INFLUENCE OF SUPPORTIVE SPECTATORS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CLUBS AT NIGERIA PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

AYO Hammed Abdulrahaman, Ph.D

Abstract

The study examined the influence of supportive spectators’ on the performance of clubs at Nigeria professional football league. The research questions and hypotheses were formulated in line with the research objectives. Descriptive survey research design was used and the population of the study comprised of ninety thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven (90,237) spectators at professional football league matches in Nigeria. Sample sizes of 675 respondents were selected using multistage sampling technique. A self-developed questionnaire on the influence of supportive spectators on the performance of Nigeria professional football league clubs was used. The instrument was pilot tested using Pearson’s Product Moment correlation (PPMC) statistical analysis that yielded 0.824 which showed that the instrument was reliable. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the demographic characteristics of the respondents, mean and Standard Deviation was used to answer the research questions, while one sample t-test was used to test the research hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that Supportive spectators significantly and positively had influence on performance of Nigeria Professional Football League clubs. The study recommended among others that Football players should always be given orientation on the need to adopt all necessary strategies during competitions at the Nigeria Professional Football League and finally Club managers are recommended to engage the services of trained stewards to organize and maintain orderliness of supportive spectators during football matches.