Kano Pillars F.C.

"Kano Pillars" redirects here. For the basketball club, see Kano Pillars BC.

Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They play their home games at Sani Abacha Stadium.

Kano Pillars

Full name	Kano Pillars Football Club
Nickname(s)	Sai Masu Gida
Founded	1990; 35 years ago (1990)
Ground	Sani Abacha Stadium Kano
Capacity	16,000[1]
Chairman	Ahmed Musa
Manager	Evans Ogenyi
League	Nigeria Professional Football League
2024–25	Nigeria Professional Football League, 9th of 20
Home colours Away colours

Kano Pillars FC was founded in 1990, the year the professional association football league started in Nigeria, and it is also among the oldest clubs in Nigerian history alongside clubs like Bendel Insurance, Shooting Stars, and Enugu Rangers. It was an amalgamation of three amateur clubs in Kano State.

Kano Pillars Football Club is the most popular Nigerian Premier League club in Nigeria.^[2] The Pillars drew an average home attendance of 8,894 in the 2023–24 edition of the NPFL, the 2nd highest in the league.

History

Founded in 1990, by Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, former chairman of Nigeria Football Association and former sports commissioner of Kano, from the combination of WRECA FC, Kano Golden Stars and Bank of the North FC, Kano Pillars achieved outstanding success by winning the 2007–08 Nigerian Premier League. Kano Pillars produced players like Abiodun Baruwa who has since played for Swiss, Austrian, Welsh and British Clubs and Sani Kaita who later plays for Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Another Prominent player is Ahmed Garba 'Yaro Yaro' who later plays for AB in Denmark and a notable player from Kano Pillars FC is Ahmed Musa who played for Leicester City in the English Premier league after joining from CSKA Moscow. It was registered as a limited liability company with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigeria, and then registered with the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) as a professional football club.

In the 2020/2021 NPFL season, Kano Pillars were fined a whopping sum of ₦7,500,000.00 for failing to follow the orders of the LMC and NFF, which prohibited fans from viewing live games in the stadium. Fans disrupted a top table clash between Akwa United and Kano Pillars. The game ended 0–0 after it was concluded the following day.^[3]

They were relegated from NPFL on 16 July 2022 following the confirmation of a verdict against them for the deduction of 3 points, despite an appeal which the NFF committee disregarded against their complaint. The verdict on them was a penalty for what their former chairman did to match officials in their encounter with Dakkada FC^[4]

2009 Champions League

They are also nicknamed "Ahly Killers" as they scored 2 magnificent goals in Egypt and drew with Al Ahly Cairo in Egypt 2–2 and 1–1 in Nigeria, so the Ahly Killers went to the Group stage in the African Champions League on the away goals rule. They made it to the semi-finals before being eliminated against fellow Nigerian team Heartland.

Achievements

• Nigerian Premier League

Champions (4): 2007–08, 2011–12, 2013, 2014.

Runners-up (1): 2009–10.

• Nigerian FA Cup

Winners (2): 2019, 1953

Runners-up (2): 1991, 2018.

• Nigerian super cup. 1.winners 2008.
• "'Nigerian super four"'. (runners up)2.

Performance in CAF competitions

• CAF Champions League: 6 appearances

Kano Pillars' arrival at Ahmadu Bello Stadium for a friendly match.

2009 – Semi-finals

2011 – First Round

2013 – First Round

2014 – Preliminary Round

2015 – First Round

2020 – Preliminary Round

• CAF Confederation Cup: 0 appearance

Current players

As of 8 February 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GHA Ibrahim Iddrisu 2 DF  NGA Ali Abdullahi 3 DF  NGA Ismaila Nasir 4 MF  NGA Shehu Abdullahi 5 DF  NGA Abdullahi Musa 6 MF  NGA Suleiman Idris 7 FW  NGA Ahmed Musa 8 MF  NGA Yusuf Maigoro 9 FW  NGA Auwalu Ali Malam 10 MF  NGA Rabiu Ali (Captain) 11 FW  NGA Mustapha Umar 12 MF  NGA Aminu Mohammed 14 DF  NGA Ibrahim Abubakar 16 FW  NGA Mustapha Salisu 18 MF  NGA Sani Mubarak 19 FW  NGA Ibrahim Mustapha 20 FW  NGA Ibrahim Abdullahi

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 FW  NGA Muhammad Yakubu 23 DF  NGA Sani Faisal 24 MF  NGA Aminu Sani 25 MF  NGA Joshua Dua 26 DF  NGA Habibu Yakubu 27 DF  NGA Ibrahim Nura 28 FW  NGA Yusuf Abdullahi 29 MF  NGA Mubarak Lawan 30 DF  NGA Fahad Usman 31 GK  NGA Mohammed Galadima 33 GK  NGA Muttaka Musa 34 DF  NGA Attairu Mushinu 36 MF  NGA Muhammed Usman 38 FW  NGA Umar Shehu 40 FW  NGA Abba Adam

Staff

Head Coach/Technical Adviser

• Yaseer Sani Salisu El, Hakimee

Chairman

• Babangida Umar Little

general manager

• Umar Babangida (Little)

General Coordinator

• Salisu Yaro

Kit Manager

• Habibu Zubair Abubakar

Marketing Manager

• 

  Kano Pillars' team bus.

Notable coaches

• Malik Jabir (2008–) (Technical Adviser)
• Ahmed Pele Abdu
• Ladan Bosso (2011)
• Baba Ganaru
• Kadiri Ikhana (1991), (1997–98), (2007–08), (2016–date)
• Ivo Sajh (2009)

Salisu Yusuf Okey Emordi Evans Ogenyi

Notable players

Rabiu Ali playing for the Kano Pillars

• Rabiu Ali
• Ahmed Musa
• Junior Lokosa
• Chinedu Udoji
• Ndubisi Chukunyere
• Yaseer El, Hakimee