Suva F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Suva F.C.


fullname = Suva F.C.
nickname =
founded = 1936
ground = National Stadium
Suva, Fiji
capacity = 10,000
chairman =
manager =
league = National Football League (Fiji)
season = 2006
position = 7
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=ffffff|body1=ffffff|rightarm1=ffffff|shorts1=ffffff|socks1=ffffff

Suva F.C. is a Fijian football team playing in the premier division of the Fiji Football Association competitions. It is based in Suva. Their home stadium is National Stadium. Their uniform is white shirt, black shorts and black and white socks.

Early years

football started to be played in Fiji with the arrival of Europeans. A Suva Soccer Football Club was formed in 1905, made up of European employees of the Government and businesses. In 1910, a team from Suva played a match against a team from Nausori. Crew of visiting naval ships also entertained themselves with friendly games of football with local teams. In 1910 a team from Suva played a game against a team from "HMS Powerful" and won 3 goals to 1. In 1914, a team from Suva played against a team from "HMS Torch", at Albert Park, and won by 2 goals to nil. In 1930, the Governor made available two playing fields in Suva for use in football competitions. In 1922, the Sunshine Club was established in Suva. There were also four teams in Suva who played at the Marist Brothers School grounds in Toorak.

Suva Football Association is born

The Indian Reform League was the first to form an association to organise football in Suva. In December 1927, the league organised a schools football competition at Albert Park. Schools that took part in it were Methodist Mission School, Marist Brothers School, Munivatu Indian School and Islamia School. Buoyed by the success of this tournament, the league met on 22 January 1928 and formed a Football Association committee. The editor of the monthly Hindi/English magazine, "Vriddhi", Dr I.H. Beattie donated a trophy and the first competition was organised on 26 May 1928 at the Marist Brothers School ground. The teams that took part were Indian Reform League Football Club, Toorak Service Club, Dilkusha Excelsior Football Club, Rewa Football Club and the Union Club. In 1936, the association was renamed, the Suva Football Association. The number of teams grew to 8 in 1936, 16 in 1945 and 41 in 1958 with competition being organised in senior, reserve, intermediate and junior grades.

Suva, was one of the founding members of the Fiji Indian Football Association, which was formed in 1938 and renamed the Fiji Football Association in 1961.

Achievements

*League Championship (for Districts): 2::1996, 1997
* Inter-District Championship : 11 ::1940, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1981, 1983,
*Battle of the Giants: 3::1982, 1988, 1995
*Fiji Football Association Cup Tournament: 1::1995

See also

* Fiji Football Association

Bibliography

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