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24th Aug 2015

A Nigerian team that dwarfed Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ record have finally been beaten…

How did they go this long without defeat?

Kevin Beirne

It’s a cliche often trotted out by managers when discussing their team’s chances for the season ahead: you have to make your home ground a fortress.

Nigerian Premier League club Kano Pillars really took this to the next level as they stayed unbeaten at home for a ridiculous amount of time before finally falling to a 2-1 defeat against Nasarawa United.

So how long was it since an away team won at the Sani Abacha stadium? Two years? Five years? Ten years? Kano Pillars were invincible at home for an outstanding 12 years – or 202 games.

That means their invincible run began before Arsenal’s infamous 2003/04 season – when David O’Leary was just starting at Aston Villa and Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City finished two places off the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” was number one in the UK charts at the time…