2022/2023 NPFL: Wikki Tourists, we are preparing, says Club’s Team Manager

Yakubu Yankari, the Team Manager, Wikki Tourists Football Club, Bauchi on Friday said his club was prepared for the 2022/2023 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.

Yankari spoke on the sideline of the ongoing 2022 Unity Preseason Tournament in Abuja on Friday.

He told newsmen that preparations were ongoing to ensure that the team was 100 per cent ready before the commencement of the league season.

“In terms of our preparation, we are in top gear and on a scale of one to 100, I will say we are about 75 per cent ready for the new season.

“So, we still have about 25 per cent of work to do before the commencement of the league.

“We are aware, according to a reliable source that the league will soon commence around mid-November and that is why we are here in Abuja to test our new signings ahead of the new season.

“This is why we had more of the new players in this tournament to test their capabilities as some of the old players in the team hves left us,’’ he said.

NAN also reports that Wikki Tourists crashed out of the group stage of the competition after finishing third with three points, only ahead of bottom-placed Doma United FC Gombe in Group D.

Table-toppers, Manahaim FC of Abuja with five points and Runners up EFCC FC with three points, albeit with a superior goal difference progressed to the quarter-finals from the group.

The Wikkki Tourists team manager noted that a total of 12 new players had been signed by the club to beef the squad ahead of the new league season.

“We have lost six of our players to other rival clubs like Doma United FC Kwara, Akwa United, Plateau United and 3SC of Ibadan.

“We also on our part have signed a total of 12 players, one from Kwara United, three from Plateau United as well as young players from other junior teams.

“As a club, we believe more in the agility of the youth and a little blend of experience and that’s why a larger percentage of our signings are basically young and agile players,’’ he said.

In terms of the readiness of the club ground for the new season, Yankari said the club had one of the best pitches in the country.

According to him, there is however, little repairs to the stadium facilities still left to be done before the commencement of the season.

“Our synthetic pitch at the Abubakar Tafa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi is in very good shape and it also has an excellent lighting system.

“However, the league officials who recently came to inspect our stadium facilities complained about the dilapidated nature of our reserve bench, the stadium fencing, clinic and the lightening system in our dressing rooms.

“So, these are the few things we are already working on to ensure the facilities are up to standard on or before mid-November,’’ he said.

On the issue of club lincencing, he said the club had achieved about 95 per cent success, adding that all that was left was the tiding up of the players’ insurance package.

According to him, the club is also looking to improve the welfare package of the players in order to motivate them to work harder and achieve something great for the club this season.

He also hailed Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State as well as Balarebe Yusuf, the chairman of the Club for their support and commitment to the success of the club.

“We want to appreciate our able governor who has been doing everything possible to ensure that the activities at the club have been going on without hitches.

“My boss also who is the youngest chairman in the NPFL has been fantastic and always goes out of his way to ensure that both the players and officials are well taken care of.

“He is a promising young man who always aspires to be the best at what he does and has the interest of the club at heart,’’ he said.

On the team’s target for the new season, he said the club was working toward kicking off its campaign in the league on a bright note and picking up a continental slot at the end of the season.

“Our team target this season God willing is to have a continental ticket.

“This was exactly what Kabiru Dogo, our new Technical Adviser promised the governor when he signed last season.

“He told him that he will study the team in the first year and then work on picking a continental ticket in the second year.

“We faced a lot of challenges last season, most especially with the bad roads and insecurity with regards to our away trips which are usually very hectic and take us up to 15 to 20 hours.

“Also recall that our club bus got burnt last season on our way to Akwa Ibom to face Akwa United.

“But we are very grateful to our governor for being magnanimous enough to purchase two new buses for our players and technical officials which has gone a long way to cushion the effect of all challenges encountered,’’ he said.

NAN also reports that Wikki Tourists had its best season in more than a decade in 2021, after finishing 10th with 52 points at the end of the 2021/2022 NPFL season.