AITEO Cup

The AITEO Cup (a.k.a. Challenge Cup, sometimes shortened to Fed Cup), is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states + 1 FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Nigerian equivalent of the FA Cup, Emperor's Cup, Copa do Brasil, Coupe de France, among others. It was created in 1945 as the "Governor's Cup",[1] succeeding the War Memorial Challenge Cup that had been limited to teams from Lagos.

AITEO Cup
Founded1942
Number of teams74
Qualifier forNigeria Super Cup
CAF Confederation Cup
Current championsKano Pillars (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Shooting Stars FC (8 titles)
2021 AITEO Cup

The tournament was created in 1945 as the Governor's Cup and was initially dominated by Lagosian teams, later it was known as the Nigeria FA Cup from (1954–1959), Nigeria Challenge Cup (1960–1998), Coca-Cola FA Cup (1999–2008) and Nigeria Federation Cup (2009–2016). Since 2017, the competition has been sponsored by the AITEO group and has been known as the AITEO Cup including the women's tournament.[2]

Shooting Stars are the most successful clubs, having won the competition eight times, followed by the defunct Lagos Railways with 7 titles and Enugu Rangers with six titles.

Format

The competition is a single elimination knockout tournament featuring 74 teams from the 36 states + 1 FCT in Nigeria. All clubs qualify via their states cup championships, the winners and runners-up of each state cup championship qualifies for the tournament regardless of their position at the Nigerian football league system. A 'Rookie' play-off will be held for the 20 lowest ranked clubs, the 10 winners then joins the remaining 54 at the First round. All matches are held at neutral venues.

The winner qualifies automatically for the next season's CAF Confederation Cup or the runners-up if the winner had already qualified for a CAF club competition based on league's position.

