Champions End Five-Month Exile in Abeokuta as Renovated Stadium Reopens.

Remo Stars Ikenne return NPFL 2026

Reigning Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions Remo Stars are finally heading home. The Sky Blue Stars will play their first match at the renovated Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne on January 7, 2026, hosting Ikorodu City in Matchday 20, ending a five-month spell at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta.

Club chairman Kunle Soname confirmed the pitch renovation, including replacement of the five-year-old hybrid synthetic turf, has been completed and certified by a FIFA inspection team. “Our first game will be against Ikorodu City when the second stanza resumes,” Soname told Sportblits.com.

Opened in 2020, the Ikenne venue hosted Remo Stars’ remarkable title-winning campaign last season (71 points, seven clear of Rivers United). This term, however, the temporary move to Abeokuta coincided with inconsistency: just 22 points from 19 matches, placing them 16th with defeats to Rangers and Bendel Insurance on “home” soil.

Head coach Daniel Ogunmodede (currently with the Super Eagles at AFCON 2025) previously noted: “It is not an excuse, but things might have been different if we had played our home games in Ikenne.”

The return also follows CAF Champions League disappointment (eliminated by Mamelodi Sundowns 7-1 aggregate). With the NPFL resuming mid-January after the mid-season break, fans hope the familiar turf ignites a second-half surge.