Sporting Lagos got their first taste of silverware in the south-West derby, but an even more fiery derby awaits in the future.
Newly promoted Lagos club side, Sporting Lagos, are set to welcome a new rival club in the state in Inter Lagos, Soccernet.ng reports.
Sporting Lagos have enjoyed an unconventional ride to playing in the Nigerian Professional Football League. The club was founded in 2022, gaining promotion to the Nigerian top-flight a year later.
They enjoyed further success as they swept NPFL defending Champions, Enyimba, to the side, and defeated their South-West rival, Remo-Stars to win the maiden edition of the Naija Super 8 tournament. With the noisy Lagosians as a model, Inter Lagos was born.
This new Lagos club is under the tutelage and investment of several veterans in Nigerian football. The club has a vision to give the average Nigerian kid a right to dream and a path to success with the gift of football.
With Nigerian stars like Kelechi Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi, Frank Onyeka, and Victor Osimhen proudly putting Nigeria on the international stage, Inter Lagos wants to give the Nigerian populace a chance to develop with them as a club, with both parties mutually achieving their dreams.
In a video released by the club, one of their co-founders, Lanre Vigo that the creation of the club was to give back to the society.
“Lagos has always been our home, our heartbeat. We grew up with football in our blood, and we knew it was time to give back to the society.” he said.
Speaking further, he explained the decision and what drove him to create a club in the largest West-African city.
“Our journey to establish Inter Lagos was a dream rooted in culture and identity. We wanted to create a football club that Lagosians could call their own, a club that reflects our City’s spirit and diversity,” He added.
For him, the love of the game comes first, and in a diverse country with separate interests like Nigeria, football is a unifier.
“Today, Inter Lagos is more than just a club. It is a source of pride. It is a place where young talent can find their footing and fans can come together to celebrate our shared love of football.”
Inter Lagos will start their journey to the top in Nigeria’s second-tier football league, the NNL, and will be ready to put a rivalry between them and Sporting Lagos, just like AC Milan and Inter Milan in Italy.