Labasa F.C.

Labasa F.C. is a Fijian football team playing in the first division of the Fiji Football Association competitions. It is based in Labasa, which is the largest town on the second largest island, Vanua Levu, in the Fiji group. Their home stadium is Subrail Park. Their uniform includes red and white striped shirt, red shorts and red socks.

History

A local football competition was held in Labasa from 1938. The competition included some ethnic Fijian Clubs. Labasa did not join the National Association when it was formed, in 1938, due to the distance of Labasa from the main island of Viti Levu, where all, except one, club was based. In 1942, under the Presidency of Harold B. Gibson,^[1] a former member of the Legislative Council, Labasa Soccer Association joined the national football body, then known as the Fiji Indian Football Association.

Labasa remained at the periphery of soccer in Fiji, struggling to compete with teams from Viti Levu, until 1969, when it hosted the Inter-District Championship(IDC) for the first time. Soccer suddenly flourished in Labasa and the team was runner-up in the IDC of 1972, 1973 and 1978. Labasa F.C. finally won the IDC for the first time in 1992, repeating the feat two years later in 1994. Labasa soccer team has to depend on its youth players to fill the vacuum left by its experienced players who are lured to play for other districts. In October 2011, the team won its third ever IDC tournament after defeating Ba (1-0) at Churchill Park in Lautoka. They defeated Lautoka in the semi-finals after Roy Krishna was awarded a controversial penalty. Labasa's winning goal in the final was scored by striker, Maciu Dunadamu in the second half of the match.

Achievements

• League Championship (for Districts): 2

1991, 2007

• Inter-District Championship : 3

1992, 1994, 2011

• Battle of the Giants: 1

1997

• Fiji Football Association Cup Tournament:

1992, 1997 (joint with Ba) 1999, Runner up 2008

• Champions versus Champions: 2 1993,2008

Current squad

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

See also

• Fiji Football Association

References

Bibliography

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