Akwa United

Starting out as "Ibom Stars Football Club", the club began its professional campaign in the 1996/97 season of the second-tier NNL (then called the "Pro League"). Assam Assam was the pioneer chairman of the club with coach Bernard Ogbe serving as its first technical adviser. The club played its home matches at the Uyo Township Stadium, wearing red & white as its respective home and away kits. It was a dominant force in the state, winning the state Challenge Cup seven times between 1996 and 2006.

Promotion & Rebrand

After playing in the second division for almost ten years, Ibom Stars gained promotion to the Nigeria Premier League (now called the Nigeria Professional Football League) in the 2007/08 season, thrashing neighbours Calabar Rovers 13–0 at Oron Township Stadium on the last day of the season to edge Bussdor FC and qualify.

The management of the club then applied for a change of name, changing from "Ibom Stars FC" to "Akwa United FC" with the nickname The Promise Keepers. They would also adopt blue for their home matches and white for their away matches.

The team attracted many big names from other clubs around the country. The then-chairman Chris Ekong signed coach Charles Bassey (MON) to take charge of the team, assisted by Emmanuel King. What followed was arrival of some household names, including Innocent Ozurumba, Ottanwa Ottanwa, Abdul Haruna, Stanley Amadi, and even former national U17 players Ambrose Vanzekin, Kingsley Udo and King Osanga. The newly recruited players teamed up with some indigenous stars to build what was one of the best squads in the country that year.

First Top-flight Season

Akwa United played her first Premier League match against El-kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri at the Oron Township Stadium, winning 1–0. Midfielder Emmanuel Ekpo was the scorer. Their 0–1 victory over Nasarawa United in Lafia would be the team's first away win in the Premier league. Akwa United's first season in the Premier League was not, however, without friction. In a league match against Enyimba International, the club was hit with a heavy fine and banished from Uyo Township Stadium for three years after home fans furiously invaded the pitch in response to referee Felicia Okugbe awarding a controversial injury time penalty, with one person believed dead and many others sustaining various injuries. The aftermath of this would have a psychological effect on the team's performance, as they struggled through the rest of the season. In what was a turbulent first season for the club, they finished 14th with 48 points after recording 14 victories, 6 draws and 18 defeats.

2008-2009 Season- One season, three Coaches and relegation

The Promise Keepers second season in the Premier League was not as smooth as the first.

Coach ImeUko was appointed by the club's management to take charge of the team and he was assisted by Coach Godwin Morgan. The team faced many challenges in the 2008/2009 season as some of her top players left the team for greener pastures. What followed was poor form and results. The team was struggling in the relegation zone for most of the season.

In a bid to salvage the situation, Coach Godwin Uwah was contracted to save the team from the drop. Coach Uwah battled tooth and nail to get results but to no avail. He later resigned his appointment.

The management in a desperate attempt to avoid being relegated appointed Coach Patrick Udoh to take charge of the team till the end of the season. Despite a late charge which saw them pick up some interesting results and also produced the league highest goal scorer of the season, (Orok Akarandut 17 goals) the team was dramatically relegated on the last day. They were dramatically relegated on the last day of the season on goals differential following Kaduna United's 9–0 defeat to Zamfara United. Akwa United garnered 48 points from 38 matches including 14 wins, 6 draws and 18 defeats to finish in 17th position.

Return to Premier League

When Akwa United returned to the lower division in the 2009/2010 season, the management team led by ObongIsongIsang promised that the team would return to the Premier League and kept its words. Akwa United made a return to the Big Time - the Premier League in 2011/2012 season (two years after their relegation from the premier league) and put up an improved performances throughout the season to finish on 50 points from 38 games comprising 15 victories, 5draws and 16 losses finishing in 12th, (the club's highest position ever on the log) under coach Solomon Ogbeide.

Last day survival

The management brought in two indigenous Coaches, Patrick Udo was the Technical Adviser while Emmanuel King was the Chief Coach both handled the team in 2012/2013 season. They started the campaign on a brighter note and topped the log for five weeks. But a dip in form saw them drop drastically in mid season though they managed to retain their top flight status when they ended the season one place above the relegation zone with 51 points. Their 14 wins, 9 draws and 15 defeats dropped the Promise Keepers to 16th position.

In 2013/2014 season, one of Nigeria's most experienced and widely traveled coaches Justin Tenger was given the nod to take charge of the team. But after a bright start at the beginning of that season, the team's fortune dwindled yet again. For the second straight season, they survived the drop on the last day, finishing in 16th place.

New Home Ground

The usual trend continued in the 2014/2015 season with the arrival of a new coach in Zackary Baraje. The team played few matches at the old Uyo Township Stadium before the League Management Company (LMC) deemed the stadium unfit to host Nigeria Professional Football League matches.

Akwa United then moved to the magnificent 30,000 capacity Godswill Akpabio International Stadium which was built by former Governor Godswill Akpabio.

Although the story of escaping relegation on the last day was the same ( Akwa United defeated Lobi Stars of Makurdi 1–0, with Afeez Awakan scoring the only goal of the match to help the team stay up). Their 13 wins, 8 draws and 17 defeats pushed them to 15th position, two places above the drop zone.

Federation Cup Glory and Continental Debut

The 2014/2015 season was to be a standout season for the club for many reasons.

The team made history by winning the Federations Cup in November 2015, beating Lobi Stars of Makurdi 2–1 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos to lift their first major trophy and qualified to play in the CAF Confederation Cup. (Then Captain Nnamso Edo and Afeez Awakan were the scorers).