Former Super Eagles Coach, Christian Chukwu, on Wednesday urged fans of relegated Heartland FC of Owerri to rally round to lift the club to regain promotion to Nigeria’s top flight football.
Chukwu, a former interim coach of the club, speaking in Enugu said the relegation from the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) after the 2015/2016 season was disheartening.
Heartland finished the season on the 18th position on the log with 43 points after 36 matches.
He said the club had not been relegated since 1976 when it was admitted to the NPFL, adding that something must have been fundamentally wrong for “a striving and notable club to go down this way’’.
“I have been in Heartland and I know the players are hardworking and determined in their pursuit.
“However, it is disheartening to see a club that has continued to do well all seasons and even represented Nigeria in many continental tournaments to be relegated,’’ he said.
Chukwu urged well-wishers of the club to rally round to bring it back to its feet.
“I am also appealing to the Imo State Government to intervene and pull back the club to the NPFL,’’ he said.
Reacting, Chidi Offor-Okenwa, Chairman of Enugu State Football Association said the relegation was so sudden that many people did not notice the club’s slide to the lower league on time.
“However, the people of the South-East have a consolation in Rangers International FC that won the NPFL after 32 years of waiting,’’ he said.
Heartland is one of the clubs, just like Rangers, that has never been relegated throughout its stay in the NPFL.
It has won the NPFL four times and Nigeria Federation (FA) Cup three times.
The club, which was founded in 1976, had represented the country severally at the continental level.
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