Reported by Simon Daniel Yusuph l Journalist at Weng Global
Old Trafford in Manchester, one of the world’s most recognisable football venues, took on a different atmosphere on Saturday as Nigerian pastor Jerry Eze led the New Season Prophetic Prayers and Declarations (NSPPD) United Kingdom Prayer Conference.
The gathering, held on September 26, 2026, brought worshippers together for prayer, praise, teaching and prophetic declarations at the Manchester United stadium.
Organised by Streams of Joy International, the conference was promoted as a free international gathering for Christians from across the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. Event information listed Pastor Jerry Eze as the lead minister and identified Old Trafford as the venue.
Photos from the gathering show the stadium being used for a large-scale Christian meeting, with worshippers gathered inside the iconic football ground for prayer and worship.
The event marks another major international gathering for Eze, whose NSPPD prayer ministry has developed a substantial following through online broadcasts and physical conferences.
From online prayer broadcasts to stadium gatherings
NSPPD, short for New Season Prophetic Prayers and Declarations, became widely known through its regular online prayer broadcasts, allowing Eze to reach audiences beyond the physical locations of his church and ministry.
The growth of the ministry has increasingly been reflected in large physical gatherings outside Nigeria.
In 2023, Eze’s NSPPD conference at London’s ExCeL attracted about 70,000 worshippers, according to reports by Nigerian media outlets. That event demonstrated the ability of an African-led Christian ministry to mobilise a large international audience in Britain.
The latest gathering at Old Trafford continues that pattern, placing an African-founded prayer movement inside another globally recognised British sporting venue.
The transition from an online prayer programme to major stadium events also reflects the growing role of digital platforms in contemporary Christian evangelism. Prayer meetings that once depended largely on local congregations can now attract participants from different countries through livestreams and social media.
Why Old Trafford matters
Old Trafford is internationally associated with football and Manchester United, but its use for a religious gathering illustrates how major stadiums can serve purposes beyond sport.
For the NSPPD conference, the venue provided a large space for worshippers to gather in person around a shared religious experience.
Event organisers described the conference as an international gathering involving believers from the UK and other countries. Event listings also indicated that admission was free and that registration had reached capacity on the ticketing platform.
The decision to hold the conference at Old Trafford follows Eze’s earlier use of major British sporting venues for prayer gatherings.
In 2024, he held a large prayer meeting at Twickenham Stadium in London. Reporting on that gathering described thousands of worshippers attending the event.
The repeated use of major stadiums has helped make Eze’s ministry increasingly visible beyond Nigeria and the African Christian community in Britain.
A growing African Christian presence in Britain
The conference also forms part of a broader development in which African Christian organisations have established significant religious communities in Britain and other Western countries.
Nigerian churches and ministries have become increasingly prominent within Britain’s multicultural Christian landscape, particularly through diaspora communities.
Eze’s ministry represents one example of how African religious organisations are using digital communication, international travel and large public gatherings to reach audiences across borders.
Recent reporting on African Christian leaders operating in Europe has examined how the traditional direction of Christian missionary activity is becoming more complex.
Rather than Christianity being understood simply as a faith movement spreading from Europe and North America into Africa, African churches and ministers are now also taking their ministries to Western countries.
Eze’s stadium conferences provide a visible example of that changing pattern.
Faith, worship and personal testimonies
The NSPPD conference was promoted around prayer, worship, prophetic declarations and testimonies.
Organisers said participants were gathering with expectations of spiritual renewal, healing and personal transformation. Such claims are matters of religious belief and personal testimony and should be understood within that context.
Large Christian gatherings often provide participants with opportunities to share testimonies about experiences they attribute to prayer or faith.
However, individual claims of miracles or supernatural intervention require independent evidence before they can be established as factual events.
For the many worshippers attending the conference, the significance of the gathering lies primarily in its religious purpose: coming together to pray, worship and seek spiritual encouragement.
The international reach of Jerry Eze’s ministry
Eze has built an international audience through NSPPD’s online prayer broadcasts, with social media and livestreaming playing an important role in extending the ministry beyond its Nigerian base.
That digital reach has made it possible for people outside Nigeria to participate remotely while also creating demand for physical conferences.
The Old Trafford gathering therefore represents more than a single-day event. It is part of a wider model in which online religious communities can eventually translate into large physical gatherings.
The development is particularly significant for African-founded ministries operating internationally because it demonstrates how technology can reduce geographical barriers to religious participation.
A prayer broadcast originating from Nigeria can now be watched by audiences in Britain, North America, Africa and elsewhere, while physical conferences allow some of those participants to meet in person.
A different atmosphere at a football landmark
Old Trafford normally provides the setting for football matches, supporter gatherings and major sporting occasions.
On Saturday, however, the focus shifted from football to Christian worship.
The images from the conference capture that change in atmosphere, with worshippers occupying the stadium for prayer and religious activities rather than a sporting fixture.
For many attendees, the gathering provided an opportunity to participate in a large collective expression of faith.
For African Christian observers, it also represents the increasing international visibility of Nigerian religious leaders and ministries.
What happens next
The Old Trafford conference adds another major event to the international calendar of NSPPD and Pastor Jerry Eze.
Its significance will ultimately depend not only on the size of the gathering but also on its longer-term impact on participants, the ministry’s international activities and the continued development of African-led Christian movements outside the continent.
The conference also highlights the changing ways religious organisations are using stadiums, digital platforms and international networks to organise large communities.
For Nigerian and other African Christian ministries with growing international audiences, the Old Trafford gathering demonstrates the scale that can be reached when digital religious engagement is combined with physical events.
As worshippers leave the stadium, NSPPD’s online broadcasts and international ministry activities are expected to remain central to its efforts to maintain connections with its global audience.
The gathering at Old Trafford therefore represents both a religious meeting and a visible example of how African Christian ministries are increasingly operating across national and continental boundaries.
Weng Global – stories beyond borders
Sources
Eventbrite
Streams of Joy International
Punch Newspapers
The Guardian Nigeria
CNN reporting referenced in subsequent coverage
