renowned FIFA licensed football Agents, Club Directors and Coaches will be on the ground to scout for good players to sign to their respective clubs to begin their professional careers. At the end of the two weeks tour, successful players will start their professional careers immediately.

9. Billionaires Football Academy

Location: Plot 20/22, Aso Drive, Aso Villa, Asokoro, FCT, Abuja, Nigeria

Billionaires Football Academy is an international, standard and global private football academy; providing academic courses, football training, trials, soccer clinics and international camps for aspiring footballers ranging from age 13 and above. BFA manages and coordinates more than six different soccer centres and camps, with over 3000 young African talents currently under its management.

10. Abuja Academy

Location: M.K.O Abiola National Stadium, Constitution Avenue, Abuja.

The AS Roma Academy Abuja is the AS Roma Academy’s official network of football schools around the world dedicated to all boys and girls, aged between 5 – 17 years old, which offers the opportunity to learn the methodologies and training techniques that inspired talented players such as Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Florenzi and Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Recognised throughout the world for the quality of its youth team, the AS Roma International Academy program is dedicated to transmitting the club’s work philosophy and values to the rest of the world.

11. Ascend Football academy

Location: 3 Redsea Close, Aguiyi Ironsi Way, Maitama, Abuja-Nigeria.

Ascend Football academy was created on February 10, 2015, by President and CEO, Mr Terna Amasetimin and is a subsidiary of the registered & incorporated company called ASCEND SPORTS ACADEMY.

The academy is based in the Central Region of Abuja. They specialise in identifying recruits and training young football talents in a cost-free program. Ascend has two team categories – under 19 and under 17 youth teams.

12. Diamond Football Academy

Location: 173 Bende Road, Umuahia, Abia State. Nigeria

Diamond Football Academy Umuahia is one of the best football academies in Nigeria. Located in the southern state of Abia, the academy was founded in 2012.

12 Best Football Academies in Nigeria 2021

Here is a quick and simplified recap of the best football academies in Nigeria in 2022.

1. Midas Football Academy
2. Juventus football academy
3. Pepsi football academy
4. Papilo Football Academy
5. HOFFNUNG INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ACADEMY
6. Rivers States Academy
7. Tripple 44
8. Ayicrip Football Academy
9. Billionaires Football Academy
10. Abuja Academy
11. Ascend Football academy
12. Diamond football academy

Conclusion

Setting up a football academy both in Nigeria and anywhere else in the world is quite demanding. We’ve been able to highlight a few of the best 12 Football Academies in Nigeria. However, there are still more out there. Besides the handful of requirements you have to put in place, it’s important that you have adequate startup capital if you must successfully run the football academy. Therefore, you should get in touch with investors if you can’t afford to bear all the expenditures by yourself. Should you have additional academies not included in this list, kindly inform us via the comment section.