The TCC’s Mission to Inspire a Continent - An Interview With League Chairman, Bankole Atiba
Backed by vision and driven by results, the TCC is shaping tomorrow’s game today
On Friday, August 29th, the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos hosted the first edition of The Creative Championship Super Cup. It was a clash between Real Sapphire FC, champions of the 2024/25 league season, and Beyond Limits FA, who came in as the defending TCC Cup winners. Merveille Akinocho’s lone strike was enough to hand Beyond Limits the trophy, wrapping up an entertaining game that felt like the perfect curtain raiser for the 2025/26 campaign of Nigeria’s leading youth football competition.
Season 6 carries a little extra weight as it marks the start of a brand-new five-year chapter in the TCC’s journey. Cast your mind back five years, when TCC was founded. Months before that, the COVID-19 pandemic had hit, and life changed. The sports scene wasn’t spared. Leagues, tournaments, and even training sessions were suspended, leaving players, coaches, and fans stuck in limbo. Grassroots football got it even worse: youth development projects slowed to a crawl, community clubs struggled for survival, and many young talents had their progress put on hold.
Against the odds set by this pandemic, and determined to raise the bar for youth football development in the country, eight privately owned Nigerian clubs came together to launch the Creative Championship. Half a decade later, and with a growth from 8 to 12 teams, they’ve laid down a strong foundation. With a new season just days away, League Chairman Bankole Atiba looks back at the past five years and shares what’s to come in the next chapter.
“Picking just one doesn’t really do justice to how much the TCC has grown within itself, and how it has shaped the wider football ecosystem,” Bankole Atiba admits when asked what change over the past five years makes him the proudest. “But if I absolutely had to point to something, it would be how the TCC has gone from being just a Nigerian youth league to now being recognised globally as a real breeding ground for top talents – future world beaters, if you will. That reputation has even inspired new leagues to spring up, not just here in Nigeria, but across Africa, using the TCC as a yardstick.”
It’s easy to see what he means. Youth leagues have come and gone in the past, but the TCC has separated itself through its clear intent and consistent pursuit of excellence. Take this off-season, for example: the league renewed its partnership with Wyscout, a global leader in football analytics and a platform heavily relied on by scouts. There has also been a renewed partnership with Eyeball, a sports tech company with a special focus on youth development. The TCC has also struck a deal with Sofascore, the go-to hub for live scores, detailed stats, and comprehensive sports data.
These aren’t random partnerships; they are strategic moves aimed at positioning the league right where the global football community spends its time. “This is what we had in mind when we started the TCC,” Atiba reflects, “and it’s grown into something even bigger than we imagined.” Not one to rest on laurels, he adds, “However, we’re not stopping here. The goal is always to be bigger and better than we are today.”
Earlier this year, Sporting Lagos hit a milestone with their first international transfer as Mukhtar Adamu sealed a long-term move to Norwegian side Odds Ballklubb. Adamu, a regular standout in the TCC with several Man of the Match performances and a member of the 2023/24 Team of the Season, became the latest in a long list of TCC Ambassadors to earn a big move.
