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Niue Island Soccer Association |
Football Team Profil:
Founded: 1960
First game: 0:19 against Papua New Guinea
Biggest win: none
Biggest defeat: 0:19 against Papua New Guinea
most famous player: -
Status: since 1983 associated OFC-member
Stadium: Niue High School Oval
Most successful club: Talava (Champions 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005)
other facts: Right in a triangle comprised of New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa you will find "The Rock of Polynesia, as the self governing island in free association with New Zealand is called. The close ties with New Zealand affected the sporting world of Niue the same way it did with Samoa. So you will find among the 1389 Niueans many rugby players which practice all kind of variations of rugby. Especially popular is Rugby Union which is the common variation that is known by most people. The "Tao Niue" which is the nickname of the Niuean rugby union team even won the FORU Oceania Cup 2008 by beating New Caledonia in the final. Seems to be no place for association footballers right? That is wrong. There is a quite big following on "The Rock" for the most popular sport in the world. Their FA was found in 1960. So Niue has one of the oldest associations in Oceania. Beside the fact the first recorded footballing season was in 1985 when Alofi became the first champion. So Club football is also played on Niue. There is the "Niue Soccer Tournament", which is won by Talava most of the time. Other teams are Ava, Avatele, Hakupu or Lakepa. In 1983 Niue sent a national team to the South Pacific Games in Samoa where they lost both games. After that event no more records for Niue as nation are known. Due to the heavy presence of rugby, football had diificult times in the past. The last two years there weren´t any football tournaments on the island but now under new guidance the FA is trying everything to get the ball rolling again. If they will send a team to the South Pacific Games 2011 to compete in football is not sure, but at least there as a glimpse on "The Rock" for football fans.
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Niue High school Oval |
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Alofi Soccer Team 2010
Champions:
1985 - Alofi (League)
1986 - 1997 - unknown
1998 - Lakepa (League)
1999 - Talava (League)
2000 - Talava (League)
2001 - 2003 - unknown
2004 - Talava (League)
2005 - Talava (League)
Other Champions were Tuapa and Tamakakautonga but it is unknown which year.
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