Shooting Stars Sports Club (often nicknamed 3SC or Oluyole Warriors) is a Nigerian professional football club based in Ibadan, in south-western Nigeria.

Shooting Stars SC
Shooting Stars SC logo
Full nameShooting Stars Sports Club (3SC)
Nickname(s)Oluyole Warriors
Founded1950s (As WNDC Ibadan)
GroundLekan Salami Stadium
Capacity10,000
ChairmanHon. Babatunde Olaniyan
ManagerGbenga Ogunbote
LeagueNigeria Professional Football League
2023-244th

History

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The club was one of the founders of the Nigerian Premier League in 1972, when they were called WNDC Ibadan (Western Nigeria Development Company), and were later called IICC (Industrial Investment and Credit Corporation) Shooting Stars of Ibadan.[1]

Their nickname "Shooting Stars" was added on the suggestion of the team's founding members, the late Jide Johnson and Niyi Omowon the "Aare Odan Liberty" (Generalissimo of Liberty Stadium) who believed that the players were "stars" in their own right.[2]

Shooting Stars is one of the most followed football clubs in Nigeria. They play their home matches at the Lekan Salami Stadium. The stadium was named after one of the prominent supporters of the club who is now deceased. "Sooting", as it is called by its supporters, earlier used to play at the famous Liberty Stadium, one of the venues for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Shooting Stars is the first club to win the FA Cup on club basis in Nigeria in 1971, when players like Aderoju Omowon, Niyi Akande, Jossy Lad, Amusa Adisa were prominent in the squad.[3] Shooting Stars is one of the most decorated club sides in Nigeria alongside Enyimba Enugu Rangers and the defunct Stationery Stores of Lagos though they have failed to win any major trophy since 1998. In fact, Shooting Stars and Enugu Rangers[4] are known as the traditional football clubs in the country, both dominating the football scene in the country during the 1970s and 1980s.

Shooting Stars have played and won many matches against top club sides in Africa. 3SC won the first edition of CAF Cup, defeating the Nakivubo Villa of Uganda 3–0 in the finals at the Lekan Salami stadium after the first leg ended goalless. They won the African Cup Winners' Cup in 1976,[5] becoming the first Nigerian clubside to win an international trophy.[6]

They ended their 2004–05 season in fifth place in the Premier League. After the introduction of a strange double-league format by the Nigerian Football Association, Shooting Stars got relegated to the lower division in 2006, but won promotion in 2009 after finishing second in the Division 1B. They were relegated back on the last day of the 2017 NPFL season. Head Coach Edith Agoye and the rest of the 3SC Management board resigned in July 2019 after they lost a promotion playoff to Akwa Starlets.[7]

Many well-known international stars have played for Shooting Stars in the past, including former African footballer of the year Rashidi Yekini, "the mathematical" Segun Odegbami and so on.[8] Notable players include Rashidi Yekini, Segun Odegbami, Felix Owolabi, Niyi Akande, Taiwo Ogunjobi, Duke Udi, Olumide Harris, Golden Ajeboh, Ajibade Babalade, Ademola Johnson, and Jude Axelsson.[9]

Crest

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Honours

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Performance in CAF competitions

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1972 – Second Round
1981 – Second Round
1984 – Runners-up
1996 – Runners-up
1999 – Group stage
1992 – Champion
1993 – First Round
1995 – Second Round
1976 – Champion
1977 – Semi-finals
1978 – First Round
1980 – Quarter-finals

Notable coaches

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Notable players

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References

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  1. ^ "BBC SPORT – Football – African – Living for 'Shooting'". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  2. ^ "About Ministry – Oyo State Government MDA". Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  3. ^ "'I locked up dead body of my daughter in a room and escaped". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2021-01-07. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  4. ^ Omachonu, Kelvin (2024-06-16). "NPFL: Flying Enugu Rangers claim eighth league title". Soccernet.ng. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  5. ^ "Shooting Stars have no reason to fail promotion bid, says Balogun". guardian.ng. Archived from the original on 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  6. ^ "African Club Competitions 1976". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Shooting Stars top officials resign". Archived from the original on 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  8. ^ "3SC History". shootingstarssc.com. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Where are they now – The history making 1976 shooting stars squad?". guardian.ng. Archived from the original on 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
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