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Full name | Tofaga Football Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Ground |
Tuvalu Sports Ground, Funafuti, Tuvalu | ||
Capacity | 1,500 | ||
League | Tuvalu A-Division | ||
2021 | 1st [1] | ||
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Tofaga FC is a Tuvalu football club from Vaitupu, playing in the Tuvalu A-Division.
The team's home ground is the Tuvalu Sports Ground, [2] on Funafuti, which is the only football field in Tuvalu. Tofaga plays on an amateur level, as do all the teams in Tuvalu. They also have a reserve squad and a women's team.
The team was originally name Vatokami and was founded in the 1970s. In the 1990s, Paulson Panapa and Tapugao Falefou were the team’s well-known players. In 1997 the team won its first prize, the Benson and Hedges Cup. [3] The team won the Independence Cup (held to recognise the independence of Tuvalu) in 1998. [3]
In 2005, the team changed its name to Tofaga. [4]
Toakai Puapua was coach from 2006 to 2008. He was also the football coach of Tuvalu during the 2007 South Pacific Games. [5]
Tofaga won the NBT Cup and the Independence Cup in 2006. After that, the club regularly won cups; the NBT Cup in 2007, 2008 and 2011, and three prizes in 2010 (Tuvalu Games, Independence Cup and Christmas Cup). Tofaga won the Independence Cup 5 times, and the team has also won the NBT Cup 9 times, and was the runner-up 4 times. [3]
Tofaga’s only win of the Tuvalu A-Division competition was in 2021, [3] although its players, including Alopua Petoa [6] and James Lepaio, [7] were topscorers in the Tuvalu A-Division competition, in 2011, 2012, 2019 & 2021, and Alopua Petoa is the topscorer with the Tuvalu national football team with 11 goals in his international career. [8] [9] [10]
Tofaga was the runner-up in the 2023 Tuvalu A-Division competition. [11] Tofaga won the NBT Cup in 2023, beating Vaoloa 2-1. [11] The team included Etimoni Timuani (defender), James Lepaio (midfielder) and Alopua Petoa (striker). [12]
The Tofaga reserve team has been the B-Team Champions 5 times: 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013 & 2021. [1]