Erstwhile coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Finidi George has joined Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) side Rivers United as their new head coach, www.aclsports.com reports.
Finidi, 53, resigned from the employ of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) last month and will now take the reins in Port Harcourt, replacing longest serving Stanley Eguma who was dismissed during the course of last term.
In a brief press briefing held at the Conference Room of the Real Madrid Academy, Elekahia, Port Harcourt on Wednesday evening, Finidi put pen to paper on a two-year deal, in the presence of Club’s chairman Okechukwu Kpalukwu and Club’s Secretary Ahmed Abdulrahman, himself an accomplished former footballer.
During his playing days, Finidi George was a celebrated player of defunct Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt and so this serves as some sort of homecoming for the Port Harcourt Boy. His unveiling to fans of the club has been fixed for 2pm local time at his old stomping ground, Sharks Football Stadium on Thursday.
“I am honoured to have this opportunity and I thank the Sports Commissioner, the General Manager, and the supporters for their confidence in me. I am committed to working hard and making the team win,” said Finidi after the contract signing ceremony.
The former Ajax Amsterdam winger joins Rivers United after three successful seasons at Nigeria’s biggest club Enyimba International FC during which he won the league for the club in 2023. Finidi is expected to reunite with some of the players he is familiar with from his time at Enyimba including winger Sadiq Adamu Abubakar.
The target for Finidi George is to at least return the club to the top echelon of Nigerian football after they finished a lowly (by their lofty standards) eighth position last term. He is expected to work with a set of assistants different from the ones he worked with at Enyimba.
