A Nigerian businesswoman and entreprenuer, Nneka Ede has made history after becoming the first African woman to possess a club in Europe following her acquisition of Portuguese club, Lusitano Ginásio Clube, Futebol, SAD.

The club on Thursday confirmed the news. Lusitano competes in the Campeonato de Portugal, the third division of Portugal’s football pyramid and Mrs Ede took over ownership of the 108-year-old club in June 2020. She said:

Nigerian Becomes First African Woman to own European Club
“I am excited about this opportunity and i hope that this new chapter will deepen the already great sporting relations between Nigeria and Portugal, continue with the rich history of Lusitano club and provide a pathway for young talent to develop and shine through.” a press release from the club said:“After months of negotiations with different entities, an agreement has been reached with Mrs Nneka Ede, a sports enthusiast and entrepreneur from Nigeria, a country filled with people as passionate and fiery about football as us and which incidentally share the same green and white in their flags, towards the transfer of the ownership of the SAD to the latter that will help us in our mission to take Lusitano to the next level.”

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Mrs Ede becomes the second Nigerian to buy a Portuguese club after businessman Kunle Soname bought Clube Desportivo Feirense in 2015. Founded on November 11, 1911 by a group of highschool and commercial school youngsters, Lusitano – derived from Lusitania, the Roman name for the province like the present territory of Portugal south of the Douro river and to the modern-day Spanish region of Extremadura – competed in Portugal’s topflight for the first time in the 1952–53 season winding up 7th.

The club enjoyed a comparatively successful period in the 1950s and 1960s and spent 14 consecutive seasons in the Primeira Divisão earning a powerful 5th place in 1956/57, and reaching the semi-finals of the Taça de Portugal twice. They were relegated in 1966 and have not competed in Portugal’s top flight ever since but they hold a proud record of being in the top 30 of teams with the foremost presences in the Portuguese topflight.

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