The TCC has always been about more than just competition – it’s a platform for growth and a springboard into bigger opportunities. Stories like Adamu’s inspire the next generation of players coming through, while, for the club owners, it is a clear sign the TCC is moving in the right direction as a viable business. Here are a few players who have graduated from the TCC:
Player | TCC Club | Current Club |
David Emmanuel | VOE Football Academy | Bayern Munich, Germany |
Hyacinth Okoro | Dino Sporting Club | Weserloo, Belgium |
Blessing Essien Edet | Dino Sporting Club | Caracas FC, Venezuela |
Ebenezer Akinsanmiro | Beyond Limits FA | Inter Milan, Italy (On loan at Pisa, Italy) |
Sholla Ogundana | Beyond Limits FA | Flamengo, Brazil |
Babatunde Akinsola | Valiant FC | Valladolid, Spain |
Olatunji Malik | Imperial FC | Sarpsborg 08, Norway |
Kayode Adebayo | Imperial FC | Real Murcia FC, Spain |
Mukhtar Adamu | Sporting Lagos Academy | Odds Ballklubb, Norway |
Seun Akanji | Sporting Lagos Academy | Lillestrom SK, Norway |
Solomon Agbalaka | Broad City FC | Sochi FC, Russia |
Abasi John | Dannaz FC | PAOK FC, Greece |
Victor Thomas Ude | Real Sapphire FC | FK Radnicki, Serbia |
Yusuf Omosanya Ibrahim | Real Sapphire FC | FK Radnicki, Serbia |
Mustapha Abiodun | Atlantic Business FC | IMT Belgrade, Serbia |
Ademola Akibu | Gbagada FC | Bylish FC, Albania |
Ubong Monday Richard | Iganmu Tiger FC | Vissel Kobe FC, Japan |
David Izuchukwu Lawrence | Iganmu Tiger FC | Tokushima Vortis FC, Japan |
While the TCC prides itself on shaping young players into future stars, it is also quietly building a reputation for developing coaches. A good example is Shola Adegun, who progressed from coaching Sporting Lagos Academy to its senior team and now, managing NPFL’s Plateau United. “It just shows that we’re living up to the objectives we set from the start,” Atiba explains. “Football development isn’t only about the players, it’s about putting the right structures in place that allow for the seamless and effective development of the game. That means investing in coaching education so that better coaches can produce better players, and also nurturing administrators who can raise the standard of operations. The level of professionalism you see in the TCC today is proof of that.”
“We want to be remembered as the league that forever changed and elevated every facet of football in the country.”
Collaboration has always been one of the cornerstones of the TCC’s success, but as the chairman admits, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Like any bold project, the league has faced its fair share of challenges. “The most difficult challenge is challenging the stereotype and setting out to change the system by doing things differently,” Bankole Atiba explains. “Each time we’ve tried to shake things up, the system fights back. But what keeps us going is the passion to make a real difference, and the collective drive to stick to the vision we set from the very beginning.”
For the first time in the league’s history, matches will be spread across five venues: Remo Stars Stadium, Legacy Pitch, Imperial Stadium, Dipo-Dina International Stadium, and the MKO Abiola International Stadium. Then, in 2026, the top four teams from the league campaign will head to Abuja for the second edition of the TCC Elite Cup. “It’s the power of collaboration,” Atiba says about the league’s steady growth despite the harsh economic realities. “When people with the same vision come together and combine their strengths, you get results like this – the giant strides we’ve made as a league. It’s about doing things differently, challenging ourselves, and drawing from the unique expertise of every member. That’s what keeps pushing the TCC forward.”
Bankole Atiba puts it simply: the TCC wants “to be remembered as the league that forever changed and elevated every facet of football in the country.” It’s a bold statement, but one that feels earned when you look back at what’s been achieved in just five years. Looking ahead, Atiba lays out the vision for the next cycle: expanding into more regions and states, getting TCC matches on TV, launching a fully staffed TCC TV station, and building synergy with other West African countries to replicate the model and eventually grow it into an African Championship.
While the dream of a TCC African Championship is something every football fan would love to see, the league’s next big project is already around the corner. Plans are well underway for a TCC U15 league, which is set to officially launch within the next six months. “We are about development, sustainability, and eventually profitability, and none of that happens if we don’t start working with players from a young age,” he explains. “The U15 league is part of our bigger vision to reshape football development, not just in Nigeria but across Africa, in line with FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme. The long-term goal is for every TCC club to have multiple age-group teams, starting from U13 and U15, and building upward from there. The future of the game lies in giving kids the right football education at the foundation level, because that’s the base we can build everything else on.”
With every kick, the TCC is rewriting what’s possible, turning vision into legacy and passion into progress. The TCC is not just building a league; it’s building a movement that proves the future of African football starts here, and starts now. Welcome to Season 6.