Two Relegated Teams Produced NPFL Best Goalscorers

The 2025/26 NPFL Golden Boot winner played for the team that finished bottom of the league.

The player who tied him for the most goals also ended the season in the relegation zone.

That was exactly what happened.

Jonathan Mairiga of Wikki Tourists, Victor Mbaoma of Remo Stars and Godwin Obaje of Rangers all finished the season with 14 league goals. It was one of the closest Golden Boot races in recent NPFL history.

Mairiga won the award because all 14 of his goals came from open play. Mbaoma and Obaje both scored one penalty, giving Mairiga the edge under the NPFL's tie-break rules.

But that was not the biggest story.

The biggest shock was where those goals came from.

Mairiga scored 14 goals for Wikki Tourists, yet the club finished bottom and were relegated.

Mbaoma also scored 14 goals for Remo Stars, but the defending champions were relegated after a dramatic final day. His goal against Bendel Insurance was not enough to keep his side in the NPFL.

Think about that for a second.

The two most clinical goalscorers in the league could not save their own clubs.

It raises a huge question.

How bad must a team's defending be if a 14-goal season still ends in relegation?

Or maybe it proves something even bigger.

Football is never won by one player.

A striker can score every week, but if the defence keeps leaking goals or the team cannot grind out results, the goals become statistics instead of trophies.

While Wikki and Remo Stars were going down, Godwin Obaje's 14 goals helped Rangers stay at the top end of the table, showing the difference a balanced team can make.

The chasing pack was just as impressive.

Joseph Arumala finished with 13 goals, Uche Collins scored 12, while Chukwuemeka Obioma and Michael Chidera both ended the campaign with 11. Ayobami Junior of Shooting Stars also finished as the league's leading creator with 13 assists.

The 2025/26 NPFL season will not just be remembered for a three-way Golden Boot race.

It will be remembered as the season that produced one unbelievable football fact:

The league's two deadliest goalscorers watched their clubs get relegated. That is the kind of story only football can write.