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. 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

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

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

1978, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1996.

1996, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019. Runner-up 1: 2017.

2015.

Performance in OFC competitions

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

South Melbourne FC Australia5–1Fiji Nadi
Steve Isoifidis 8' David Clarkson 16' Michael Curcija 47' pen Vaughan Coveny 50' Steve Panopoulos 73' penWatisoni Voli 87'

Current squad

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
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 FW SOL Jimson Abana 10 FW FIJ Joel Shelvin Prasad 11 DF FIJ Ilimotama JeseNo. 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 VAN Jack Tokaki 19 MF FIJ Sailosi Rayaqona 20 MF FIJ Christopher Kumar 21 GK FIJ Joela Biuvanua 22 MF FIJ Joeli Severo
1GKFIJSamuela Tamanisau
2MFFIJRahul Krishna
3DFFIJLuke Rawadamu
4DFFIJSekove Naivakananumi
5FWFIJRusiate Matarerega
6MFFIJJone Ralulu
7MFFIJWilliam Valentine
8MFFIJChristopher Kumar
9FWSOLJimson Abana
10FWFIJJoel Shelvin Prasad
11DFFIJIlimotama Jese
No.Pos.NationPlayer
12DFFIJAme Votoniu
13MFFIJJosevata Malakai
14FWFIJSurjason Sami
15MFFIJPeni Tuigulagula
16DFFIJRupeni Rabici
17MFFIJPatrick Joseph
18FWVANJack Tokaki
19MFFIJSailosi Rayaqona
20MFFIJChristopher Kumar
21GKFIJJoela Biuvanua
22MFFIJJoeli Severo

See also

Bibliography