Lobi Stars players, owner, stadium, coach, trophies, world rankings

Lobi Stars players, owner, stadium, coach, trophies, world rankings

Kevin Omuya
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:55 PM

Some Nigerian football clubs have distinct ownerships from the state government to private corporations because of insufficient funds. Lobi Stars Football Club is a Nigerian professional soccer club situated in Makurdi, Benue, founded in 1981 by the sports council. The club has metamorphosed into different clubs, changing its name to fit its owners. Let's find out more about Lobi Stars players, achievements, stadium, rankings, owner, and their net worth.

Lobi Stars players
Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

The team was formerly known as Mosquito Football Club, Lobi Bank, BBL Hawks, and Hawks due to many different owners who acquired the club. Some of Nigeria's best-known footballers are Lobi Stars legends, for example, former best Super Eagle defender Taiye Taiwo and winger the late Barnabas Imenger.

Lobi Stars profile summary

  • Full name: Lobi Stars Football Club
  • Nickname: Ortom boys
  • Founded: 1981
  • Managed by: Government of Benue State
  • Colours: Yellow, Blue, Black, and Red.
  • Federation: CAF
  • Coach: Eddy Dombaye
  • Captain: Atsaka Daniel
  • Most caps: Samuel Mathias (6)
  • Top Scorer: Samuel Mathias (12 goals)
  • Current FIFA ranking: Not ranked (as of December 2021)
  • Highest Ranking: 547 ( as of 2019)
  • All-time Ranking: 1161 (2018-2019)
  • Stadiums: Aper Aku Stadium
  • Twitter account: @LobiStars
  • Instagram account: @lobistarsfc
  • Net worth: $450,000

Lobi stars football club history

Former Benue State soccer clubs Lobi Stars and Benue United merged to form the current team. Although the team was formerly known as the Hawks of Makurdi, Benue Breweries Limited acquired possession of the team in 1985 and renamed it BBL FC to match its new owner's identity. In 1990 the Ortom boys management changed their name to Lobi Stars after transferring ownership to the government-owned Lobi Bank.

Lobi stars football club stadium

Lobi Stars players
Lobi Stars Fc, in training now at Aper-Aku Stadium Ahead Of NPFL MD 38 Game Away To. Fc Ifeanyi Ubah Stadium on September 7, 2017. Photo: @LobiStarsFC
Source: Twitter

Nigeria's Makurdi's Aper Aku Stadium is a multi-purpose facility named after Aper Aku, the governor of the Second Republic. He was the driving force behind the construction of the stadium.

It is mainly used for football matches and is the team's home ground, a professional soccer team. The stadium at Aper Aku can hold 15,000 spectators. It had a significant renovation for the 2007 Nigerian FA Cup finals.

Who are the current Lobi Stars coach and captain?

Here is the profile summary of the team's captain, Solomon Sesugh Kwambe. Solomon made his debut for Nigeria vs Niger in a friendly game in 2012.

Solomon Kwambe profile summary

  • Full name: Solomon Sesugh Kwambe
  • Date of birth: September 30, 1993
  • Age: 28 (as of 2022)
  • Place of birth: Benue State, Nigeria
  • Height in inches: 6'5"
  • Height in centimetres: 194
  • Position(s): Defender
  • Current team: FC Tusla
  • Net worth: $1.5 Million

Have a look at the profile of the current club's coach, Eddy Lord Dombraye.

Eddy Lord Dombraye profile summary

Eddy debuted for the Nigerian main national team entering as a substitute in a 1998 African Cup of Nations qualification game against Burkina Faso.

