An informal Kava drinking session that brought together six friends in 1990, set the tune for a Soccer Club, which today looks forward to winning the Radio Apna Fiji Soccer Cup 2011.
Twelve years on, the Club continues to gratify its founders including me, my brother Rafique, former Lautoka and Fiji official Epeli Kosa, Muntaz Ali (Boy) and Afif Shah.
What was called ‘Soccer’ those days was like ‘Bazaar Tournaments’ back home but we have come a long way since then.
The establishment of the New Zealand Fiji Association Football Club (NZFAFC) in 1994 changed the phase of soccer in New Zealand. The first IDC Championship matches played at Bill McKinlay Park in the Auckland suburb of Panmure was a memorable event.
The Tournament saw our team playing the final against a team called, ‘Lautoka Sangam’ from Fiji.
We have grown from strength to strength since then, winning our first IDC title against Ba in 1998. We lost in the final matches in 1999 and 2000, but we hold the record as the first team to play three consecutive finals.
Our other two IDC wins came in 2003 and 2005.
We fondly and respectfully remember our ‘Golden Boys’ of all time namely, Epeli Kosa, John Nath, Ramu Prasad, Frank Smith, Victor Lagi, Poasa Tubuna, Stuart Bola, Naveen Kumar, Felise Tova, Jeffery Lee, Nikola Raoma, Vishwa Diwan and Ravin Chand.
All teams competing for the IDC Trophy in Auckland fear the Lautoka team for its quality soccer and discipline. This Team has produced many young talented footballers including Zaeem Sahib, James Hoyt, Imran Ali (Danny), Alex Pratap, Sohail Basha, Soheb Sheikh and many others.
The forthcoming first ever Fiji Cup Tournament features four premier teams from Fiji, namely Ba, Lautoka, Nadi and Suva. We would like to see our boys face the big guns of Fiji Soccer.
We wish all the teams well and may the best team win.
Indeed Soccer should be the winner.
We thank the Mangere Centre Park Sports Association for giving Fiji Soccer a home, with a new stadium and clubrooms.
