Aigle Royal

Léandre Tawamba made his name as a striker before returning to Aigle Royal de la Menoua as the club's Second Vice-President. The town, capital of the Menoua region in Cameroon's West Region, has watched the club play under the nickname El Pacha since 1932.

None of that history has produced a title. The closest the club came in the league was a runner-up finish in the 2004/2005 Elite One season, and the Coupe du Cameroun has been crueller still: four finals, in 1947, 1958, 2008 and 2024, and four defeats. Cameroonian reporters have taken to calling the club maudit — cursed — in the competition.

The team plays in black and yellow at the Stade Municipal, known locally as the CENAJES ground, in front of a capacity of 5,000. Relegation to Elite Two came in 2024, but the club won promotion straight back and is now set to appear in the CAF Confederation Cup. Among the players who passed through before moving abroad was Alim Moundi, who left for Finland after starting out at the club.

What keeps Aigle Royal in the conversation is less any single trophy than the fact that it was already competing in Cameroonian football before most of the country's current clubs existed.