  • Full name: Eddy Lord Dombraye
  • Date of birth: November 11, 1979
  • Age: 42 years old (as of 2022)
  • Place of birth: Port Harcourt
  • Nationality: Nigerian
  • Height in inches: 6'7"
  • Net worth: $1 Million- $5 Million

Lobi Stars FC squad

Lobi Stars players, owner, stadium, coach, trophies, world rankings
Lobi Stars' players pose before the CAF Champions League football match between ASEC Mimosas at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan on January 19, 2019. Photo: ISSOUF SANOGO
Source: Getty Images

Goalkeeper

  • Stanley Nwabili
  • Daniel Atsaka
  • James Faith
  • Olufemi Kayode
  • Nnamdi Egbujor
  • Osimaga Duke
  • Mustapha Aliko
  • Mathias Samuel
  • Aniyikaye Adeleye
  • Moses Tsehuan
  • Sikiru Alimi
  • Ossy Martins
  • Douglas Archiv
  • Mahmoud Abdul Waheed
  • John Bello

Defenders

  • Mohammed Sani Rabiu
  • Ekene Nero Olisema
  • Chigozie Chilekwu
  • Nnamdi Mejuob
  • Chidiebube Gideon Duru
  • John Lazarus
  • Aliu Olasunkanmi Salawudeen

Midfielders

  • Otakho Alex Aghahowa
  • Oluwadamilare Moses Ojo
  • Cletus Itodo
  • Monday Akile
  • Samuel Tiza Iorwuese
  • Abiodun Kayode
  • Solomon Agaigbe
  • Chinonso Okonkwo

Strikers

  • Abu Azeez
  • Abdulkareem Mumuni
  • Sanney Geleya Carlos
  • Najeem Olaitan Olukokun
  • Ezekiel Mbah
  • Austine Ogunye

Lobi Stars football club achievements

The team led by Godwin Koko Uwua won the first edition of the Nigerian Super League. The Ortom Boys defeated Port-Sharks Harcourt's FC in the FA Cup final in 2003, achieving its lone FA Cup victory. In 2005, they made it to the domestic FA Cup finals before losing to Enyimba.

Lobi Stars players
ASEC's Hamed (R) vies with Stars' Mathias during the CAF CL Group A football match between ASEC Mimosas and Lobi Stars FC at Boigny Stadium in Abidjan on January 19, 2019. Photo: ISSOUF SANOGO
Source: Getty Images

Lobi Stars football club trophies

The team has been declared champions in many different competitions. Here is a list of their trophies:

  • Nigeria Professional Football League 1999
  • Nigeria FA Cup 2003
  • Nigeria Super Cup 1999, 2018

Lobi Stars owner

The Ortom Boys team is one of the first teams granted the license to participate in the Nigeria Professional Football League(NPFL). Even though the club has metamorphosed, it finally returned to the state and was renamed Lobi Stars football club. However, the Benue state government decided to stop supporting the club, therefore leasing it to private ownership.

Lobi Stars social media platforms

In terms of social media, are the Lobi Stars' social media accounts in sync? Yes, they are. The Lobi Stars' Instagram handle for the team is @lobistarsfc. Although not official, the page has 1.5k followers at the time of writing.

According to their Facebook page, as of February 2022, they have more than 4784 followers. In addition, the team has a Twitter account called @LobiStars, which has 33.3k followers and 6.5k tweets on the network.

Lobi Stars world ranking

The Ortom boys do not fare well in their respective major cup tournaments, so FIFA is poorly ranked. They are now rated 163rd globally, 55th in Africa, and 7th in the country.

Lobi Stars net worth

Having a 15,000-seat Aper Aku stadium, it is one of Nigeria's most prominent clubs in the professional league. The Nigerian club, Lobi Stars, ranks 4th on our list of Nigeria's richest football teams. The team's net worth is estimated to be $172,000.

As part of the help provided by the Gombe Sports Commission and Governor Inuwa Ihaya, Lobi elite players have been able to regain their self-confidence. They are currently at position 13 out of the 20 teams in the Nigerian Premier League.

Despite Lobi Stars players running into a dead-end in their quest for a premier league debut, and in the major tournaments, they have received motivations to recoup the team. Governor Inuwa Ihaya of Gombe state has lent his support to Lobi Star players to help them recover their form.

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Authors
Kevin Omuya photo
Kevin Omuya
Kevin Omuya is a Content Writer with 4 years of experience who joined Sports Brief in 2022. In 2019 he held a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Digital Media from KCA University.