Nadi F.C.

Nadi D.F.A.

Full name	Nadi D.F.A.
Nickname(s)	The Jetsetters
Founded	1937; 87 years ago (1937)
Ground	Prince Charles Park Nadi, Fiji
Capacity	18,000
Chairman	Sameer Taki
Manager	Kamal Swamy
League	Fiji Premier League
2023	6th

Nadi Football Club is a Fijian football club based in Nadi that competes in the Fiji Premier League. Their home stadium is Prince Charles.

History

Nadi Football Club was founded in 1937 under the leadership of Edward Grant.^[1] The local competition held during the year included the teams: Koronubu, Sabeto, Bhartiya and Votualevu. Nadi played for the first time in the Inter-district competition in 1939, when it beat Nadroga in the preliminary round by 2 goals to nil but lost to Rewa in the semi-final by the same margin.

Nadi are 8-time champions of Fiji. Nadi won the Inter-District Championship (IDC) for the first time in 1969 under the Presidency of Cr. Shri Venkanna Chetty. They have won their last two IDC finals (against Lautoka 3–1 in 1998 and Ba 1–0 in 1999), which came after their last IDC win in 1974. Nadi qualified for the championship after a 3-team playoff with Ba and Labasa. Ba were favourites to win the play-offs but were upset in the first match against Labasa by 3–0. Nadi then beat Labasa by 3–0 and Ba 1–0 to qualify for the Oceania Club Championship.

1999 Oceania Club Championship

In the Championship, which they hosted, Nadi beat New Zealand's Central United 1–0 in the semi-finals courtesy of a Marika Namaqa free kick. Nadi, an amateur team, then lost the final to Australia's South Melbourne FC, a professional outfit, by 5–1. This match was played in heavy rain, with South Melbourne scoring 3 penalty kicks. Nadi's lone goal was scored by Watisoni Voli.

The next year in 2000, Nadi went undefeated in the National League by winning 17 of the 18 games and drawing one against Ba.

Achievements

• League Championship (for Districts) : 9

1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1998, 2000, 2015.

• Inter-District Championship : 6

1969, 1971, 1974, 1998, 1999, 2002.

• Battle of the Giants : 5

1978, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1996.

• Fiji Football Association Cup Tournament : 5

1996, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019.

Runner-up 1: 2017.

• Champion versus Champion: 1

2015.

Performance in OFC competitions

• Oceania Club Championship (1 appearance)

1999 – Finalist – Lost against South Melbourne FC (stage 3 of 3)

26 September 1999 15.30

South Melbourne FC	5–1	Nadi
Steve Isoifidis 8' David Clarkson 16' Michael Curcija 47' pen Vaughan Coveny 50' Steve Panopoulos 73' pen	(Report)	Watisoni Voli 87'

Prince Charles Park, Nadi, Fiji

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: ?

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FIJ Samuela Tamanisau 2 MF  FIJ Rahul Krishna 3 DF  FIJ Luke Rawadamu 4 DF  FIJ Sekove Naivakananumi 5 FW  FIJ Rusiate Matarerega 6 MF  FIJ Jone Ralulu 7 MF  FIJ William Valentine 8 MF  FIJ Christopher Kumar 9  FIJ Krishna Sami 10 FW  FIJ Joel Shelvin Prasad 11 DF  FIJ Ilimotama Jese

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 DF  FIJ Ame Votoniu 13 MF  FIJ Josevata Malakai 14 FW  FIJ Surjason Sami 15 MF  FIJ Peni Tuigulagula 16 DF  FIJ Rupeni Rabici 17 MF  FIJ Patrick Joseph 18 FW  FIJ Andrew Naicker 19 MF  FIJ Sailosi Rayaqona 21 MF  FIJ Imran Shah 22 GK  FIJ Vereti Dickson

See also

• Fiji Football Association

References

Bibliography

• M. Prasad (1998), Sixty Years of Soccer in Fiji 1938–1998: The Official History of the Fiji Football Association, Fiji Football Association, Suva.

This page was last edited on 17 February 2024, at 07:07