 | |
| Full name | Benue Cement Co. Lions Football Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982; 43 years ago (1982) |
| Ground | J. S. Tarka Stadium Gboko,Nigeria |
| Capacity | 15,000 |
| Chairman | Aliko Dangote |
| Manager | Andrew Agu |
| League | Nigeria Amateur League |
BCC Lions Football Club (Benue Cement Company Lions Football Club) was a Nigerianfootball team based inGboko,Benue State. It competed at various levels in the Nigerian League system, including theNigeria Amateur League and the Nigeria Professional League, gaining glory at some periods until its decline and eventual phasing out. Its home games were played at theJoseph Sarwuan Tarka Stadium.[1] Some efforts made to resuscitate the team proved fruitless.
BCC Lions was founded in 1982 by the Benue State government, underAper Aku, the first civilian governor of the state. Chuks Aningo was the team's first coach. In later years, Aningo would serve as the team's manager. At the time, he was employed by Benue Cement Company.[2]
BCC Lions was the first team inNorthern Nigeria to win the Nigeria Challenge Cup (now known as theNigeria FA Cup) in 1989. The game was played atAbubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium,Bauchi, and the only goal of the match was scored by Aham Nwankwo.[3][4] The club went on to win the 1993, 1994, 1997 editions of the Challenge Cup as well.[5]
After winning the Challenge Cup, the next year the club won theMandela Cup as well in 1990.[6] During the early 1990s, BCC Lions were one of the dominant teams in the league, peaking withthe double in 1994.[7]
They were relegated from theNigerian Premier League in 1998 by two points, and were unable to regain their former glory. After spending six years in the lower division, they slowly lost their fan base and financial support. Despite a 2.5 millionnaira boost from Benue State governor George Akume in 2002 and another million from Guilder Brewing two years later, the team was disbanded, not even showing up for their 2004FA Cup first round game againstShooting Stars F.C. An attempt to resurrect the team began in November 2007.Dangote, also chairman of the BCC board, announced 110 million naira for the team to participate in the 2008/09 season. They were relegated after finishing 13th.[8]
CAF Cup Winners' Cup winners | |
|---|---|
| 1970s | |
| 1980s | |
| 1990s | |
| 2000s | |
