Heartland Miss NPFL Promotion as Amuneke reflects on the season

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By Silvernews

Heartland FC have failed to secure promotion to the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), with technical director Emmanuel Amuneke admitting that a poor first stanza of the 2025/2026 Nigeria National League (NNL) season has proved costly.

Naze Millionaires finished third in the table with 27 points, despite finishing their season on a high with a hard-earned 1-0 win over Crown FC Ogbomoso on 11 April 2026.

The decisive moment came at the end of the match, when Jonathan Osondu scored in the 82nd minute to give the three points.

Reflecting on the campaign, Amuneke acknowledged that his team missed a crucial opportunity to return to the elite league, highlighting their inefficiency in front of goal during the early part of the season.
“We missed the opportunity to secure promotion based on our first-half performance,” Amuneke said.

“We created many opportunities but were unable to materialize them. It’s something we need to improve to move forward.”

Despite the setback, the former international expressed appreciation to the club’s fans for their unwavering support throughout the season, stressing that their encouragement remained vital even during difficult times.

“I really thank our fans. Football is not predictable, but we are following a process to achieve our goals soon,” he added.

Amuneke, however, took positives from the team’s resurgence in the second stanza, expressing optimism that the lessons learned would strengthen the team ahead of future campaigns.