Winners
War Memorial Challenge Cup
1942 ZAC Bombers 1–0 Services
1943 Lagos Marine 3–2 RAF
1944 Lagos Railways 2–0 Marine
1945 Lagos Railways 1–1 (4–1) Lagos United
Governors Cup
1945 Marine 1–0 Corinthians
1946 Lagos Railways 3–1 Port Harcourt FC
1947 Marine 3–1 Lagos Railways
1948 Lagos Railways 1–0 Warri
1949 Lagos Railways 3–0 Port Harcourt FC
1950 Lagos UAC 3–2 Port Harcourt FC
1951 Lagos Railways 3–2 Mighty Jets (Jos)
1952 Lagos PAN Bank 6–0 Warri (Mid-West)
1953 Kano Pillars F.C. 2–1 Lagos Dynamos
FA Cup
1954 Calabar 3–0 Kano Pillars F.C.
1955 Port Harcourt FC 4–1 Warri
1956 Lagos Railways 3–1 Warri
1957 Lagos Railways 5–1 Zaria
1958 Port Harcourt FC 6–0 Federal United
1959 Ibadan Lions 1–0 Police
Challenge Cup
1960 Lagos ECN 5–2 Ibadan Lions
1961 Ibadan Lions 1–0 Lagos UAC
1962 Police 1–0 Mighty Jets (Jos)
1963 Port Harcourt FC 1–0 Mighty Jets (Jos)
1964 Lagos Railways 3–1 Mighty Jets (Jos)
1965 Lagos ECN 3–1 Mighty Jets (Jos)
1966 Ibadan Lions beat Mighty Jets (Jos)
1967 Stationery Stores (Lagos) 3–1 Mighty Jets (Jos)
1968 Stationery Stores (Lagos) 3–1 (r.) Warri
1969 Ibadan Lions 5–1 Warri
1970 Lagos ECN 3–1 Mighty Jets (Jos)
1971 WNDC Ibadan 2–1 Enugu Rangers
1972 Bendel Insurance (Benin City) 2–2 (3–2, pen) Mighty Jets (Jos)
1973 –
1974 Enugu Rangers 2–0 Mighty Jets (Jos)
1975 Enugu Rangers 1–0 Shooting Stars FC (Ibadan)
1976 Enugu Rangers 2–0 Alyufsalam Rocks (Ilorin)
1977 Shooting Stars FC (Ibadan) 2–0 Racca Rovers
1978 Bendel Insurance 3–0 Enugu Rangers
1979 Shooting Stars FC (Ibadan) 2–0 Sharks FC (Port Harcourt)
1980 Bendel Insurance (Benin City) 1–0 Stationery Stores (Lagos)
1981 Enugu Rangers 2–0 Bendel Insurance (Benin City)
1982 Stationery Stores (Lagos) 4–1 Niger Tornadoes (Minna)
1983 Enugu Rangers 0–0 (5–4, pen) DIC Bees (Kaduna)
1984 Leventis United (Ibadan) 1–0 Abiola Babes (Abeokuta)
1985 Abiola Babes (Abeokuta) 0–0 (6–5, pen) BCC Lions (Gboko)
1986 Leventis United (Ibadan) 1–0 Abiola Babes (Abeokuta)
1987 Abiola Babes (Abeokuta) 1–1 (7–6, pen) Ranchers Bees
1988 Iwuanyanwu Nationale (Owerri) 3–0 Flash Flamingoes
1989 BCC Lions (Gboko) 1–0 Iwuanyanwu Nationale (Owerri)
1990 Stationery Stores (Lagos) 0–0 (5–4, pen) Enugu Rangers
1991 El-Kanemi Warriors (Maiduguri) 3–2 Kano Pillars F.C.
1992 El-Kanemi Warriors (Maiduguri) 1–0 Stationery Stores (Lagos)
1993 BCC Lions (Gboko) 1–0 Plateau United (Jos)
1994 BCC Lions (Gboko) 1–0 Julius Berger FC (Lagos)
1995 Shooting Stars FC (Ibadan) 2–0 Katsina United
1996 Julius Berger FC (Lagos) 1–0 (a.p.) Katsina United
1997 BCC Lions (Gboko) 1–0 Katsina United
1998 Wikki Tourists (Bauchi) 0-0 (aet, 3–2 pen) Plateau United (Jos)
Coca-Cola FA Cup
1999 Plateau United (Jos) 1–0 Iwuanyanwu Nationale (Owerri)
2000 Niger Tornadoes (Minna) 1–0 Enugu Rangers
2001 Dolphin FC (Port Harcourt) 2–0 El-Kanemi Warriors (Maiduguri)
2002 Julius Berger FC (Lagos) 3–0 Yobe Desert Stars (Damaturu)
2003 Lobi Stars (Makurdi) 2–0 Sharks FC (Port Harcourt)
2004 Dolphin FC (Port Harcourt) 1–0 Enugu Rangers
2005 Enyimba FC (Aba) 1–1 (aet, 6–5 pen) Lobi Stars (Makurdi)
2006 Dolphin FC (Port Harcourt) 2-2 (aet, 5–3 pen) Bendel Insurance
2007 Dolphin FC (Port Harcourt) 1–1 (aet, 3–2 pen) Enugu Rangers
2008 Ocean Boys FC (Brass) 2–2 (aet, 7–6 pen) Gombe United FC
Federation Cup
2009 Enyimba FC (Aba) 1–0 Sharks FC (Port Harcourt)
2010 Kaduna United F.C. 3–3 (aet, 3–2 pen) Enyimba FC (Aba)
2011 Heartland F.C. 1–0 Enyimba FC (Aba)
2012 Heartland F.C. 2–1 Lobi Stars
2013 Enyimba F.C. 2–2 (aet, 5–4 pen) Warri Wolves
2014 Enyimba FC 2–1 Dolphins FC (Port Harcourt)
2015 Akwa United F.C. 2–1 Lobi Stars
2016 Ifeanyi Ubah F.C. 0–0 Nasarawa United F.C. (IUFC won on penalties)[3]
AITEO Cup
2017 Akwa United F.C. (Uyo) 0–0 (3–2 pen) Niger Tornadoes F.C. (Minna)[4]
2018 Enugu Rangers 3–3 (4–2 pen) Kano Pillars (Kano)[5]
2019 Kano Pillars (Kano) 0–0 (4–3 pen) Niger Tornadoes F.C. (Minna)
2020
Cancelled[lower-alpha 1]
  1. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Total (not including War Memorial Cup)
Club Titles
Shooting Stars FC (Ibadan) [includes Ibadan Lions and WNDC] 8
Lagos Railways (Lagos) 7
Enugu Rangers 6
BCC Lions (Gboko) 4
Dolphins FC [formerly known as Eagle Cement] 4
Stationery Stores (Lagos) 4
Enyimba FC (Aba) 4
Bendel Insurance (Benin City) 3
Iwuanyanwu Nationale/Heartland (Owerri) 3
Lagos ECN (Lagos) (later renamed NEPA) 3
Port Harcourt FC 3
Kano Pillars F.C. (Kano) 2
Abiola Babes (Abeokuta) 2
Akwa United F.C. 2
El-Kanemi Warriors (Maiduguri) 2
Julius Berger FC (Lagos) 2
Leventis United (Ibadan) 2
Marine 2
Calabar 1
Ifeanyi Ubah (Nnewi) 1
Kaduna United (Kaduna) 1
Lagos PAN Bank (Lagos) 1
Lagos UAC (Lagos) 1
Lobi Stars (Makurdi) 1
Niger Tornadoes (Minna) 1
Ocean Boys FC (Brass) 1
Plateau United (Jos) 1
Police (Lagos) 1
Wikki Tourists (Bauchi) 1

References
  1. "The Federation Cup... 67 years Of Nigerian History, Through Football". ngrguardiannews.com. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  2. "Nigerian FA Cup signs 5 year sponsorship deal with Aiteo group". thecable.ng. 28 June 2017.
  3. Eludini, Tunde (2016-11-06). "FC Ifeanyi Ubah emerge 2016 Federation Cup Champions - Premium Times Nigeria". Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  4. "AITEO Cup: Akwa United beat Tornadoes to win competition – Premium Times Nigeria". Premium Times Nigeria. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  5. "Enugu Rangers break 35-year Aiteo Cup jinx". ESPN.com.
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