Shooting Stars are heading to the CAF Confederation Cup for the first time since 1999, and the man who made it happen wants the credit to go everywhere except to himself.
Shooting Stars technical adviser Nurudeen Aweroro has spoken of his profound gratitude following the club’s qualification for the 2026/27 CAF Confederation Cup, ending a 27 year absence from continental club football. The Oluyole Warriors finished third in the 2025/26 NPFL season despite losing 1-0 to Niger Tornadoes on the final day of the campaign, with their third-place position holding firm across simultaneous results elsewhere. The achievement completes back to back seasons of progress under Aweroro, who guided the Ibadan side to fourth place in his debut campaign last term. Fans wanting to follow 3SC in the CAF Confederation Cup next season can start tracking the competition with the Bet9ja’s YOHAIG code before the draw for the preliminary rounds is confirmed.
“To God be all the praise, He made this possible, I’m deeply humbled to lead this group,” Aweroro said in a message addressed to the club’s management, playing squad and supporters. He was careful throughout his statement to redirect the attention away from his own role and toward the players and backroom staff. “If I’m honest, my role was small. The heart, sweat, and sacrifice came from the players who gave everything, and the staff who worked day and night out of sight. Media and fans, I’m begging you, celebrate these boys and the backroom team more. They deserve every cheer, every headline.”
27 Years Is a Long Time to Wait
The last time Shooting Stars competed in African club football was the 1998/99 season. At that point the CAF competition structure was different, with the African Cup Winners’ Cup and the CAF Cup running alongside the Champions Cup, and 3SC were among Nigeria’s representatives in one of those secondary competitions. The club that lines up in the Confederation Cup next season will do so in a different era of the game, with streaming coverage, structured prize money and proper travel logistics that were entirely absent from the late 1990s version of CAF club football.
The 27 year gap is not simply a measure of absence. It tells the story of a club that has spent most of the past two and a half decades rebuilding, relegation fighting, and searching for the kind of coherent long-term project that can turn historical prestige into present day results. Shooting Stars are one of Nigerian football’s most decorated clubs, with multiple NPFL titles and an African club championship on their record. Getting back to CAF competition does not restore those trophies, but it confirms the club is moving in a direction that makes them relevant again beyond the western zone of the NPFL. Supporters of Nigerian clubs in CAF competition can monitor draws, opponents and fixtures through the Bet9ja Nigerian football markets as the continental calendar takes shape for 2026/27.
Aweroro’s Coaching Journey to This Point
Nurudeen Aweroro is one of the younger head coaches in the NPFL, and his rise has been swift. He joined Ikorodu City before taking charge at Shooting Stars last summer, where his first season produced a fourth place finish that was itself a significant improvement on where the club had been in the table. A third place finish and continental qualification in his second season cements his status as one of the most promising tacticians in Nigerian football right now.
His statement also singled out chairman Taiwo Lekan-Salami for thanks, acknowledging the backing that allowed the project to take shape across two consecutive seasons. The relationship between a head coach and club chairman is often cited as the single biggest factor in whether a Nigerian club can sustain progress across multiple seasons. The evidence from Ibadan suggests that relationship has worked well enough to produce the kind of consistency that continental football requires. New supporters who want to follow 3SC’s Confederation Cup run from the very first match can use the Bet9ja YOHAIG welcome bonus to set up their account before the 2026/27 continental season begins.
What the CAF Confederation Cup Holds
Shooting Stars will enter the Confederation Cup at the preliminary round stage, where Nigerian third placed sides typically face opposition from smaller CAF member associations before the group stage proper. The competition has grown in prestige and prize value since its restructuring, and for a club with 3SC’s history and the backing of Oyo State’s football infrastructure, there is no reason to treat it as a formality. The supporters who have waited 27 years for this moment are unlikely to accept a two legged preliminary exit as adequate return on that patience.
📌 Did You Know?
- Shooting Stars Sports Club, commonly known as 3SC, were founded in 1952 in Ibadan, making them one of the oldest football clubs in Nigeria. They were established as a works team for the Western Region government and have been based at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan throughout their history.
- Shooting Stars won the African Cup Winners’ Cup in 1976, becoming the first Nigerian club to win a continental club trophy. That victory, achieved under coach Honest Ijale, remains the high point of the club’s international history and one of the most celebrated moments in Nigerian football.
- 3SC have won the Nigerian league title five times across their history, most recently in 1988. Their last national championship came in an era when the NPFL was still structured differently, and returning the club to league title contention alongside CAF competition remains the long-term ambition of the current administration.
- Nurudeen Aweroro was appointed Shooting Stars head coach in the summer of 2025 after a stint at Ikorodu City. His previous role at Ikorodu, a club that has risen rapidly through Nigerian football in recent years, gave him experience of building momentum at a smaller club before taking on the weight of Shooting Stars’ historical expectations.
- The Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan, Shooting Stars’ home ground, was named after the current chairman’s family. Taiwo Lekan-Salami, who bankrolled the recent rebuilding of the club, is the son of the stadium’s original benefactor, creating an unusual generational link between the club’s current administration and its physical home.
- Niger Tornadoes, the side who beat Shooting Stars 1-0 on the final day of the 2025/26 season, are based in Minna, Niger State. The result ended 3SC’s perfect final-day hopes but could not dislodge them from third place, as results elsewhere held in their favour. Niger Tornadoes have a long rivalry with 3SC dating back to the 1980s era of northern-versus-southern Nigerian club football battles.
- The CAF Confederation Cup, which 3SC will enter in 2026/27, was rebranded and restructured by the Confederation of African Football in 2021. The competition now runs a proper group stage before knockout rounds and offers prize money of up to three million US dollars for the winner, making it a financially meaningful tournament for Nigerian clubs in a way that the earlier versions of the competition were not.
