Nigerian club Rivers United FC makes pre-season trip to Spain

Rivers United FC, the newly-crowned Nigerian Super4 winners, have landed in Spain to continue their preparations for the start of the new NPFL league season. The side will train at Villarreal CF’s sports city and play two friendlies there during their stay, starting out with a match against combined Villarreal academy XI on Wednesday. Next Monday they will play CD Roda.

Port Harcourt-based Rivers United FC are only a year old after two clubs, Sharks FC and Dolphins FC, merged, and in their first campaign they went on to finish second in the Nigerian top flight. That earned them a place in the new CAF Champions League campaign, and in the Nigerian Super4, the pre-season tournament played between the top four finishers. Rivers United lifted the Super4 trophy on Sunday. The new NPFL season starts later this month.

LaLiga signed a five-year co-operative agreement with the League Management Company of the NPFL back in April, and set their first objectives as being to work together on sporting, administrative, commercial and marketing issues, as well as exchanges between clubs. LaLiga opened an office in Nigeria in July as part of its international expansion plans and in August an NPFL All-Stars team travelled to Spain to train and play a series of friendlies.