Enugu Rangers

Enugu Rangers gave it up in 2009, when renovation work began ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup that year, and spent the interval playing home fixtures away in Abakaliki, Nnewi and Awka. The ground, with its 22,000 seats, did not take the club back in until December 2023.

Rangers formed on 20 January 1970, in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War, and have not left Nigeria's top flight since — the only club in the country that can say so. The badge carries an antelope in flight, which gave the club its nickname, the Flying Antelopes, and its early years were the ones that built the honours list: the 1977 African Cup Winners' Cup. What followed was a long wait. The next league title did not come until 2016, thirty-four years on, sealed with a 4-0 win over El-Kanemi Warriors on the final day. Titles in 2024 and 2026 have followed since, the latter confirmed on 24 May 2026 against Ikorodu City.

Cup football has its own rules, and the 2018 FA Cup final proved it: Rangers went 3-0 down to Kano Pillars, drew it back to 3-3 with a diving header in the last minute, and won it on penalties. It ended a losing run in cup finals stretching back to 1987. Fixtures against Enyimba FC are known as the Oriental Derby, the South East's own rivalry.