Lautoka F.C.

Lautoka F.C.
Full name	Lautoka Football Club
Nickname(s)	Bluez
Founded	1934
Ground	Churchill Park; Lautoka, Fiji
Capacity	18,000
Coach	Ravinesh Kumar
League	National Football League
2019	2nd
Home colours	Away colours

Lautoka Football Club is a semi-professional Fijian association football club based in Lautoka that currently plays in the National Football League. Their home stadium is Churchill Park.

History

Lautoka Soccer Football Association was formed in 1934, under the leadership of John Bairagi,^[1] with two teams: Namoli Indian Sports and Service and was based at Namoli Park. Lautoka was one of the founding members of the Fiji Indian Football Association, formed in 1938, which became the Fiji Football Association in 1961.

Lautoka has the record of highest goals scored in the Inter-District Championship (IDC) finals. Lautoka thumped Ba in the finals one year by 6 – 0 and by 7 – 0 another year and also beat Suva in one of the finals by 7 – 1. That record remains untouched till this day.

Lautoka is also the first team to win the IDC 3 years in a row. They have also qualified for the 2009–10 OFC Champions League by finishing on top of the Fiji National league table and also remaining undefeated.

Current squad

Squad for 2020 OFC Champions League

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.	Nation	Player
—	GK	NZL	Liam Anderson
—	GK	FIJ	Joela Biuvanua
—	DF	FIJ	Arami Manumanubai
—	DF	FIJ	Dave Radrigai
—	DF	VAN	Jason Thomas
—	DF	FIJ	Poasa Bainivalu
—	DF	FIJ	Tevita Rabakewa
—	DF	FIJ	Jone Vesikula
—	DF	FIJ	Epeli Rokotuva
—	DF	NZL	Jack Caunter
—	MF	FIJ	Navneel Nand
—	MF	FIJ	Shameel Rao


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	FIJ	Edward Aaron
—	MF	FIJ	Jone Vonu
—	MF	FIJ	Zibraaz Sahib
—	MF	FIJ	Merrill Nand
—	MF	FIJ	James Pillay
—	MF	FIJ	Muni Naidu
—	FW	FIJ	Sekove Finau
—	FW	VAN	Alex Saniel
—	FW	FIJ	Shazil Ali
—	FW	FIJ	Edward Justin
—	FW	FIJ	Samuela Gavo

Personnel

Current technical staff

Position
Head coach	Ananda Swamy

Achievements

League Championship (for Districts): 5

1984, 1988, 2009, 2017, 2018

Inter-District Championship: 18

1941, 1942, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1984, 1985, 2005, 2008, 2017, 2018

Battle of the Giants: 2

1985, 2016.

Fiji Football Association Cup Tournament: 2

2000, 2002.

Champion versus Champion Series: 2

2009, 2016.

Performance in OFC competitions

OFC Champions League: 4 appearances

Best: Finalist 2018:

2010: 2nd in Group B

2011: 3rd in Group A

2018: Runner's up

2019: 3rd in Group B

References

^ "FIJI FA District Affiliates".^{[permanent dead link‍]}

Bibliography

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

External links

Lautoka FC Official Website

[1] "FIJI FA District Affiliates".^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[1]